Pollen - Volume 2

Curator, Lars Leafblad

Dear friends,

I hope this finds you happy, healthy, and keeping warm!

Special thanks since last edition to Greg Tehven, Brad Lehrman, Nils Snyder, Jeff Meacham,
Beth Kathan, Sean Benson, Matt Musel, Chris Lambe, Julie Cohen, Dan Grigsby, Jason Zotalis,
Bill Venne, Hans Thomsen, Joan Olson, Tammy Mencel, Anna Leighton, Sean Kershaw, Dave
Walstad, Teresa Morrow, Lindsay Hanson, Karla Ekdahl, Cecily Sommers, Catherine Day, Steve
Pederson, Mary Buschette, Regina Barr, Autumn Huiras, Kent Eklund, Anita Patel, Rob Davis,
Scott Mosley, Ben Cox, James Kahl, Ben Marcy, Laura Bloomberg, Emily Hutchinson, Tom
Nelson, Christopher Orr, Margarette Minor, and Andrea Wood (and anyone else I'm inadvertently
forgetting) for your emails and/or referring this to others in your network; thank you!

Special welcome to new participants Roger Bentley, Amelia Kendall, Nick Wiebusch, Stephannie
Lewis, Bob Bradley, Tom Corbett, Britta Orr, Julie Manning, and Jane Rodriguez, (my sincere
apologies to anyone I've missed - if I have, let me know so you can be welcomed next edition).

Please consider forwarding this along to others in your network; truly, the more the merrier!

Many of you are also on LinkedIn and Twitter and it was suggested by several of you that we
provide this community with the opportunity to exchange coordinates.

If you’re on either site, please forward your profiles and I’ll include in future edition(s).

You can find me at:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsleafblad
and
http://www.twitter.com/larsleafblad

If you ever wish to leave this e-communication list, simply reply "remove" in the subject header
and I'll make it so asap.

And now your responses to the new feature added last week:

Last Edition’s Questions (responses with names attributed unless you indicated
otherwise):

1) What is a MN-based non-profit you supporting financially this year and why should
others join you?
- “I am supporting Women Achieving New Direction http://www.eac-
mn.org/WomenProg/WAND (which is a program of the Employment Action Center of
Minnesota) because they help single, working mothers (who are financially supporting
their children) upgrade their job skills to find jobs that pay better or provide other benefits
including health care.” (Regina Barr)

- “Courage Center, and not because I am the chair of the board, but because of the
positive impact they make on thousands of individuals with physical disabilities under
very challenging reimbursement programs.” (Kent Eklund)

- “Wellstone Action -- they train regular people, no matter their political leanings, to be
informed and organized political citizens and community leaders.” (name withheld)
 - “One MN nonprofit my husband and I support is Community Celebration of Place
because we believe they are doing an incredibly creative job of helping young children
learn about and honor the wisdom of elders from many cultural traditions. We believe it
is a valuable investment in our multicultural future.” (Laura Bloomberg)

- “Animal Humane Society (AHS) - as many Minnesotans face increasingly challenging

economic conditions, many have had to sacrifice. For many Minnesotans, a cat, dog or
even a bird or rabbit is viewed as a 'member of the family.' One of the most painful
choices I've heard people being forced to make is giving up a family pet because you are
homeless or your budget no longer covers the cost of pet food or medical bills. When
people have to make those hard choices, the Animal Humane Society doesn't turn them
away. They care for those animals and try to find new families who are able to grow their
family. While donations are down to nonprofits like AHS, the need has spiked. I know my
donations are being used to care for and find homes for animals who will bring a great
deal of joy and love into the lives of their owners.” (Teresa Morrow)

- “CaringBridge. A good friend just died, and CaringBridge was a transformative tool in
helping his network of friends stay connected to each other, and him.” (Sean Kershaw)

- “Faith’s Lodge. http://www.faithslodge.org/Donate.htm” (name withheld)

2) Who is one person that you’d like to publicly thank for the impact they've had on your
life in the past year and why?
- “John Yngve, founder of our company, Cincinnatus, on adding the time dimension of his 85
years to help us all remain calm in the current white water. This too shall pass!” (Kent
Eklund)

- “I'd like to publicly thank Charlotte Preston (who recently signed on to this listserv) for the
impact she's had on me this past year. Charlotte is a wise mentor and an innovator.
She lives her life as an example of social justice.” (Laura Bloomberg)

- “My childhood minister, Norbert Johnson. Randy Geller, a friend who died last week at
age 45. Donald Jones, the father of my best friend from college.” (Sean Kershaw)

3) What is one goal you have for 2010 that you’re willing to share publicly with this
community?
- “Continue the quest for a four generation balance of life in our family.” (Kent Eklund)

- “My goal for 2010 is to ensure that the U of MN Center for Integrative Leadership
highlights and celebrates the courageous cross-sector leadership that occurs "at the
intersections" of society's big challenges (e.g., health care and the economy, job security
and environmental protection, education and neighborhood development). We can
learn powerful lessons from those leaders who reach across differences to share power
and resources-- and lead us toward more viable solutions.” (Laura Bloomberg)

- “Reduce my monthly hours by 15% AND achieve my goals at work.” (Sean Kershaw)

This Edition’s Question:

What 2009 event/opportunity/learning/challenge/growth moment are you most grateful for?

And now on to this edition's brainfeed:
Jobs (forwarded by you - not searches being conducted by KeyStone Search):

1) Project Manager, ProVation Medical, http://www.provationmedical.com (via Sean

Benson)

2) Senior Project Manager, Grassroots Solutions, http://www.grassrootsolutions.com (via

Lindsay Hanson)

3) Planned and Major Gifts Officer, Hamline University – http://www.hamline.edu (via Hans
Thomsen)

4) Business Development position, Mpls St Paul Business Journal,

http://www.twincities.bizjournals.com (via Tammy Mencel)

5) Campaign Director, Lundstrum Center, http://www.lundstrumcenter.org (via Joan

Grathwol Olson)

6) Marketing Manager, International Market Square, http://www.imsdesigncenter.com (via

Bill Venne)

Props to (please consider sharing good news about a friend/colleague/volunteer for next issue):

- Regina Barr appointed to another term on board of directors for Breast Cancer
Awareness Association (http://www.bcaamn.org)

- Anita Patel named one of the Top Ten Outstanding Young Minnesotans by the MN
Jaycees
o http://www.mnjaycees.org/toym.htm

- Anita Patel, Andy Brehm, Amanda Brinkman, and Ryan Burnet on being profiled in “the
Graduates” top six young leaders under 30 by MN Business Magazine
o http://www.minnesotabusiness.com/0t6p334/magazine/
th
- Matt Hemsley & The LEAD Project on success December 5 gala supporting Children’s
Dental Services
http://parties.mspmag.com/2009/12/lead-projects-holiday-ball-1.html#more

- Alex Lopes, Stephanie Payne & TORCH community on 100+ attendees for Social
th
Responsibility Challenge event December 9
-
- Cecily Sommers on her new ventures related to continued evolution of the PUSH
Conference; http://pushthefuture.org/the-founder/

- Gary Cohen on the release of his new book “Just Ask Leadership” –
http://www.justaskleadership.com

- Greg Tehven on his decision to explore a new chapter following Students Today,
Leaders Forever -

More info: http://www.stlf.net/get-connected/blog/leadership-transition-brings-opportunity

- Dan Haugen (belatedly) on his move to join http://www.BringMeTheNews.com

- Scott Peterson (the Left Lane Scott Peterson) on his new role with Medtronic
Ideas:

- Check out Kiva via http://www.kiva.org (via James Kahl)

- A great conversation on leadership featuring the CEO of eBay, Chair and former CEO of Xerox,
Chair and former CEO of Carlson Companies, facilitated by Bill George
http://www.billgeorge.org/page/leadership-summit-video (via Karla Ekdahl)

- Check out blog from Tim Morin commenting on latest thinking from Clayton Christensen
http://tjmorin.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-job-is-your-product-being-hired.html

- Recycling a thought provoking piece on the “Death of the Job Interview” by Seth Godin (via
Chadburn Blomquist)
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/09/the_end_of_the_.html

- Another interesting take on the dynamics of what creates “exceptional interviews” (via TED.com)
http://www.ted.com/talks/marc_pachter_the_art_of_the_interview.html

- “All you need to know about social media in 3 minutes” from the founder of Reddit.com (via
TED.com)
http://www.ted.com/talks/alexis_ohanian_how_to_make_a_splash_in_social_media.html

- CEO of Yahoo! on the future of leadership in the information age (via The Economist)
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14742618

- Three very talented Thirty-somethings profiled in The Economist

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14742286

Engaging:

1) Common Grounds is seeking applicants for its spring 2010 pro-bono consulting project –
email Ben Marcy for additional information (Benjamin.j.marcy at gmail.com)

http://commongroundsmn.org/client

2) The Nerdery’s Overnight Web Challenge (Via Dan Grigsby and Greg Tehven)

http://www.overnightwebsitechallenge.com/

3) One Young World Leadership Summit in February (consider nominating a delegate) (via
The Economist)

http://www.oneyoungworld.org/delegates/flashindex.html

http://twitter.com/OneYoungWorld
Thanks so much for your time and content suggestions.

If you’d like to be removed, hit reply with "remove" in the subject header.

On the other end, please forward this to others in your network and invite them to join us.

Thanks SO much for your time and as always, please let me know if there's ever anything I can
do for you or yours.

Happy holidays and have a great end to ’09 and start to ’10!

Onwards and upwards,

Lars

Lars Leafblad
Principal
KeyStone Search
"Because Culture Matters"

612-375-8989 - Direct
http://www.keystonesearch.com/team_leafblad.php
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsleafblad
http://www.twitter.com/larsleafblad