Sean Kershaw's Weblog

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March 5, 2007

Three reactions to the write-Up in PIM

Our write-up in the Politics in Minnesota (PIM) newsletter last week (see text below) brings several reactions to mind.

Reaction #1: I'm jumping up and down on my desk!

We have been using the word "relevant" as an evaluative "goal-post" since I started. The one intangible word that everyone agreed on was that we had lost relevance, and needed to be relevant again. To have this type of unexpected write-up is, frankly, phenomenal.

And I think the timing, content and success of Nate's talk had a lot to do with it. We've been working on a number of items (improving the MN Journal, better events, MAP 150, etc.) and they all seem to have come together nicely in the past few months.

Thanks to staff and to Board leadership (especially, Tom Horner, Mary Pickard, Keith Halleland) for making this possible!

From PIM:

The Citizens League Is On Fire

Not literally but it's beginning to burn up the landscape with policy conversations that are on the top of the minds of Minnesota's opinion leaders and elected officials. Under the supreme leadership of Sean Kershaw (formerly with the City of St. Paul), the Citizens League has made itself the most relevant (and realistic) thinking group in Minnesota.

When put in the same "league" as the Center of the American Experiment or Growth and Justice, the Citizen's League (founded in 1928) [sic] wins every time. Its bipartisan board, and corporate sponsors (Target) are the type of leaders that don't have a preconceived notion of what the solution should be--until the research is done and the discussion has taken place.

A few weeks back, Target VP Nate Garvis attracted 400-plus people to the Walker for a presentation entitled: "Uncivil Discourse and the Rise of the Outrage Industry." Yes, 400 people...to the Walker, to listen to a speech. Garvis, while good, wasn't all the draw so much as the resonance of the topic and the interest in civil dialogue.

Now the Citizens League is taking up the forward-looking approach of MAP150 (Minnesota Anniversary Project), a project looking at the Sesquicentennial of the state and aiming "to reinvent policy-making by reconnecting the vision, values and voices of Minnesotans with policy-making on the issues that matter most to our future." Ahhh, finally someone leading that thinking

Add that to joint briefings with legislators and Policy and a Pint" and the Citizens League, a once reluctant and struggling organization, is now relevant and real. As they succeed, Minnesota will as well. The Citizens League is in the middle of a membership drive; visit them online at Citizenleague.org.

Also check out the aforementioned "Policy and a Pint" series, which the League and MPR's 89.3 The Current hold at Dinkytown's Varsity Theatre, will feature health care and comfortable sofas on March 7.

Reaction #2: Humility

After getting off my desk -- I got nervous. This is exactly the type of hype that also makes me very conscious about how to deliver on it. No matter what anyone says, we are nowhere near the level of relevance that we need -- or that we used to have. I don't want to see a headline that says "what happened?" in a month or a year or three years.

I was "joking" about this with Griff Wigley, and he had a really useful bit of insight for me that relates to this blog.

I've been thinking that "authenticity" is the new "celebrity" in politics. Sure, people will always be drawn to celebrity, but I think a sense of genuine honesty and authenticity are essential to political relevance and effectiveness in this age when we can (and do) know everything about a person. (I think this is part of Barack Obama's appeal over Hillary Clinton -- and John McCain's as well.) Owning up to the facts of your situation -- transparency -- may help to build political authority, not turning your life over to PR machines to spin fabrications.
Griff pointed out that this blog is a way for me to help build this transparency and this authenticity. To be more forthright about our work and our goals and our struggles. I tend to be hesitant about what I post here (because I've posted some stupid things, perhaps), but this is also a place to discuss and work-out these issues and to build the credibility and the base of supporters that we'll need to achieve the potential described in PIM.

Anyone agree? Disagree?

Reaction #3: Choose your "Supreme Leader"

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