Civic entrepreneurs are community leaders for the 21st Century. They possess the skills of effective leaders. But, as the word “entrepreneur” suggests, civic entrepreneurs also have a vision and see possibilities where others may not. They tend to be optimistic and hopeful and find reasons why things can happen rather than reasons why they cannot. Persistence is a key personality trait.

An especially important trait of civic entrepreneurs is the ability to collaborate. Collaborative leaders recognize the need to be inclusive and, as a result, seek to bring a diverse group of people to the table, look for common ground, and move forward together as a team to accomplish goals. Think of people in your community who routinely do this and what the results have been.

As we experience declining populations in our communities, civic entrepreneurs see opportunities where others may not. They recognize a need for networking and collaboration and look not only to the next town and region but to international partnerships as well.

Civic entrepreneurs think beyond the borders of their community – something we are encouraged to do as we continue to see opportunities for regional approaches in economic and community development. Programs such as Nebraska’s Building Entrepreneurial Communities Act (BECA) are excellent examples of working regionally. This program requires a minimum of two communities to work together with community leaders who understand collaboration. Successful BECA projects have had at their helm civic entrepreneurs.

As we said last month, successful rural leaders share key leadership skills such as the ability to prioritize, complete and deliver work; interpersonal skills; personal accountability; and the ability to influence others and achieve goals in spite of obstacles and difficulty. Many of these skills can be learned, practiced and perfected. The next article in this series will explore this.

Contact: Kathie Starkweather, kathies@cfra.org or 402.438.8496 for more information.