Executive Summary

Re-Emergence Of Personal Participation

Richard W. Schoenke
President & CEO of First Bank of Minnesota, NA

October 1993

In today's complex and confusing world, we are confronted daily with increasingly bad news about society's ills. Discussions among our most informed business leaders are often filled with strong opinions concerning important problems and the lack of "someone" to find appropriate solutions. That "someone" might be an elected public official, an educator, or a group of citizens such as parents, religious leaders, or special interest groups.

The phrase, "I will personally get involved to help solve that problem," is too rarely heard among business leaders today, largely because they have tremendous demands on their time, and the establishment of personal priorities does not necessarily include direct involvement in the difficult kinds of issues facing society. But perhaps the time has come when our business leaders can and should once again personally get involved in dealing with these major issues.

In the past, senior business leaders directly participated in problem solving at the grass roots level. They were personally involved with our elected officials in studying and understanding important community issues that affected our general population, not just their individual enterprise populations. That is how our metropolitan area earned its great reputation which, while still in existence today, is certainly fading.

These same leaders were directly involved in the business of education and its impact on young peoples' lives. That is why we were historically recognized for the quality of our educational institutions and the reputation of our work force.

In addition, our business leaders were personally involved in decisions that distributed funds back into our society to help balance the inequities that naturally develop in a growing and complex environment. That is why Minnesota's community foundations, personal philanthropic activities, and corporate giving programs have been upheld as models for others.

In today's demanding world, many business leaders pass responsibility for involvement in these important activities to staff assistants and save "visible" board positions for themselves. While most of these assistants are hard working and well meaning, they lack the "clout" that is associated with the personal involvement from an organization's most senior business leaders. Although this trend may be understandable, it is also a major reason why we have lost many opportunities to have a positive corporate impact in dealing with society's challenges.

I believe our cities, schools, government and social service agencies need Minnesota's talented senior business leadership to once again emerge and become personally involved in the understanding and solving of the major community problems we all face. A reprioritization of time from this leadership group would pay substantial dividends for our communities. While the "rubbing of shoulders" with other business peers may be abandoned as these leaders mix with grass root participants, we would all be better off if the attention and wisdom of this leadership was more actively focused in these important areas. Who knows, in the long run, this involvement might even benefit corporate share-holders and enhance the image of business within the broader community.

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