Leading from Wherever You Are
by Mary-Margaret Zindren, Hon. AIAMN, EVP/Exec. Dir.
Our annual Leadership Forum program kicked off in late January. Two of the core concepts shared in those sessions are proving to be deeply relevant to this time:
- Leadership is not reserved for positions at the top of a hierarchy; you can lead from wherever you are.
- There are many types of power leaders can draw from — including connections with others and exhibiting moral clarity that inspires.
The leadership we have seen from everyday people, including our members, during these past terrifying weeks demonstrates this expansive view of leadership.
It draws from the inherent pluralism and values of this place. Writer Adam Serwer has in recent days described this as “neighborism—a commitment to protecting the people around you, no matter who they are or where they came from.”
Members of our architecture community have created and leveraged connections with each other to counter brutality with mutuality — what was meant to fracture us has only strengthened our neighborism and our resolve. Our horror at inhumane acts has been documented and demonstrated, and shared by people in positions of power who have been moved to act across partisan divides.
We will likely learn more of our neighbors’ names – adding to the list of those directly harmed or unjustifiably targeted: Renee Good, Alex Petri, Liam Conejo Ramos, Rachel Dionne-Thunder, Nasra Ahmed, and many more. We will also learn the names of the neighbors we pack groceries with or march next to or talk with outside places of worship and school pick-ups.
As the staff team of AIA Minnesota, we are proud to stand with our members who are exercising their constitutional rights and showing up in support of immigrants – including the immigrant members our architecture community; who are stepping forward to protest and to protect their neighbors, and are balancing ongoing professional and family obligations with civic engagement and community service. We are grateful for all the ways our members are exhibiting the empathy and humanity that is central to the profession of architecture.
We are focused on supporting our immigrant members and members of color who are navigating the worst of this difficult time. Who, regardless of immigration status, are experiencing fear for themselves and their loved ones. We have talked with a number of members whose lives and livelihoods have been profoundly impacted. And we continue to gather members’ experiences and concerns to share through our legislative advocacy, as our delegation of state and local AIA leaders heads to Washington DC next week.
The world is watching in admiration of the ways we have come together. The fact this feel second nature to us seems extraordinary to them. We have shown that people can lead from wherever they are. That leadership doesn’t just happen in a nation’s capital or its major metropolises. It happens in the streets of Minneapolis – and the streets of St. Paul, Columbia Heights, Roseville, Rochester, Duluth, and communities throughout Minnesota.
Leading from here is inspiring people everywhere.