Blaine Lam

• Lam & Associates
• Kalamazoo Resident
• Community Activist
  
  

"The best way to be effective in community building is to "pick your spot," that is, to understand your role and understand the issue that you want to make some progress on. Progress is what you're after. In order to build, you have to make progress.

"I always think that there's two ways to make progress. One is process, to get involved in the process and to be effective in the process, go ahead and spend a certain amount of time networking and spend, obviously, more than 50% of that time listening. When you listen and get engaged in the networking process, you'll be more effective and you'll understand the issue better.

"The second component I really look at is the project orientation. If it has timelines and dollar signs and a greater sense of urgency, you'll work more effectively and on the most important things. So if you'll get involved in the process, and do it with a project orientation, that adds up to progress. Thank you."