Knudtson shares views about leadership roles

Editor's note: Portions of the following interview first appeared in the Southeast Arrow, the college newspaper of Southeast Missouri State University. The full interview can be found at southeastarrow.com/qa.

Jay Knudtson is one of the most well-known leaders in Cape Girardeau.

He is president of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents, vice president of First Missouri State Bank, he serves on the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors, and he is a former two-term mayor of Cape Girardeau. On top of his leadership roles, he has won many awards for his achievements.

You're originally from Minnesota; what brought you to Cape Girardeau?

I went to work at a finance company in Minneapolis, and that company gave me an opportunity to move to Cape Girardeau in 1989. ... I was single, it was a big corporation, and I thought, "You know what? I guess I better take this, because promotions don't come along often," and I said, "I'll take it." I thought Cape Girardeau was on the East Coast. I really did.

So after I learned that it was in the heartland of America and rerouted my map with no GPS or cellphones at that time, I came down here. Shortly after that, I went to work for a Midwestern bank (that) hired me, which is now Bank of America.

Then I met my wife here, who's from Cape Girardeau, which pretty much solidified that Cape Girardeau was going to be my home, and it has been ever since.

How was your experience as mayor of Cape Girardeau?

Working in the banking business early in a town that has so many banks, I was taught early on that you had to get involved in the community. ... I started out serving on the parks and recreation board, became president of the parks and recreation board, was a part of building the Osage Centre, Shawnee Park softball complex and really loved what I was doing.

Through that, I gained some respect of some of the leaders, and so in 2002, I was encouraged to run for mayor, and so I went right from civilian life to I was elected mayor of Cape Girardeau. [I was] the first non-native of Cape Girardeau to be elected, and I was always very proud of that. Then I was re-elected in 2006 and served until 2010.

Now you're the president of the Board of Regents. What does that position entail?

Southeast Missouri State has a Board of Regents, which is the governing board of the university. It's made up of three representatives from the Republican side and three to represent the Democratic side. We also then have a student representative, which is nonpolitical.

The governor is who appoints us, so the governor appointed me first in 2013, and it was an intense process. ... They did a background check so far back that they were asking about my addresses from when I was in college in Minnesota. ... But that appointment only came about largely due to my service as the mayor.

It was during that time that it became clear to me that in Cape Girardeau, our community is largely driven by the university. Not only is it 12,000 students, but with the economics behind that, former president Dobbins used to say that every 100 students that go to SEMO represents $1 million in the local economy.

Those are big numbers, and it's evident when school's not in session, it takes the wind out of the sails in the community, and when school starts back up, our community really thrives and starts to be vibrant. ... That's why we collaborated on things like the River Campus, the Show Me Center. You know those are all collaborations; the university does not own those facilities by themselves.

Those were partnerships which were built between the community and the university. Through that, relationships were really established, and I was a champion for Southeast, so as my term as mayor ended, it became clear that former president Dobbins felt like I had something to offer, the governor felt like I had something to offer, and so that was largely ... why I was appointed to the Board of Regents. ... It's not up to a Board of Regents president to handle the day-to-day operations of the university; it's up to a Board of Regents president to manage his board and work with his board and make sure that we provide the resources for the president of the university to do his or her job, and I really feel like that's taking place at this time, and I'm very proud of that.

Out of all of your leadership roles, which has had the largest effect on your life?

I mean this with the greatest of sincerity: I've been blessed with one son. First and foremost, my job is to be a dad, and I have been committed to that. My son is going to be graduating this year from Ole Miss, and I take that role the most serious, and I'm most proud of that. That trumps all leadership roles, as it should. Moving beyond that, that I'm most proud of, it's probably my ability to lead as mayor of the city and also to balance some of these leadership roles on top of being a vice president of a bank.

What would you say it takes to be a leader?

Well, I probably am not the perfect guy to write a book on leadership. I'm not sure that I have a handbook that I've ever followed. I'm very instinctive; I shoot from the hip, but I'm loyal to my core values. I'm loyal to things that may sound very simple, but they've served me very well.

So, for me, leadership is all about always showing respect for the people you're around, right down to how you address them and how you treat them. It's also about being willing to listen to other people's position. I'm pretty strong-willed, and at times maybe have the appearance of being intimidating, but I'm really pretty tender. I love listening to people; I think one of the biggest misconceptions of politics or leadership is when people are attacked for changing their mind. I change my mind all the time, and I view that as a skill or a blessing. There's times I've been really dug in on an issue, and by the time I hear somebody else's perspective, it's like I've changed a position. Now, obviously, you can't go changing positions on issues of major significance -- if you're taking a stand on something, waffling or changing positions can be a sign of weak leadership. But there is no handbook for being a mayor. There is no rulebook for being a Board of Regents president.