This past Thursday, representatives from five different community entities came together with a common purpose in mind: ‘Leadership Clarkston.?
‘Leadership Clarkston? is an annual joint meeting where the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce hosts board members from the City of the Village of Clarkston, Clarkston Community Schools, Independence Township and Springfield Township. The purpose of the meeting is:
? to meet and get to know each other,
? build a better understanding of what can be done to improve the area community,
? build awareness and understanding of how we work together to improve the community.
On Feb. 3, representatives from the five entities participated in a brainstorming session led by Bernie Reuter of Core Skills, Inc. in Clarkston. The goal of the evening was to create a common theme, mission statement and vision statement for ‘Leadership Clarkston? that will lead to specific actions for improving the community.
Reuter opened the evening with a game of ‘Red and Blue.? The game gave participants an opportunity to ‘get to know each other? and create dialogue about topics like communication, competition and trust.
‘We tend to compete in areas where we should cooperate,? explained Reuter.
After breaking into small mixed groups, ‘Leadership Clarkston? participants discussed several possible themes, a general mission statement and a possible combined vision.
A few of the themes mentioned included: Clarkston as a diverse area, continuing to cooperate, following through with action, community, collaboration, less is more, maintaining the quality of life in the area, preserving and protecting the area, investing in one another, change is not always needed and creating a community agenda.
‘Our goal is to get one theme again, or one common purpose, and have all five partners take on a portion of the action needed to achieve or maintain that purpose,? said Penny Shanks, executive director of the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce. ‘Our purpose can be simply a theme for the year or a specific action or result.?
The theme, mission statement and vision were not finalized at the Feb. 3 meeting. A list of ideas compiled from the evening will be distributed by the chamber to participants.
A second meeting in March is scheduled for area non-profits to participate in a similar round-table discussion. More ideas towards the final mission statement and vision will be collected and distributed.
A third meeting is being planned for May when the final versions of the theme, mission statement and vision are presented and a listing of actions are created.