Reflections on Kowalski's Civic Business Identity

When I was first introduced to the Midwest Active Citizenship Initiative (MACI), we were in the process of developing a plan for passing the business on to the next generation. We built our company on strong civic values and wanted to pass on those values. The principles and practices used by MACI seemed like they would help us achieve our succession goals, but we have since learned that civic organizing, the approach used by MACI, offers us much more. It is making us a stronger, more sustainable company and a company that’s fulfilling its obligations as a civic institution in a democracy.

In 2001, we decided to take this commitment forward, focusing on developing a new approach to business governance. This approach is grounded in developing a civic or democratic mindset and exploring the role of citizenship in the workplace. We began our work with two guiding questions: 1) How do we enhance the attributes of a "citizen" and blend those qualities into the role and responsibilities of all employees? and 2) How should we change our management structure to allow everyone at Kowalski’s to participate, in some way, in the governance of the firm?

We imagined that civic development could happen within the context of business. We began a long process of organizing an internal system of governance grounded in civic principles and standards. This new system intentionally taught civic leaders and active citizens to set expectations for roles and rewarded members for participating. Our motivation and purpose was a commitment to the belief that business can be a place to develop the imagination, capacity and infrastructure needed to produce common good in the 21st century.

There are countless stories from Kowalski's members about how taking a civic identity has called them to imagine and take responsibility for governing for the common good, both within and beyond the company. Our civic identity has changed how we define our roles in the complex public issues we face in our day-to-day lives. These roles carry over into all the places we spend our time. In developing this business model, we have provided incentives for innovation, practice and testing. We took on a leadership role in MACI, wherein leaders invest time in learning, sharing insights and governing with leaders from other sectors.

All of this provides evidence of our commitment to addressing 21st century challenges with a positive, constructive and innovative approach to leadership, both within and outside the company. Our new generation of leaders have qualities that reflect what is needed in all sectors, in light of the economic, environmental, social and political realities we face in the state of Minnesota and beyond. Our belief in collaboration as a necessity – not a nicety – leads us to seek out and work with others, both within the business and state. It provides a unique ability to produce and sustain constructive tension between diverse perspectives until common ground is found.

Today, we believe that Kowalski's serves as a business model for civic governance and policy-making that can be effectively replicated. In fact, the next generation of Kowalski’s leaders is already doing so. Kowalski’s has become a modern version of a citizenship school for the 21st century – on-the-job training that develops active citizens with greater ownership, accountability and capacity to produce the common good while meeting business goals. We believe we have accomplished something incredibly difficult, extremely rare and profoundly valuable.

Click here to learn more about our civic business approach.