Community Involvement
By John Johnson on March 28, 2025
Employees from Morgia Wealth Management are often asked to give talks to groups in the North Country. On February 28th, Shane Simser and John Johnson were invited to speak about community leadership to the Jefferson Leadership Institute. The Greater Watertown North Country Chamber of Commerce hosted the event at the 1812 on the River in Watertown, New York.
This blog post is a summary of their talk.
What is Community Leadership:
Community Leadership is recognition that a community must be strong or none of us in this room will benefit. A strong community improves the quality of life for everyone across the income spectrum, sets conditions in place for businesses to succeed and grow and welcomes people to move there.
Community leadership in a place like the North Country brings together local progress with resilience by unifying people toward a common goal. It is up to us to step up to guide, support, and inspire our community toward something greater and something that isn’t the status quo. Unlike larger metropolitan areas, where leadership can be more bureaucratic and distant, leadership in the North Country is personal, hands-on, and deeply connected to the well-being of residents. Effective community leaders foster collaboration, drive positive change, and ensure that their city thrives socially, economically, and culturally.
The Meaning of Community Leadership
Community leadership is not just about holding a position of authority, it is about influence, service, and the ability to bring people together for a common purpose. I’m sure in JLI, you’ve talked about the five sources of power. I apologize if this is redundant, but in business school these sources of power within an organization or a community were hammered into us. They are “position”, “expertise”, “referent or reputation”, Coercive or punitive and reward.
Of these powers, there are two that really matter and have the most sustainability and influence. The firs is domain expertise – leading by the strength of your knowledge and experience. The second is referent or reputation – power that accrues to you because of how you conduct yourself, your track record of success and how well you treat people.
When you think about community leaders you respect, think about their style and how they have earned their power. The most effective are those that have deep experience or those who are effective because they quietly know how to get stuff done and make you feel great about working with them.
Leaders can come from anywhere – they could be elected officials, business owners, nonprofit organizers, or residents who take the initiative to address local challenges. The most effective don’t have the answers but know how to ask good questions and actively listen the what the community says in response. From that feedback, they work with others on teams to develop pragmatic, common sense solutions.
None of this happens in a vacuum. You need to have a strong understanding of the local culture, history, and values. The North Country relies on close relationships and leaders must be approachable and engaged. Your ability to build trust and cooperation is essential for community development. Leadership also means taking responsibility in times of crisis, whether responding to natural disasters, economic downturns, or social issues. It can also mean taking risks and not being afraid of doing what you and your group think is right for the community.
Why is Leadership Important?
Leadership creates a sense of unity and identity. You help establish traditions, organize local events, and foster civic engagement, all of which contributes to a strong and cohesive community.
Second, community leadership is essential for economic growth. We all can play a role in attracting businesses, securing funding for infrastructure projects, and supporting local entrepreneurs. How do you think the new Y got built or the Y daycare ten years ago or the elimination of invasive buckthorn at Thompson Park or the Northern New York Community Foundation or the in-progress housing development for homeless, low income and displaced people on the North Side on Main Street near Mill Street? All of these things came from a result of committed, interested people who shared a common trait – a belief that the status quo should change, and the change will make the community stronger.
Leadership also demands all voices are heard. Your decisions made at the local level have a direct impact on residents. Advocate for inclusivity, ensure policies and initiatives reflect the needs of diverse groups, from young families to military to single parents to seniors. Your leadership bridges the gap between government agencies, businesses, and the community to foster collaboration.
What are the benefits?
Strong community leaders build playgrounds, replace old equipment, create greenways like the Black River Trail and bring the Orchestra of Northern New York to the park. All these things we take for granted don’t happen through good government. They happen because people like you make them happen.
I mentioned resilience at the beginning. A well-led community responds effectively to challenges such as economic shifts, environmental concerns, or public health crises. When several motels that provided temporary housing were demolished, destroyed by fire or condemned, local community leaders knew they had to address a growing shortage of low-income housing. Ground has been broken, and the foundation is being built on Main and Mill Streets. When the 10th Mountain Division was under consideration for reactivation, community leaders organized to help the military envision a new model for base construction – one where soldiers lived in the communities surrounding the base, one where soldiers, their families and children went to local neighborhood schools, one where soldier physicians worked in local hospitals. This model, born from local community leaders, ushered in a new model for base construction that created regional unity and avoided a billion dollars of capital expense building housing, schools and a hospital on base.
That is what you can do as a community leader – build a strong region and have outsized national influence.
How do you get involved?
Volunteer, find something you believe in and do something about it. Find like-minded friends and choose something to improve. Join a not-for-profit board. Do what your classmates did several years ago – create an event like the Race for Poverty to bring awareness about the working poor and raise funds to help them. Pick something that resonates with your own experiences, interests, or family need.
