Blog 4 – ‘The Importance of the Written Word and the Visual World’.

The Thinking Chair: Mobilizing Your Community to Create Positive Change Together.

‘The Thinking Chair’ reflects a series of happenings drawn from my experiences in community mobilizing and providing legal services to more than four hundred and fifty organizations, businesses and corporations acquired over many years. This volunteer work embodied grassroots community organizing, ones that I saw as important and thus fired my passions for community engagement. Along with my personal reflections are quotes from interviews with leaders who have successfully brought the members of their community together to face challenges head on. These interviews were conducted for my 2013 doctoral thesis and add further attractive ‘Thinking Chair’ dimensions. The stories will be of interest to all.

The visuals in ‘The Thinking Chair’, which include summaries of each book’s chapters and copies of newspaper articles from the relevant examples within its pages, provide a better understanding of the path going forward and the importance of saving Algoma Steel, saving the Soo Greyhounds and hosting a city-wide homecoming.

Whether seeking positive change in your community, organization or business, working together provides benefits in two directions. The first is to your community, organization or business, which will benefit your community, organization or business. The second is the benefit to those that become involved.

As a member of a group, we provide capacity and power to the group through the sum of our capabilities. People work together and share responsibility supporting their deficits with the talents of others and together they can shape the community, organization or business into the unique character of each person.

I witnessed firsthand the positive change that assisted the community, organizations and businesses that benefited from positive change and the satisfaction that comes to the many involved in creating positive change together. I often look back and appreciate so many talented people that I worked with and the friendships that were developed, all while working to create positive change together.

Although my involvement in mobilizing the community took place in Sault Ste. Marie, the influences and processes outlined in this book will apply anywhere. Understanding your community, organization or business allows you to mobilize the community, organization or business for the positive change that benefits your community, organization or business whatever it may be.

The following are reflections of Asima Vezina, President and Vice-Chancellor – International Business University and Bryan Davies of the publisher, Tagona Press after reading ‘The Thinking Chair’.

“The Thinking Chair stands as a testament to leadership grounded in wisdom, courage, and an unwavering belief in the possible… I was captivated by the inner workings and collective wisdom, strategic insight, and unwavering commitment of the individuals working behind the scenes — the heroes of the stories – who, through resilience and vision, ensured our community would come together to ‘save’ or ‘protect’ what we cherished and needed to continue to thrive.” Asima Vezina

“The Thinking Chair is a must read for anyone tasked with the challenge of creating positive change. Businesses, organizations, and communities most often succeed when their members are effectively organized to pursue and achieve a common goal. Frank’s remarkable community mobilization experiences give The Thinking Chair its breadth, depth, and persuasive power. Frank not only explains how to achieve community mobilization through utilizing available assets in short time frames. Every chapter also includes practical insights that change makers everywhere can adapt to their own organizational needs. The Thinking Chair is a testament to Frank’s unique talents – a book where authenticity and hard-won experience drive Frank’s message forward.” Bryan Davies.

It is my sincere hope that this book for mobilizing your community, organization or business to create positive change together provides information and advice that will give people confidence to take leadership roles in mobilizations that they believe in and for which they have a passion.  

‘The Thinking Chair’ can be ordered on line at www.tagonapress.com. They offer free delivery in Sault Ste. Marie and Area and through Amazon. It can also be found locally at Stone’s Office Supply, the Totem Pole, 45 Social, Donofrio’s, Soo Source for Sports, Outfitters, Second Hand World and Savings World.