Prior to reading chapter fourteen this week I always thought
of the leadership elite as the top movers and shakers of a given community. I usually
thought of the elite as the political and influential business people that make
the rules and set the tone for the community. After reading the chapter this week I came to
think of the leadership elite as more than just the top people in politics and
business, and started to see what Sampson meant by the elite. He explains that
the elite are “a group of persons who by their virtue of their position
exercise power or influence in the community” (Sampson, p. 331). When the scope
is widened to this size the elite could include so many other people and
Sampson suggests the list includes police captains, school board
superintendents, business leaders, and even community religious leaders. These
are the ones, according to Sampson, that do the heavy lifting for the more
visible of the leadership elite. One does not have to look to deep into any top
political person’s career to find examples of the network of top leadership elite
that carry the candidate into office. I am reminded of the old cliche, it is
not what you know but who you know that makes the difference. Being connected
to the network of leadership elite is how things get done in the community.
Local political leaders must have this network of support to get anything done
and must also be connected to their respective constituents. The private sector
is very much dependent on the leadership elite and most corporate entities have
their own networks to work through. In any community resides the network of the
influential and leadership elite. Connecting to the network and being able to
make ties is important when trying to get things done. I find it interesting
that the elite we see most often rely on the multiple layers of leadership
below then to fulfill their message. Building the network of leadership support
on these lower levels are critical to success.
As I consider ideas for my end of term presentation and how
to connect to the neighborhood and community; I find the concept of leadership
elite interesting. With my emphases being business and psychology I could use many
of the examples Sampson describes in chapter fourteen. Business relies heavily
on a solid network of connection to the leadership elite and often business
leaders are themselves part of the network. My psychology emphasis is much
easier to apply to neighborhood and community. We have talked a lot about
poverty and the many reasons for the problems of urban America and I would like
to tie both the business and psychology emphases together to address the issue
of poverty. I think that private sector
business is the solution to poverty and business must be willing to re-invest
into the urban areas. I also think that the political and business leadership elite
need to come together to find the solutions that are good for everyone.
I welcome any comments and suggestion…
Scott, thank you for posting your blog early so I could get a response in before Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job summarizing up Sampson's fourteenth chapter. I also found the multiple layers of leadership elites to be interesting. Those at the top of the elites such as mayors, senators, and other of that rank tend to be more successful in my eyes when they remember who really does the heavy lifting.
Your presentation topic seems solid and does seem to go well with Sampson's notions on communities. If I understand your direction you are looking to argue how private businesses and their position as leadership elites hold the solution to poverty. If this is your argument then I would say you are have a solid foundation. Would you be looking into the practical or theoretical answer to your argument? I think the practical approach would be most interesting. I wonder if there is any articles that have research data on how private business have turned poverty. I also wonder if articles would provide the method that was used to do so.
I think private business owners must come together and strategically attack poverty. The leadership elites need to be collectively mindful of what steps to take when considering solutions. A collective private business group comes to mind as I write this paragraph, the Southern Utah Home Builders Associations. I would argue that if associations like the SUHBA was put together with the purpose of collectively resolving poverty then private business leadership elites would be in the position to be the solution to poverty.
I hope that I have either shared ideas with you that help or gave you insight into what not to look into. :) Good Luck!
I think I can find empirical data supporting that the private sector can do more for community (and individuals) over the long run than can government. The problem as I see it is that the private sector has all but abandoned the poor urban areas and there needs to be a synergy between government, private sector business, communities, and neighborhoods. We need to find a way to end the divide and the hatred towards success and profits; they are after all responsible for building the greatest economy the earth has ever known, Having said that they have also created, or left behind many, suffering in poverty. I believe there is a way to marry the concepts of social programs and integrate the ideas of the private sector to beat back poverty. We can give people almost everything except personal ethics and work ethic; that they must develop for themselves...
DeleteI was wondering what you mean by the movers and shakers? I agree with what you said about the heavy lifters. I feel that sometimes 20% of the people do 80% of the work.
ReplyDeleteI like where you are going with your research ideas and implementing the leadership concepts into it. I also think you should role with the private sector businesses pulling communities out of poverty if they are willing to invest in it. Maybe researching businesses that have done that and looking at what they did to map out the key concepts that made their business either successful or not in leading a community. Good post
ReplyDeleteScott, great post and you are right on target. The leadership in a community consists of evolves around those who educate our children, contact business in or with our community, take care of our spiritual needs, protect us from harm and crime, represent us - and I'm afraid to say that - in Washington, and organize and manage our communities affairs. We got all the players, let's play!
ReplyDelete