Institute Retreat 2008-2009

The Puyallup-Sumner Chamber of Commerce and Pierce College, Puyallup have long hoped to bring forward-thinking leadership training and experiences to local emerging leaders to ensure the growth and viability of the area. Now, after two years of cross sector collaboration and planning, a new leadership institute takes shape.

Kicking off this nine month leadership institute training was a September 19, 2008 day-long retreat (agenda) held at Pierce College, Puyallup. The retreat had the twin goals of forging collaborative relationships between the institute’s 15 participants while providing them an opportunity to learn about and use the latest strategies and resources for developing effective community leaders.

Puyallup-Sumner Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sally Zeiger Hanson helped usher in this first leadership institute by congratulating participants on their acceptance into the program. Participant applications were widely solicited and then reviewed by the planning committee. Only those individuals showing the most promise to benefit from the long-term training were selected.

It’s been said that you cannot lead anyone or anything if you cannot lead yourself. And it’s widely believed that effective leadership depends on a high degree of self-awareness. With this in mind, retreat facilitators planned and delivered an intensive, interactive session on personal assessment. Rick Hogan, Pierce College District Business Program Coordinator and a faculty member, led retreat participants through a highly interactive morning session of analyzing each participant’s leadership style using DISC Assessment. One participant commented, “The DISC assessment has really enlightened me. It helped me see that I need to place more importance on some things, such as facing conflict”. The DISC assessment process and results will be used throughout the institute and across the various topics to help reinforce the importance of self-awareness, awareness of others and ideas around negotiating style differences to lead more effectively.

 

After lunch, institute participants shifted gears and welcomed Pierce College, Puyallup trustee, Dr. Claire Spain-Remy, MD. Dr. Spain-Remy shared her insights and lessons learned from a career spent serving the community. Because Dr. Spain-Remy so exemplifies the values and ideas behind servant leadership, she represented for participants a kind of case study of the qualities, values and experiences of an effective local leader. For more than 90 minutes she shared her personal story, her tips and her wisdom. For example, she spoke of the need for intentionally seeking balance between civic participation and family life. She also spoke to the benefits of quietly assessing a board’s needs, interests and culture before jumping in as a new board member and civic leader. This form of initial quite leadership helps Dr. Spain-Remy ensure she has a clear picture of the direction of the group, its culture, its needs and its issues.

 

 

Rounding out the day was Bob Rosner, best-selling author, award-winning journalist, and internationally syndicated columnist writing Workplace911 (formerly called Working Wounded). Bob used his wit and wisdom to challenge participants to be more aware of and to enhance their empathy skills. His session entitled 12 Steps to better leadership: practical and specific strategies for increasing empathy between leaders and followers left participants with clear, concise ‘ready-to-use’ strategies. This is what one participant said, “I found a moment during Bob Rosner’s empathy piece where I decided to challenge myself on changing my language and thinking to ‘Yes, if...’ versus ‘No, because...’.

All in all the day was a success. A unique ongoing evaluation process of the retreat is underway using an online threaded discussion page. This method is designed to encourage further reflection and collaboration well after the retreat while fostering a learning community culture throughout the nine-month institute.

 

Resources

• Speed of Trust Summary (PDF)
• Bob Rosner Institute PowerPoint (PPT)
• The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R, Covey
  http://www.speedoftrust.com/
• Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time (Berrett-Koehler, 2007)
  

Back to the Professional Development Page