Public Allies 'Experiences In Leadership In Paul Schmitz' Everybody Leads

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Paul Schmitz was the CEO of an organization called Public Allies from 200 to 2013 wrote about his experiences in leadership in the book Everybody Leads. Within the book, Paul describes in detail Public Allies’ goals, missions and objectives, as well as provides real life examples of leadership from the organization. Like the title suggest, Paul’s own experiences in life, as well as in the organization have provided him the experience necessary to argue that everybody (yes everybody) has leadership potential in them. Paul writes that the process of finding this potential within the individual then placing individuals in community leadership positions is what Public Allies is about. The most intriguing story of leadership is Paul’s …show more content…

The author writes that in asset based community development and a core Public Allies belief, is that the symbolic “glass of water” is both half empty and half full. The author extends the example to individuals as well as communities in saying that “ever member of a community, no exceptions, has gifts and talents that contribute to the community.” Additionally, every individual and community has weaknesses, and the proper application of leadership is to combine everybody’s assets to counter everybody’s weaknesses in the process of improving our communities. Public Allies makes no attempt as an organization to find and correct weaknesses, they only identify Allies’ assets to train them into community leaders. These ideas align well with the authors definition of leadership.

Public Allies defines leadership on page 33 as;
• “Leadership is a process in which many can engage, not a position that only a few can hold.
• Leadership is about taking personal and social responsibility for working with others to achieve common goals.
• Leadership is about practicing the five core values that engage diverse community members or groups in working together

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