January 15, 2001
By Cynthia L. Orosco/ The Hispanic Link

While Latinos, like the general public, want leaders who are trustworthy and smart, they are more inclined to look for two other leadership ingredients: a thorough knowledge of specific community needs and a commitment to stay connected with and respectful to their grassroots followers.

These findings --and other conclusions relating to a quantum increase in the adoption of Latino leadership styles by large political and corporate entities -- were among revelations presented at the unveiling at the National Press Club Jan. 10 of the first in a series of reports on the findings of a tri-part study.

“Reflecting an American Vista: The Character and Impact of Latino Leadership,” published by the National Community for Latino Leadership, examines Latino visions and values.

Conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based think tank and clearinghouse, the survey is the first of its kind to look at leadership from the grassroots
“It’s a survey rich in information that for the first time will be able to begin understanding the experience and process of leadership in the Latino community from the Latino perspective,” said Andrew Hernandez, NCLL senior research analyst.
“Latinos will determine both the quantity and quality of leadership in this country over the next 25 years.”

At the press conference to release the report, NCLL President Alfred Ramirez said this information should be carefully examined not just by Latinos because of the implications of leadership by this group in communities across the country.
“Mainstream America has not included our voice, values, visions and perspective. That is significant to all of us in the U.S. because if we are the fastest growing, youngest, soon-to-be-largest minority group in this country, they need to know what resonates with us,” he said.

The Ford and Kellogg foundations funded research for “Reflecting an American Vista” and subsequent reports that surveyed 3,032 Latinos in California, Florida, New York, Illinois and Texas between Oct. 25, 1999, and Jan. 24, 2000. Oversamples of 500 Cuban Americans and 500 Puerto Ricans were made to obtain more accurate comparative information. Information on other Latino ethnic groups will be released in the coming months.

‘We Don’t Have to Be Anointed or Elected to Take Leadership Role’
“We don’t have to be anointed, appointed or elected to take a leadership role as a mentor, a resource or an individual making a difference,” Ramirez said.
He added that the leaders whom the researchers have encountered through the project come from a variety of experiences and vary in age.

Hernandez said there is a distinct Latino cultural perspective to leadership, which includes people-centered values in line with a set of “new paradigm” qualities considered most effective by experts in the field.

He said he hopes the information in what he called the most comprehensive, empirical-based research project of its kind will be used to create new training modules that include Latino cultural experience and participation as it relates to leadership.

“We need to think about leadership from a new paradigm that includes a cultural values system based on the principles of service, integrity, fairness, and equality,” Hernandez said, citing the work of author Stephen R. Covey.

Along with the survey, Ramirez is also conducting interviews of 50 nationally recognized Latino leaders. The third component is the Latino Community Leadership Project, which brings together more than 500 grassroots leaders in New York, Miami, Chicago, San Antonio, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles to participate in focus groups.

“We want to see where the trends are across those three bodies of people and then come out with a master document which will correlate all of that information,” Ramirez said.
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Cynthia L. Orosco, hispaniclink@earthlink.net