She might be an independent candidate for East Alton Mayor, but Jamie Goodwin knows no one can lead alone.
"Leadership does not come from simply sitting on a board,” Goodwin said on her Facebook page recently. “A true leader will use the word ‘we’ more than they use the word ‘I.’ A true leader must have been down in the trenches to truly lead, for only then will they know how to empathize.”
Goodwin, who is hoping to unseat Mayor Joe Silkwood, stressed the importance of personal virtues, which she considers vital to a top government service position.
Goodwin referenced specific acts of kindness — helping the elderly, supporting a college student in times of stress, for example — and emphasized that the spirit of help involves hands-on participation rather than observation.
“True service is leading by example and by doing, not by sitting by and directing or watching others work,” she said. “True leaders have qualities such as humility and empathy … without any expectation for or entitlement to praise… .”
A resident of East Alton, Goodwin earned a bachelor’s degree in political science with an economics minor from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and an MBA from Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri. She currently works as a human resources coordinator.
“True leaders are self-sacrificing, not self-serving,” Goodwin concluded. “THAT is true leadership and true service."
Goodwin attracted media attention a year ago when she started a "Save the Citizen's Bank Building" campaign on Facebook to preserve the Citizens Savings and Loan historic building in East Alton, according to the Alton Daily News.
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