THROUGH CHAMBER VIEW, THE METRO CHAMBER SHARES ITS PERSPECTIVE ON IMPORTANT ISSUES affecting our region's economy and quality of life. The Chamber View is published on Page 2 of the monthly member newsletter, Metro Business. You can comment on a Chamber View. Send to Chamber View Comment

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD CHAIR

HEART, BRAINS AND COURAGE
Leadership skills needed as the Sacramento region confronts 2008’s challenges

Michael Jacobson, 2008 Metro Chamber Board Chair

Like any chamber of commerce, the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s strength and capability are a direct result of the strength and capability of our members. By all accounts, our region is in for a bit of a bumpy economic ride. Our members will be impacted, so it is incumbent on the Metro Chamber to provide the leadership necessary to minimize the pain of a downturn and prepare our region to achieve enormous success on the upturn.

That being said, in 2008 the Metro Chamber will be devoted to a host of economic development activities to benefit our members. The clarion call for our focus here is clear. The strategy is elegantly simple: Link existing businesses with the information and resources they need to grow their businesses and cultivate a rich environment where they can prosper.

The Metro Chamber believes that our region can compete with any other region in the world. We believe that investing in infrastructure and education is a governmental imperative. We believe that business that is not over-regulated or over-taxed will succeed. We believe that successful businesses create jobs and invest capital. We believe that more jobs and investment lead to economic vitality, and we believe that economic vitality leads to regional prosperity.

Of course, the Metro Chamber does not function in a vacuum. We are fortunate to be part of a strong fabric of non-government organizations that all play critical roles:  Northern California World Trade Center, LEED, SARTA, SACTO, Valley Vision, the Asian, Hispanic and Black chambers and each of our local chambers.

I am committed to working with all of our fellow travelers to reach new heights in regional cooperation by ensuring that we recognize and value our individual organization’s strengths, minimize duplication, coordinate appropriately and celebrate shared results. This is a very personal goal that I hold, and I look forward to working with my fellow chair people to make this goal a reality.

Just as the Metro Chamber works with our fellow travelers, we also know our success depends on the action of our governmental leaders. As a result, the Metro Chamber has worked hard for our members and our region to ensure that the voice of business is heard.

The Metro Chamber does not participate in the political arena because we get an adrenaline rush from the fight or because we have a partisan agenda or because we are trying to achieve a hidden mission. Our action is forged by a strong set of beliefs and a cause worth winning.

Yet, we need our governmental leaders to not only support our cause, but we look to them for leadership. In our Study Mission last year to Charlotte, N.C., the participants came away very impressed with political leadership there. There was a real sense of community purpose. Purpose led to action, and you could see the results wherever you looked. I hope that when another city visits our region, their business and civic leaders will say the same about us.

To that end, I espouse a leadership theory that I hope will resonate: Leadership takes three very critical attributes—Heart, Brains and Courage. I call it the Wizard of Oz theory.

Under each of these attributes are numerous skills: Heart requires empathy, inspiration and consensus building. Brains requires knowledge, vision and motivation. And courage requires maybe the most important attribute and that is action—action undeterred by risk or fear. Both business and government leaders need to show Heart, Brains and Courage.

And so I hope a year from now we will be able to say that the Metro Chamber was not encumbered by the past, that we dreamed big, built consensus, held ourselves accountable, took giant leaps together and we celebrated successes.