kevin donaldson

Some articles get scanned and passed while others resonate within you heavily for some time.  Yesterday I read a post: Ideas Into Execution: Giving Away an Idea to Make it Happen.  This was one of those such article.  A powerful story that has been playing out for close to a year now and shows the power of community and giving. Embedded into this article is a short but powerful TED 2010 talk on leadership lessons that is a must watch:

All of this meshes well with Seth Godins concept of Santa Math published this week:

Santa flies around the world, giving stuff away, and for what? He earns gratitude, trust and friendship, that's what. Sure, one day he might decide to license his image or try to sell you something. But right here, right now, gratitude, trust and friendship are plenty. Especially if you enjoy doing what you're doing.

True leadership is less about leading/directing and more about giving and supporting.

Last night I attended an event at the Boise watercool to hear David Cohen (Founder and CEO of Techstars) and Mark Solon from Highway 12 Ventures.  Although the talk Techstars and the program, the underlying message was about entrepreneurism, community and the tight connection between the two.  It was about why and how a city like Boulder CO with a population of 100,000 is now considered a top 10 destination for startups.  Its not just marketing - its a 4 part recipe that is made up of pride + action + community support + results.  Its not about patents per capita - its about an ecosystem and a support/mentoring network that stimulates creativity and helps startups succeed.  Its about a community that rally's around its 'starters' and  shouts out to the world their success's.   Its about going beyond the idea to smart execution that pivots to find a real business that works, and hence grows the ecosystem.  So once the clapping and ra-ra excitiment dies down after an event like this, its time to get down to the real work of 'doing'  and making Boise the startup community that everyone wants it to be.