I wear my grandfather’s watch.

It’s an Accutron from Bulova with a simple gold face. The underside has his name, Don Roepke, engraved along with dates that mark 25 years of service at the factory where he worked. My mother gave it to me just after he passed away in September 2013.

At first I couldn’t figure out how to make the days of the week line up with the date. The clear, quartz cover was very scratched and even had a small crack in it. I got that fixed. I also replaced the golden, stretchy metal band with one made of brown leather. It’s not worth hundreds of dollars, but it’s a nice watch and it means a lot to me.

But you know, even with all the tweaks and changes I’ve made, there is still this sense that I am wearing Grandpa’s watch. I didn’t get a new watch. It was someone else’s and now I simply look after it. And, if I can take care of it, keep it clean and working, I might be able to pass it on one day, too. I have been thinking recently; my grandpa’s watch reminds me of the mindset of really great leaders.

“Leader” is unfortunately a confusing word in our culture. Most of us are well aware of self-centered, incompetent and even corrupt people who have grafted the title of leader to their persona without first earning the required respect, trust and credibility. We are tempted to associate “leader” with other words like success, prestige, money, fame, etc., losing the true meaning of the word. There are other words though. Other words that describe other leaders. One of my favorite authors and leaders, Parker J. Palmer, defines leadership this way: “A leader is someone with the power to project either shadow or light upon some part of the world, and upon the lives of the people who dwell there. A leader shapes the ethos in which others must live, an ethos as light-filled as heaven or as shadowy as hell.”

The reason my grandfather’s watch on my wrist reminds me of great leadership is because I believe the best leaders are stewards, not owners. Trust has been given, influence granted, and the leader is faced with the question of how to handle this gift. Does she consider this status as something to be used for her own benefit, or does she understand the “here today, gone tomorrow” component of leadership? Is the goal to get his name in lights, or create a light-filled reality for whoever will take his seat next? As leaders, do we hold our influence with tight fists focused on scarcity? Or do we accept the open-handed invitation of abundance?

As I said earlier, we are all too familiar with negative leadership examples. However, there are great examples of leadership as well, and we can especially spot them when we look for those who are living as stewards, those who build something that stretches much further than themselves.

It’s like the CEO who relocates his company headquarters Downtown to help accomplish much more than simply running a profitable business.

Or the pope, in his first address, saying to the world: “Pray for me.”

Or the school superintendent who walks the halls engaging each seventh-grader he sees as if they were a board member or a voter in levy season.

Or the neighbors who care for the house they are renting because they respect the neighborhood and the landlord.

Owners use, spend and consume their way forward. Stewards preserve, share and collaborate their way into the future. Our entire conversation regarding conservation and environmental responsibility comes down to understanding stewardship. When we understand the idea of stewardship we support our schools long after our own kids have graduated.

Stewardship is tantamount to good leadership. And at The Center for Servant Leadership, we believe understanding yourself as a steward, not an owner, of the influence, power and status you currently hold is a key step in becoming a servant leader. This is an aspect of our work: teaching leaders how to uncover stewardship in their lives.

Stewardship is inspiring. When I do finally hand off grandpa’s watch to the next person, they will understand that it was given to me and now I give it to them. It is not theirs to own. They are simply looking after it for a time.

Sam Melden is executive director of The Center for Servant Leadership. He can be reached at [email protected].

Each year at this time, Toledo Free Press asks local economic development leaders to share their thoughts, plans and visions for Toledo and the region in the coming year. We want to know what they think are the biggest successes to build on, the biggest challenges ahead and what they are most excited about. It never disappoints.

“Toledo’s best days are still to come,” Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins declared, pledging to continue his focus on job creation and his support to local companies considering expansion.

Toledo Chamber of Commerce President Wendy Gramza focused on the chamber’s talent attraction and retention efforts, encapsulated by the slogan, “It Matters Where You Make It.”

“People are the No. 1 asset of any company,” Gramza wrote. “We must be able to grow local talent, recruit talent from other regions and hold on to talent when recruiters want to lure it elsewhere.”

The Lucas County Commissioners touted their efforts to streamline economic and workforce development efforts with the creation of the Department of Planning and Development and a partnership with the Regional Growth Partnership (RGP) alongside Wood, Ottawa and Monroe counties called Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. They also plugged Work Ready Lucas County, an initiative that helps measure, identify and close skill gaps in the workforce.

Northwest Ohio Regional Economic Development (NORED) President Hans Rosebrock of FirstEnergy used his company’s $600-million steam generator replacement and refueling project at Davis-Besse as an example of how large-scale private sector investments can make a big impact on our regional economy.

RGP President and CEO Dean Monske talked about his agency’s role in pitching and selling Northwest Ohio’s assets to domestic and international site consultants looking for places to expand, while Toledo African American Chamber of Commerce President Jay Black focused on ways to help promote growth and development of African-American-owned businesses, which stabilizes neighborhoods while helping the region as a whole.

The University of Toledo’s Molly Reams Thompson, Rhonda Wingfield and Jessica Sattler jointly recapped successes in innovation at UT. Roost, Nextronex and Blue Water Satellite were among startups that made a splash in 2014.

This year is shaping up to be one of the most exciting for Northwest Ohio in decades, concluded Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority President and CEO Paul Toth, citing low interest rates, oil prices, unemployment rates and more — “all signs that our economy is moving in the right direction and that further investment in the region is imminent.”

Finally, TFP’s Lou Hebert offers his solution for the “riverfront riddle” of the Marina District — a park. “Let it be what it is now and what it wants to be: a park,” Hebert wrote. “Whatever it is, it should be grand. We should have no quarter for little plans. We need to do something to stir our souls. Toledo needs to make a statement — a bold one to the rest of the world and to ourselves. This is our chance. This is our challenge. This waiting and vacant piece of our riverfront is our opportunity.”

Here’s to 2015. Cheers.

Sarah Ottney is editor in chief of Toledo Free Press. Contact her at sottney@
toledofreepress.com or find her on Twitter at @sarahottney.

I stare blankly at my smartphone. At moments like this, I’m certain it actually is smarter than I am. I haven’t said anything on Facebook or Twitter for a few hours now. I need to add a comment, joke, clever observation or link for my followers to visit. I want to say something that will add a smile to their day, something they can acknowledge with a like, comment or — Lord willing — that cherished repost or retweet.

I want to post something good. Funny. No, more than funny — brilliantly funny. I want to post something that will go down in the annals of social media. A note that, after the inevitable Internet Hall of Fame is built, will be enshrined on a plaque somewhere. Fans of wit or wisdom will gather around to speak of it in hushed tones, wondering of its origin. “He went by the handle ‘jeffmac813.’ No one knows what inspired this seminal work. We only know it has enriched the lives of generations.”

Yet a blank screen stares at me, and I am powerless before it. I can’t think of anything to write — at least anything that people would actually want to read. I am paralyzed between the desire to share a thought and the lack of any thought to share. You often hear about writer’s block, that bane of the creative. If this particular lack of movement has a term, it would be akin to SMA — Social Media Anxiety. And I have suffered from it for a long, long time.

It wasn’t always like this. Back when I first began to dip my toe into the waters of Friendster, MySpace and their now-obsolete brethren, social media was a bit of a mystery. In those early days, the platforms just seemed like a fun and harmless way of keeping in touch with my pals and occasionally making new ones.

As someone who clings to people I care about like a barnacle, it was a great way of maintaining connections to people who had long since departed Northwest Ohio.

I didn’t put much thought into what I was posting at that point — my comments were the usual “feeling glum” or “just ate at so-and-so” that everyone writes. But somewhere along the way, I began noticing the kind of users and status updates that I loved reading, and longed to be more like them. These were the individuals using these platforms not just to exchange simple observations, but as a creative outlet.

People like my friend Jessica Joy (@J2thaJOY), whose off-center thoughts on the universe never cease to make me smile. (“If Jesus doesn’t sing on your album, why are you thanking him for your Grammy?”) Comedians whose work I’ve always admired, like Albert Brooks (@AlbertBrooks) and Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo), who find a way to be brilliant and funny even when confined to 140 characters. New friends like the remarkable Babsbat (@BabsBat), a cosplayer from Britain whose remarkable costume work is surpassed only by her blindingly wonderful wit.

These kinds of writers inspired me to up my game. To use Facebook, Twitter and their ilk as a forum not only for miscellaneous thoughts on the events of the day, but to contribute a smile or two to the people who cared enough to follow me. And as time has gone on and my number of friends has grown, it’s an obligation I take increasingly — some would say worryingly — seriously.

No, for real. I work almost as hard on my Twitter and Facebook updates as I do on most any other form of writing I do, and I take just as much joy in a job well done. When I get a beep from my phone notifying me that someone commented or replied to something I posted, my heart glows a bit. If someone who I admire has “liked” one of my lines, I feel a surge of pride. Seriously, it’s insane.

I’ve even started signing up for new websites, just so I don’t get left behind. I signed up for Vine even though I have never had any interest in filming videos. I signed up for Instagram, though I loathe having my picture taken in general. Seriously, look at me. I know a shot of my mug accompanies this column. Look at it — tell me I don’t have a face for radio.

And yet, I keep going. I try to learn the new obsessions, I make new jokes, I suffer through those paralyzing bouts of SMA. I am an addict, I admit it. But in my mind, it’s all worth it. Because unlike most addictions, which are purely selfish in nature, the end result of this one brings a sliver or two of joy into the lives of people I care about. And if I can do that, it’s worth every agonizing second spent staring at a blank smartphone screen. @jeffmac813. Let me know how I’m doing, would you?

Jeff McGinnis is pop culture editor of Toledo Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jeffmac813.