By Matt Nicholson

Are you a leader? Formal or informal, do you find people following your lead?

First, though, before I wrap up this thought, how about some of my week.

A portion of my week was spent reviewing the 2022 budget requests with department heads. As a team, they did a good job staying within the suggested limits. Even at that, I still wanted to sit down and discuss with them why certain areas were larger than others. Over the next several months, we will go through many drafts to reach what is presented to the city council to reduce or approve.

This week, I had a few chances to do what I consider the fun stuff. I got to proclaim Aug. 3 Dorothy Helt Day for her 95th birthday. From the looks of it, she had a wonderful time celebrating. Events like this often take 20 minutes or less, but many times, the smiles can set the tone for the rest of my day.

The other event that left me smiling even days later was getting to watch Special Olympics Indiana Jackson County have its first game scenario of the season at Gaiser Park. They asked if I would throw out the first pitch before I announced the game. It was great seeing all of the smiles and good sportsmanship as they got ready for their first tournament. Thank you to all of the players and volunteers who work hard to make Jackson County Special Olympics what it is.

This week also saw the Jackson County United Way city luncheon. The Seymour Parks and Recreation Department invited all of the employees to join them at Gaiser Park for burgers and dogs to help encourage support of United Way.

It was a good chance for informal chats about what United Way is and what they do for our community. It also gave employees a chance to turn in donation forms if they wished. Thanks, parks and recreation, for hosting.

Last thing before I quickly touch on being a leader is the sharing of information. As we work our way through projects that sometimes are years in the making, I am always surprised when someone has never heard about it before.

Five-year projects, when we are working with the state, are often announced when we are awarded the project. Then a timeline is established with many milestones along the way that have to be reached. Then somewhere in the middle, we often go out for public input.

It is during these times that we have established processes to make sure input is documented properly. From there, input is taken into consideration and we work toward the construction phase before we are able to wrap it all up. This is the condensed version but still gives you an idea of how we cover many years on the same project.

Long before I was a formal leader, I was an informal leader. I would find myself getting pushed to the front of the crowd to speak for or against whatever it was.

For many years, I didn’t consider the responsibility that came with these moments. As time went by, though, I realized many people were watching to see what I was doing and how I would accomplish the task at hand. Fast forward to now and I am a formal leader due to my position.

While not much changes overall, I do now, however, have to watch closer to those reaching out to try and influence my decisions. I have to be aware they may not have the best interest of the community at heart.

As an informal leader, this rarely happened, yet as a formal leader, it seems like it happens on a regular basis. Leaders, please be ever aware of those who are out for themselves and not looking at the community’s needs as a whole.

Before I go, I would like to share a quote from John Quincy Adams: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”