Leadership That Serves

What do a bold 1970s visionary, a tornado displaced football team, and a regional ice storm have in common? They reveal what real leadership looks like. Serving.

In this episode of IgniteCast, Judd Wilson talks with Mike Clayborne, President of the Create Foundation, about leadership that brings people together and makes life better for others. They reflect on the legacy of George McLean and Jim Ingram, the partnership between Create and the Community Development Foundation, and why regional collaboration matters more than ever.

At its core, this conversation reminds us that leadership is not about title or spotlight. It is about service, vision, and the courage to put others first.

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Transcript

S7 E4 Mike Clayborne
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[00:00:00] Taylor Tutor: Welcome to Ignite Cast, where Ideas Spark action brought to you by the Community Development Foundation, your Chamber of Commerce and economic development engine. For Tupelo in Lee County, thank you to our presenting sponsor, iHeartMedia for powering this season of Ignite Cast. I'm Taylor. 

[00:00:35] Judd Wilson: I'm Judd, 

[00:00:36] Taylor Tutor: and welcome to Ignite Cast.

[00:00:38] Judd Wilson: Welcome cast. All right, we're here for another episode of Ignite Cast. The official podcast of the at night leadership conference is always good to bring in guests and to talk to them. And I just love season seven because as I mentioned before, this is the season that follows the at night leadership conference that we just had in [00:01:00] January, and we're still.

[00:01:01] Judd Wilson: So excited for everything that we learned, and I'm excited about our guest today. Our guest today is from the Create Foundation, Mike Clarin that works there with them, actually runs the whole organization. Mike, not only do you run Create, you're also a great friend as well. Welcome to at Nightcast. 

[00:01:17] Mike Clayborne: Thank you.

[00:01:17] Mike Clayborne: Good. Good to be with you. 

[00:01:19] Judd Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. So one thing we always like to start off on this leadership conference, uh, or leadership podcast is, is to talk a little bit about leadership. So the question I have for you is. What's the greatest leadership tip you've ever been given? 

[00:01:35] Mike Clayborne: Yeah, you, you know, I, I think leadership comes in all forms and shapes, and sometimes we have preconceived ideas about what a leader looks like and.

[00:01:50] Mike Clayborne: I, I, I think to me one of the most important things is a leader is able to bring people together [00:02:00] to work for a common purpose. And, uh, I I think that if you can't do that, you can't get much done. 

[00:02:08] Judd Wilson: Yeah. Yes. Bringing people, yeah. Yeah. It's bringing people together. 

[00:02:11] Mike Clayborne: Yeah. And I, and I think another thing, it, it, in thinking about leadership, I, I think it, it does boil down to what have you done to make things better for others.

[00:02:26] Mike Clayborne: And I don't, I don't care what kind of business you're in, what kind of organization. I if, if you can't demonstrate what you've done to make life better for others, I'm not sure what you've accomplished. 

[00:02:40] Judd Wilson: Yeah, yeah, that's that's so true. That's so true. And you know, we both work for two organizations that really.

[00:02:47] Judd Wilson: Leadership is very important. Um, you know, and I know that our audience knows about Create, I know our audience knows about CDF, but talk a little bit about how, um, the formation of both those organizations really [00:03:00] kind of focused around one individual, one family and, and how we kind of propel even that vision today.

[00:03:06] Judd Wilson: Kind of speak on that for us, Mike. 

[00:03:08] Mike Clayborne: Yeah, and I, and I think sometimes we, we forget where we came from and, and I think. George McLean is a, a great study in leadership because as I frequently say, Mr. McLean is a lot more beloved today than he was in his heyday perhaps, but no one could, would question his vision.

[00:03:38] Mike Clayborne: And again, I, I think that is, is something that's really important. For a leader is, is to have a vision of, of where you want things, uh, to go. And clearly he was a visionary ahead of his time. Uh, and thank goodness for him, he had a great leader and, and Jack Reed [00:04:00] Sr. That, uh, that followed him around cleaning up for him.

[00:04:04] Mike Clayborne: And, uh, but, but. Again, you look at first when he pulled together the, the community to form the community development Foundation and, and, and really brought not only Tupelo, but Lee County together to focus on things that were really, uh, IM important and, and then the second. The leg of that was when he was looking for a vehicle to keep his newspaper always locally owned.

[00:04:36] Mike Clayborne: And, and, and coming up with the idea with, for create a community foundation that, uh, would ultimately own, uh, that the journal and compliment, uh. Uh, CDF and, and in fact, I think in our early documents, uh, uh, uh, creates the charitable arm of CDF, and, and so [00:05:00] I, I think, you know, as things have played out with.

[00:05:04] Mike Clayborne: With c, d, F, you know, obviously primarily focusing on Tupelo and Lee County, but having a regional impact in many ways. Uh, and then create being truly a regional, uh, organization and the partnership between the two and working together to, to make our region a better place because, uh, Tupelo and Lee County can't.

[00:05:30] Mike Clayborne: Achieve its goals without the broader region. And, and so, uh, I, I think we're understanding that more and, and I think the leadership and bringing people, uh, together to, to play various roles has been really important. 

[00:05:46] Judd Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. And it's, and it's neat too, and it goes back to. When I asked you before what's the greatest leadership tip is, are you making it better for somebody else?

[00:05:55] Judd Wilson: Yeah. And, and, uh, George McLean saw that back then, and as you [00:06:00] mentioned, uh, you know, he's, he's probably more beloved now than he was then, because from what I hear from historians and folks that knew him, he, I mean, he was very demanding. It wasn't e almost easy to get along with, but sometimes leaders are different in that way.

[00:06:14] Judd Wilson: Isn't that right? 

[00:06:16] Mike Clayborne: Y Yeah. And, and again, I think that's the point is, uh, uh, being a leader doesn't fit just a particular definition. And, and no question. He was a great. Uh, leader and had a sense of urgency about getting things done and put his money where his mouth was. Yeah. And, uh, and so yeah, I mean, just, you know, things at the time.

[00:06:43] Mike Clayborne: In the original, uh, board meeting of create, he talked about a few things that he particularly cared about, and one of those was zero to five years old. This is 1972 NN nobody was talking about zero to five years old. Uh, then, and [00:07:00] he talked about the importance of growing leaders, uh, of, of, uh, skills training and, and so, uh, a great leader and, uh, and I, and I.

[00:07:13] Mike Clayborne: You know, as we revisit some of those things he was talking about, it's like, yeah, all that's relevant, uh, today. And I think that's another mark is, is leadership, you know, is timeless, I think. Yeah. 

[00:07:27] Judd Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. Well, you're a leader. So let's kind of walk a little bit through your journey. Mike, you, I know you've been in economic development, chamber of Commerce world and, and now running a, a, a large community foundation, uh, here in, in the state of Mississippi.

[00:07:41] Judd Wilson: Kind of tell us a little bit about your journey and also maybe some mentors along the way that, that got you to where you are today. 

[00:07:49] Mike Clayborne: Yeah, that's interesting. I, you know, my, my first job out of college was with the Amory Park and recreation. And, uh, one of the things [00:08:00] that, uh, that gave me some training, uh, uh, was when I started officiating ball games.

[00:08:08] Mike Clayborne: Little did I know that that would be some important lessons in, uh, in dealing with people. Uh, but, uh, uh, as you mentioned, I, I, uh, was at the. Amory, north Monroe Chamber of Commerce. And then, well, actually, I'll just say when we started the railroad festival, uh, and then was at Starkville at the Chamber economic development when we started the research, uh, park.

[00:08:34] Mike Clayborne: And then, as I like to say, you'll appreciate, uh, move to Aniston, Alabama to do foreign missionary work that's right at the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce for five and a half years. And so, uh, this will actually be my 30th. Year, uh, uh, as president of CRE eight. And, uh, and so it's been an interesting journey and, uh, and you know, and I just think back about [00:09:00] all the people that have influenced me in different ways and I, I, I don't know that I really.

[00:09:06] Mike Clayborne: Could, uh, uh, uh, uh, point out, uh, just one or two. Uh, but a lot of different people influence me and, uh, and from a faith standpoint to, uh, treating everybody with respect. And, uh, and you know, and again, I just comment I made earlier, uh, uh, as I think back about that journey. One common thread in all of that has been can you bring people together?

[00:09:43] Judd Wilson: Mm. 

[00:09:43] Mike Clayborne: People that share different viewpoints on things, but. But they also care, uh, about a community or organization or region and just, just [00:10:00] helping them to come to consensus on what's the path forward. And another thing I think is important too, is when, when you have a vision and you set goals. People don't want you to come up with all the reasons why it won't work.

[00:10:17] Mike Clayborne: Let, let's, let's come up with solutions and, and so I think being solution oriented, uh, is, uh, is important. So, uh, you know, it's, uh, uh, again, I, I think another piece of it is being quick to give credit and praise to to others, because. That's really the only way that you get things done and, and when you have success, hey, there's plenty of credit to go around to everybody.

[00:10:49] Judd Wilson: That's right. And it's good to partner to do that. 

[00:10:52] Mike Clayborne: Right. 

[00:10:52] Judd Wilson: Let's speak a little bit about partnerships. We mentioned sort of the genesis of, uh, of Create and, and, and CDF, and another great [00:11:00] partnership that I, that. I love that we work on together is the jiming or Community Leadership Institute, which, uh, you know, I know kind of came outta leadership lead, but in 2001 was relaunched with, with the partnership with CDF and, and create together to do the jiming or Community Leadership Institute.

[00:11:15] Judd Wilson: Why do you think that's important? 

[00:11:19] Mike Clayborne: W well, I, I remember vividly Jim Ingram at a create board meeting saying, we have got to get our leadership program again. We, we are missing that, who are gonna be the future leaders. And uh, and again, Mr. Ingram was, you know, he was a great leader, had a different style, and you know, you know, we think about people, you know, being eloquent and all that.

[00:11:47] Mike Clayborne: He wasn't really that, but, but, but boy did he have, uh, conviction, uh, about his views and, and people respected him. And, and so, you know, [00:12:00] as we, as we think about. The future and, and who is gonna step up? I think there's a lot of concern, still concern about, you think about the giants like George McLean and Jim Ingram and Aubrey Patterson and on and on, that, that have proceeded us.

[00:12:20] Mike Clayborne: So who are, who's gonna step into those roles? And, and so I, I think having a, a program where. You, you help people to de develop relationships. I say that over and over again with a class. I think that's one of the most important things, but also that people have a. A, a deeper understanding of how our community works and, and what are the key components.

[00:12:50] Mike Clayborne: I, I think all of that equips them to be more effective as a leader and to understand where they might fit into the picture. And so I, I'm really [00:13:00] proud of the partnership that that create has had with CDF, of course, CDF does most of the heavy lifting on, on this program, but we're just. Uh, very appreciative of that partnership, and I think we've seen some important things develop, uh, out of that, of projects that have mm-hmm.

[00:13:18] Mike Clayborne: Come forward, but also people that really have kind of elevated their leadership to another level. 

[00:13:24] Judd Wilson: It, it's a joy to do. And, and I'm thinking about even our last session that we had, we had, um. Dr. Vaughn Grisham in town and he's, he's reached the age of 89 now. And, and it was neat seeing those students listen to him Yeah.

[00:13:38] Judd Wilson: About leadership because he was telling the old stories, you know, he was telling the stories of George McLean, but you know, they needed to hear it and, but it was just neat to kind of, you know, see historian kind of tell that story and inspire them to say, Hey. Let's go do something and, and, and do it. So, uh, it, it was, it was a, it was a special time together and I'm, I'm glad we can kind of [00:14:00] continue to do that.

[00:14:01] Judd Wilson: What we like to do is kind of play a clip, Mike, and we're gonna play a clip from, from at night. Just a few weeks ago here in January, we had Justin Forset with us, uh, played in the NFL, and he talks a little bit about service. So let's listen to that. 

[00:14:15] Justin Forsett: We need to serve. And I know you're probably thinking, man, Justin, if I got so much on my plate, if I'm going through a bunch of adversity and opposition and I'm facing countless amounts of change, you want me to serve?

[00:14:27] Justin Forsett: Yes. Because serving is the currency to elevation. If you want more to your life, if you want more to your career, you must serve. You see, serving shifts your perspective from you living a me driven life to you living a purpose-driven life, a we driven life. A life of impact. See, what I love also about serving is that it has this unique ability to lift the weight of a situation.

[00:14:51] Justin Forsett: So oftentimes when we're going through our own storms, it can be hard to find a reason to have a smile on our face and join our heart, but the fastest path to [00:15:00] that smile on our face and join our heart is to serve our fellow man. 

[00:15:04] Judd Wilson: You mentioned that our CLI classes do projects to serve. Why is it important as leaders to serve others?

[00:15:12] Mike Clayborne: Well, I mean, as we said earlier, I, I think that is a mark of, of a leader is what impact have you had on other people? And, and so I, I, I just think that, uh, sends a message to, to people and, and people can tell. Whether you're genuine and, and I, I think when you, as a leader, when you show that you do care about other people, then it's a, it's much easier to bring people together.

[00:15:46] Judd Wilson: Yeah. Uh. So let me, let me talk about this a little bit. 'cause I know, you know, at CDF we don't like to brag, y'all don't like to brag either, but I think we sometimes are a catalyst to get other people to take action. I mean, we, we see that, that [00:16:00] y'all are doing with the, with the recent ice storms and, and the.

[00:16:03] Judd Wilson: Other communities coming alongside the other communities and kind of being the catalyst to make that happen. I remember back in the Amry tornadoes and um, you know, the devastation that Amry, uh, had, but the other communities kind of surrounded that and talk a little bit about the partnership that that Amry had with Tupelo, even with the football team.

[00:16:22] Judd Wilson: I know that sounds something small, but it's so neat that. You know, that a community was there to kind of help another community. 

[00:16:29] Mike Clayborne: Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and I tell you, uh, I, I often get emotional Yeah. When I talk about having grown up in Amory, but you know, there has, for a long period of time, been to Friday night football syndrome every day of the week between Tupelo and Amory.

[00:16:49] Mike Clayborne: Yeah. It's a little different now than it used to be, but that. You know, there, there's been certain amount of, of rivalry and, and Oh yeah. Tupelo's for regional [00:17:00] corporation when it suits their purpose, you know, and that kind of thing. But I'm telling you, when the tornado hit Amory and they didn't have a place to football, which football is a big deal mm-hmm.

[00:17:11] Mike Clayborne: In Amory, and they were looking at what they could do and they came to Tupelo and. The Tupelo High School just rolled out the red carpet, said, look, everything we have, it's yours. We'll give you the key. We'll help you do the video board, whatever you need. And, and it was like they were blown away. And, and then, you know, on game day and down Tupelo mm-hmm.

[00:17:41] Mike Clayborne: Town downtown Tupelo, Amory flags were flying. I'm telling you, people that have had different viewpoints about cooperation just said, I can't believe it. 

[00:17:56] Judd Wilson: Yeah. 

[00:17:57] Mike Clayborne: And, and so, you know, we were [00:18:00] able to kinda supplement that with, we, we got, I think about a dozen or so, uh, Tupelo businesses that paid for security for the game, paid for the cleanup that had to be done, and, and so.

[00:18:16] Mike Clayborne: You know, I, I think that's an example of serving others and, uh, and being there for people in a, in a time of need. And, and so, you know, that's a, I I think that's a, a an example of leadership mm-hmm. Of with people in Tupelo that made a huge difference. 

[00:18:37] Judd Wilson: And, and I tell you, there's stories like that that go on forever, you know?

[00:18:42] Judd Wilson: And, and, and I think it's, you know, some people say, is there something in the water around here? I think there is, you know, but I think it's because, you know, we built on other leaders and said, Hey, that's just how we're gonna do things. 

[00:18:55] Mike Clayborne: Yeah. And, and I think, as I said, [00:19:00] how Tupelo and Lee County. Flourish is I, I think through regional partnerships.

[00:19:07] Mike Clayborne: Mm-hmm. Because you look at all the major institutions here, the, the, the hospital, the, uh, the, uh, arena, the mall, on and on. Mm-hmm. And you, you look and you see, uh, it's people from all over the, the area. And so it is, I, I think important for. Tupelo to be a leader, uh, because a lot of resources are available here that impact far beyond Tupelo in Lee County.

[00:19:42] Mike Clayborne: And uh, and just as you mentioned with the, the ice storm, um. Really through the affiliates that we have at, at Create and now in every single county, uh, we were able to respond pretty quickly just [00:20:00] for, you know, to help out with some immediate cost with food and shelter and those kind of things. And, uh, and, and so, and, and, and more of that's starting to, uh, to develop as this goes forward.

[00:20:12] Mike Clayborne: But, but those kind of things, it being in a position. To assist and serve. It really make a difference to have further conversations and build more partnerships. 

[00:20:25] Judd Wilson: That's great. That's great. A true leader serves. And Mike, we thank you for being a true leader and we thank you for being, uh, of service. Thank you for joining us on the Ignite Leadership Podcast.

[00:20:37] Judd Wilson: We appreciate what you do. Thank you. And I appreciate for your, appreciate you for your friendship.

[00:20:50] Taylor Tutor: Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Ignite Cast, presented by iHeartMedia. For more leadership insights and engaging conversations, be sure to hit [00:21:00] subscribe. And if you enjoy today's episode, we'd love for you to leave a review. And remember, go for and do good things.