Good morning fellow leaders and influencers. It is a stunning morning here in Vancouver, and I hope it is for you, wherever you are.

There is something about Vancouver, at this time of year, by the water. The cool ocean breeze with the aroma of adventure, and the warm sun bringing the tourists out of their hotels to wander, shop and record everything they can on their iPhone. The tourists are the ones with light sweaters handy, the locals are the ones wearing t shirts and shorts, and crossing the street to walk on the sunny side! I think this particular neighbourhood, the West End, may be the only neighbourhood in Canada where the municipal authorities have planted palm trees.

I’ve been very interested in neighbourhoods this year; thinking that it is the neighbourhood where we have the most influence and to some degree the most responsibility. I was quite shocked to read last week about Detroit ‘declaring bankruptcy’.  http://business.financialpost.com/2013/07/22/detroit-bankruptcy-cities/  And one of the contributing factors to the economic decline of Detroit is of course the movement of more affluent people out of the city into neighbouring municipalities; the often mentioned “white flight”. Add to the mix the precipitous drop in employment with the dramatic changes in the automotive industry and “Mo-Town” becomes “No-Town”.

As I look into the mists of the future I see an interesting development, inspired in part by a neighbourhood just south of where I sit right now. Yaletown is the sea of high rises you see in most pictures of ‘downtown’ Vancouver  looking north from the city hall area: http://www.hellobc.com/vancouver.aspx  When I first moved here in the mid ’80’s, that neighbourhood was old warehouses, and old apartment buildings, most of which were torn down for Expo ’86. The huge parking lot left over was developed over the next 20 years into high rise condos, imagined by the planners to be an extension of the West End, a largely gay neighbourhood with lots of people with double incomes and no kids. Much to their surprise it was young families who moved in. Many moved there because they would rather walk for 20 minutes to and from work, rather than wasting 2 hours a day commuting. The school in Yaletown is bursting, and the community centre is packed to the rafters. And very importantly it is a neighbourhood where it doesn’t matter what the colour of your skin is, whether you’re gay or straight, or how you express your spirituality. It is an amazing neighbourhood. (I should say that it does have its share of issues, one way to get the neighbours out for a town hall meeting for example is to hint that there could be ‘social housing’ or ‘mixed income’ housing coming in a new plan!)

It may be a Canadian thing, but I’ve seen similar neighbourhoods in Melbourne, Darwin and Sydney in Australia, and to a lesser extent in San Francisco in the US. I’m sure there are others. In short, when we are able to find ways of being neighbours with each other, regardless of ancestral background and sexual orientation we will find that our neighbourhoods and then cities are stronger and safer economically for all of us. For some interesting academic work, look at Richard Florida’s work lately at the University of Toronto; http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/richard-florida/canadas-most-creative-cit_b_1608460.html I am personally intrigued by the work of Amartya Sen, who says, quoting Adam Smith, the healthiest communities are where “everyone can appear in public without shame,” http://www.iep.utm.edu/sen-cap/  with the caveats of how we measure and understand ‘shame’ being a required vital dialogue.

As interesting as this might be, what is the role here for leaders and influencers inside of organizations? As much as being environmentally conscious is important, what about our neighbourhood consciousness? I’ve started an interesting experiment involving two elements. The first is that each time I see people with a map in Vancouver, I stop and offer assistance. (Now I must admit there is one lady I think who I inadvertently sent to wrong subway stop, realizing my mistake only two blocks later!) That aside, I think there are people from all over the world who have a better feeling about their visit to my city because I helped out. The second is that I pick up litter. I don’t go out of my way, but if I see a plastic bottle or a discarded cigarette package, I pick it up, knowing  that there will be a receptacle in the next couple of blocks. If I do that, and inspire 3 others to do the same, there will be that much less garbage on the streets in my neighbourhood. And that will be good for business as well, as more people want to be in my neighbourhood and the neighbourhoods I visit.

This is the final Leadership Notes for a month. I’ll be on vacation until the 25th of August. I hope that the month gives us all  a chance to be better neighbours for ourselves and our communities and to live and work together to make our cities and towns places where everyone can appear in public without shame!