By Meg Moss, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director
“Leadership is being bold enough to have vision, and humble enough to recognize that achieving it will take the efforts of many people – people who are fulfilled when they share their gifts and talents, rather than just work. Leaders create that culture, serve that greater good, and let others soar.” This quote from Kathy Heasely, founder and president of Heasley and Partners, is how we begin the Leadership Sanford class each year. The Chamber Leadership Sanford program began in 1999 and was developed to provide a continuous, diverse supply of creative leaders to our community by developing participants’ knowledge of the region and providing them the opportunity for meaningful action.
Taking meaningful action can mean to actually engage in projects, committee work, or civic organizations that light a fuel for you. What is your passion? Taking meaningful action can also include running for local offices. Consider how you can lead others to take meaningful action in areas where you have a joint passion. Great things can come out of a mutual desire for change.
According to an online article from MindSet: Essential Skills for an Excellent Career, leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to “win” as a team or an organization. Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their people to the right destination. That takes us back to the quote at the beginning of this article – “create that culture…and let others soar.”
The Leadership Sanford program begins this September and runs until June. Participants meet one day per month throughout the nine-month program. The sessions give participants an in-depth look at a range of topics of community interest and importance by experts and community leaders. Topics are designed to provide both personal development and community enrichment. The program concludes in June with a graduation ceremony.
Some of the objectives of the program are to select highly qualified potential and emerging leaders who are most likely to give to the community through service and have the potential to assume expanded responsibility, to provide participants with the knowledge necessary to create a deeper understanding of our community and the issues facing it, and to challenge graduates of the program to serve as volunteers on appointed and elected boards, participate in community work, and offer their services in government and non-profit organizations.
Applications for Leadership Sanford are now being accepted. Find out more about the program, and apply at https://growsanfordnc.com/leadership/
And I’ll leave you with one more leadership quote from the president of Total Engagement Consulting by Kimer, Stan Kimer. He said “Effective leadership is providing the vision and motivation to a team so they work together toward the same goal, and then understanding the talents and temperaments of each individual and effectively motivating each person to contribute individually their best toward achieving the group goal.”
I encourage you today, and this week, to lead, encourage, share your vision and passion, and actively pursue opportunities to take meaningful action.