What Does It Take to Be a Courageous Leader? — February Bonus Episode

The February issue of Parks & Recreation magazine is out now,
and we recently had the opportunity to chat with Jamie Sabbach
about her article, “Leading With Courage,” for this month’s bonus
episode. Jamie is the president and CEO of 110% Inc. and Amilia
Consulting USA, and she joined us to talk about true courageous
leadership, as well as explain why it is so important to the
field of parks and recreation.


On this episode, Jamie expands on the idea that the term
“leadership” is often confused with other words like
“management,” and that there is a misrepresentation of authority
figures as leaders simply because of the seats they occupy and
the titles they hold. We talk about the idea that a person is
sometimes seen as a leader based on their title, not necessarily
their “leadership” qualities. And while this is true in many
cases, it can also be said that someone doesn’t have to wait to
be in a certain “position” to be a great leader.


We also chat about why good leadership is essential to the smart
growth and sustainability of a park and recreation agency. In her
article, Jamie says that leadership requires the ability to say
things that are not necessarily the easiest or most popular. She
mentions maintenance backlogs and deteriorating infrastructure
being a concern for many park and recreation professionals across
the country, and that it’s easier to appeal to those who are
attracted to the novelty of growth and new development than to
have the less popular and more difficult conversation telling
people that they simply cannot have the bright, shiny object
without contributing to its ongoing care and maintenance.


Jamie also shares some things that park and recreation
professionals can do to make sure their voices are heard in the
bigger conversations about some of the major challenges in the
world today, such as homelessness, obesity and the opioid crisis.


What are your thoughts on how park and recreation professionals
can be courageous leaders in their communities? Email us and let
us know!