Fall Report on Business Launch with the Missing Column

The Fall Report on Business hits mail just in time for you to prep for the upcoming election. The focus in about the upcoming election including an overview of the ND scene, info on the measures, and a side by side comparison of the congressional races. Elections matter and it's important to know that their results have policy impacts.  

As usual, we launch this issue with GNDC Director of Communications, Amanda Remynse's quarterly column

The Missing Column to the Fall Report on Business Issue: 5 Year Old's Perspective on Leadership

Recently GNDC moved offices. That means that we put everything in boxes. The boxes went into a truck and were hauled across town and unloaded in a new location. They were then unpacked and life continued on. This process has mystified my children. It’s no secret that I have three children. A first grader, a preschooler, and a daycarer – due to childcare situations and workplace flexibility, all children have been to work with me a time or two. They think offices are so fun. I have fancy pens and markers, I get to spin around in chairs and have snacks and wander around aimlessly. I’m not saying they are wrong but the move has brought on a new list of unsolicited questions.
 
I spend the most time in the car with my middle child, “the boy,” aka the preschooler. He is my gentle soul, my Ferdinand (it’s a book, good read, check it out). His questions have been along the lines of who moved the boxes, where did the boxes come from, are you going to build forts out of the boxes when you are done, do you like your new office, where do you keep the snacks and so on. Most of these I can answer to his liking but then he headed down another road, about Arik - GNDC’s CEO and President. Does Arik like the new office, where are Arik’s snacks, where does Arik sit? I can answer most of these questions to what I anticipate the answers are. But my son was concerned when I said that Arik had the office – with the door (versus the team who are collaborative space cubicles). My son, with all the feelings in the world, followed up with “does he get lonely?”
 
Now I can answer questions all day – and my husband and I have always answered in a manner that we are raising tiny adults so we attempt to break answers down without lying. But this question caught me off guard. I had three perspectives at play here – mine, my son’s, and my boss’s. My heart softened to my son’s ask. His perspective is that work is collaborative and done in groups and those that aren’t in the group may feel secluded and lonely. Much of what GNDC does is collaborative. We need our members to tell us their stories, to provide their perspective, to guide our action as an entire team but some deliverables are done by individuals. I wasn’t going to get into the nuts and bolts of work styles or the need for closed doors or whatnot but I’ve thought about his question a lot since it was uttered.
 
Now, Arik is not coming to me saying he’s lonely but that’s also something that leaders don’t do. Yet, maybe they are. Sometimes the decisions are tough. Sometimes you don’t want to decide and don’t want to put on the brave face but that’s what we expect from our leaders – this fearlessness and certainty. Plans and participation. We put our leaders in places where they are getting the credit but they also get the heat when things go south. Maybe my son is on to something, leading can be lonely. We need to remind our leaders that we are there that we support their actions.
 
Arik, when you read this, you are doing a great job and I thank you. Also, I’ll tell you where my snack drawer is, in case you feel lonely from time to time. 

GNDC FALL 2022 ISSUE OF REPORT ON BUSINESS - ELECTION & POLICY IMPACTS