WILKES-BARRE — Every year when I have the opportunity and honor to meet the new class of Leadership Northeast, my thoughts immediately go to that genius Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.
There are many great minds that have impacted our world, sages renowned for profound wisdom, judgment, and experience who are often associated with deep understanding and the ability to offer guidance.
A sage person is typically seen as wise, judicious, and prudent, with a strong grasp of both practical and philosophical matters.
In my book, Dr. Seuss stands near the top of that list.
My favorite Dr. Seuss quote goes:
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
And that, my friends, is what servant leadership is all about — it’s about developing people who care about their community and convincing them of the importance of doing all they can to make things a little bit better, many times, quite a bit better.
Leadership Northeast, led by my friend Jessica Cronauer, is the incubator for developing these burgeoning leaders as they prepare to be unleashed on a path of doing all they can to improve this community.
And one of the best ways to achieve this goal is through the annual projects that each LNE class takes on to help make a significant difference throughout our community. The projects’ impact organizations that serve individuals in all sorts of ways — and they really do improve the quality of life for many of our residents.
These projects work, and most are perpetual, positively affecting the organizations, their missions, and, most importantly, the various community segments each serves.
Perspective
Nonprofit organizations all have missions — and all of them are vital to bettering our community and our people — especially those in need of help.
For far too many years now, most of these missions have remained at the status quo — meaning that they struggle to raise enough funding to keep things as they are. Services remain the same. The list of people they can serve remains the same. The battle for funding remains extremely competitive.
So what does this men? Well, the demand for many services offered from these most valuable nonprofits continues to increase. More and more people find themselves in need and the nonprofits want to be able to help.
But federal and state funding support continues to dwindle, leaving the nonprofits battling for donations from the same sources. It’s not only difficult, it’s near impossible.
As a result, the services offered decline, the staffs are cut and, sadly, the level of help offered is lessened. So, despite the demand for the services and programs out there increasing, the ability to provide those services to all in need is impossible.
And increasing services, improving programming, and adding staff are, quite unfortunately, pie in the sky.
This is why the community must respond and in a very big way. The Leadership Northeast projects are a big part of the puzzle. Volunteers are needed everywhere. People who can afford donations must do so and even increase those gifts. It is absolutely true that it takes a village to raise a child, to keep people healthy, fed, housed, clothed, and counseled.
It’s not overstating it when I tell you that these Leadership Northeast class members, like all their leadership brethren before them, will go on to become community advocates. They will get involved in numerous committees, boards of directors, and projects, volunteering throughout their lives to make our community better.
They will do much good and feel very good about doing it — that’s servant leadership.
The situation here and across the country is getting more concerning each year. Nonprofits should be able to have the funding needed to enhance programs and expand services — if for no other reason than to meet the growing demand and to improve the quality of life for those served.
Dr. Seuss also said this in Yertle the Turtle:
“I know up on top you are seeing great sights,
But down here on the bottom,
We too should have rights.”
Lesson learned — everyone deserves equal rights.
As John W. Gardner, known as the Father of Leadership, once said, “Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”
But I will leave you with this from baseball Hall of Fame legend Jackie Robinson:
“A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives.”
There’s that word again — impact.
But impact is only good if it’s positive.