Team Building

Nancy Prafke's temperament is key to TEAM Punta Gorda's continued success.

During the presidential campaign last year, a Time Magazine article explored whether temperament matters in determining a leader's success or failure.

"You can call it balance. You can call it a sense of proportion. You can call it maturity, good judgment," concluded historian David McCullough. "One of the clearest lessons of history is that there's no such thing as the foreseeable future, and particularly in traumatic times such as we have now, temperament is of the utmost importance."

TEAM Punta Gorda may not be facing "traumatic times," but it is confronted with a challenge to remain relevant four-and-a-half years after the citizens group formed to help the city rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. Much of what it hoped to accomplish, as envisioned in its Citizens Master Plan, has been achieved to one degree or another, or is underway or still on the drawing boards.

City officials and other community leaders agree that the temperament of TEAM's leadership, headed by CEO Nancy Prafke, is a determining factor in whether or not the organization survives. They give Prafke high marks in how she has helped steer TEAM in a collaborative role with local government.

"Team has had staying power because we continue to look at how to take the city to the next level. The job isn't done yet." ~Nancy Prafke

As CEO for the past 15 months, Prafke coordinates the operations of several committees, represents TEAM on the boards of the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Punta Gorda and serves as lead liaison with city government. Unlike the hierarchy of the business world she worked in before retirement, Prafke and her TEAM colleagues are equals. All volunteers, they work for the quality of their community, not for pay or position.

While TEAM has undergone significant turnover since its founding, its active members remain a diverse group of mostly retirees who carry impressive business, education and government credentials. While this assemblage of talent is TEAM's greatest strength, Prafke must work to keep egos and personal agendas in check.

"She knows how to utilize those talents and get people to work together," said Roger Peterson, TEAM's board president and a retired Target Stores executive. "You have to come off not trying to tell people what to do but [get them] to discover what to do."

Friendly, Steadfast and Highly Respected

"It's about empowerment," Prafke said. "You get more done if you empower others, rather than some autocratic approach. We have to work with a lot of people. We have no control over anybody."

Prafke gives you a disarming look, a warm smile addressing acquaintances and strangers alike. Her gaze through rimless glasses is respectful and friendly. Her voice is low key.

"She's an extremely good listener," Peterson said, "which is why she comes off as quiet." However, that demeanor belies an intelligence, energy, conviction and steadfastness that have served her well as CEO. That she's low key is "not to say she doesn't speak her mind," he said. "She doesn't roll over, but expresses her views in a very constructive way. She's not self-serving at all and will communicate the views of others even if she doesn't personally agree with them."

Outside the organization, Prafke's temperament is helping to maintain good relations with local government, whose partnership is crucial to TEAM's continued success.

"She has strong credibility with those outside our organization," Peterson said. "People like her as well as respect her. Every city councilman tells me they like her."

TEAM's only real mandate is the fact that more than 2,100 residents are registered members. When polled, they have overwhelmingly supported its continued existence. It also doesn't hurt that three of the five city councilmen were once active in the organization.

Still, TEAM's continued viability depends on maintaining a collaborative relationship with the city. Should it veer from that, become political and pursue conflicting agendas, "that would be a problem," said City Manager Howard Kunik. "City staff would back off that partnership we now have. TEAM must stay focused on being collaborative."

Kunik and Mayor Larry Friedman praise Prafke for keeping TEAM focused as its role in the community evolves.

"Nancy has been a welcome addition," Friedman said. "Her perception of TEAM was that neither TEAM nor Nancy was an entity unto itself. Optimum results would ensue if she and TEAM would play the role of joint stakeholder with city staff and others in the city. She has for the most part [held to] that assumption, which has allowed the city to progress that much faster and better."

Prafke has her admirers outside the city as well. "As a leader, she has the ability to motivate and share her energy with others," said Charlotte County Commissioner Tricia Duffy. "Others want to follow her lead. She's a very bright and energetic woman who has a can-do attitude, and I respect her for that."

The Road to TEAM

Born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, Prafke is the daughter of a bank CEO who was heavily engaged in his community in a variety of civic duties and fund-raising roles. "I'm the apple that didn't fall very far from the tree," she said of her penchant for community service.

She began her career as a high school home economics teacher in Springfield following graduation from Bowling Green State University.

After completing a master's degree in textiles and clothing at Ohio State University, she entered the world of retail, but tired of "creative obsolescence" after six years. Besides, she said, she wasn't making much money in retail and "wanted to be able to support myself in better fashion."

She took a job with Ohio Bell in marketing and sales. Four years later, she was promoted to AT&T's national training center in Aurora, Colo., as a sales instructor. She and her husband, John, lived in Colorado for 22 years.

Prafke excelled with AT&T, establishing the company's national proposal center to respond to local and state government agencies and corporations seeking proposals for telecommunications systems. After receiving an MBA from Colorado State University, she led a global business management team for AT&T spin-off Lucent Technologies.

In 2001, she took an early retirement and turned her focus on leading a capital campaign for her church, serving on the board of a local hospice and tending to family matters in Ohio. She had no intention of retiring anywhere else but Colorado when friends offered the Prafkes a one-week timeshare vacation, and they chose Fishermen's Village in the little Florida town of Punta Gorda.

Nothing closer to home was available, she recalled, and "John said, ‘Let's explore.' We did, and he said he could live in Punta Gorda, but not me. It didn't impress me. I liked living in the mountains. He had always dreamed of living on the water and having a boat behind his house."

She eventually gave in. It helped that Hurricane Charley had changed the landscape. "Some of the things I thought were ugly were gone, like the old downtown shopping center," Prafke recalled. They bought a home on the water in May 2005.

Nine months later, she joined TEAM. "A lot needed to be done, and I thought maybe I could help," she said. "Charley had provided an opportunity to rebuild the city into a vibrant community."

Prafke said she didn't aspire to climb the ladder, "but people were needed to take on responsible roles and keep the momentum going." She spends anywhere from 20 to 50 hours a week on TEAM matters. She has barely enough time for her Master Gardener volunteer work with the Cooperative Extension office or to play golf, go boating and enjoy other trappings of retirement.

Vision for the Future

While Prafke vows to uphold TEAM's mission as a collaborative resource for the community, "I must demonstrate integrity and my own convictions and emphasize that TEAM Punta Gorda is not an arm of government. Sometimes people forget that."

As for the future of TEAM, "the time may come when it's no longer needed," she acknowledged. "The founders didn't expect it to be around four years later, but the Citizens Master Plan was only the beginning. It was a vision of the community, an inspiration for other ideas.

"TEAM has had staying power because we continue to look at how to take the city to the next level. The job isn't done yet. I'm not sure what we will be doing in, say, four more years. TEAM will evolve as the city expands and evolves."

And what does she envision for Punta Gorda?

"A thriving, diverse community that has attracted new businesses that bring jobs. A diverse population of young and old. A city that has maintained its unique charm and personality," she said. "The culture of this town is not Naples. It's more low-key but has its own nightlife and fun things to do and attractions. "There's a quality of life here you can't find elsewhere."