Imagine!’s 2015 / 2016 Leadership Development Group Update: March 2016

Tim West-Heiss, Shannon Bundy, Maria Klickna, Laura Ball, Sterling Wind

 
This year’s Leadership Development Group recently started a leadership training series through Mountain States Employers Council (MSEC) titled Great Leaders and an additional two day course called Leadership Through Influence.

These courses are focused on developing and recognizing leadership skills. The courses tie together nicely and emphasize that with the ability to lead comes the ability to influence. The courses have given LDG members time to reflect on what makes a great leader and leaders that have had an influence on their lives. Here are some comments from LDG members when they were asked about a leader that has had an impact on their lives:

Early in my career in the Human Services field, I was blessed to have the most incredible leader and mentor as a direct manager who has left a long lasting impact on me and on my own career. My mentor possessed many of the qualities a great leader should have. She was innovative, led by example, genuinely cared about her staff and inspired trust within her team as a whole. She was a fantastic leader who was passionate about the work we were doing every day. She inspired me to achieve more than I thought was possible and I find myself striving to emulate her in my own work every day. – Maria Klickna

Someone that instantly comes to mind when I think of a leader is my father. He is someone I’ve always naturally looked up to since he is my dad, but he has been more of an influence on me than I think he is aware of. My father has been the minister for several churches throughout my life and every Sunday growing up he would deliver a message to the congregation about various things. Generally these were inspirational stories or moral guidance messages, but I remember being glued to the content of these messages and realizing that it wasn’t just me who was glued. My dad had a remarkable ability to influence others through these messages and is viewed as a leader by many in this context. He is a great leader and has always been someone of tremendous influence in my life even if he may not know it. – Tim West-Heiss

When I think of a leader in my life that has had an impact on me personally, the first person who comes to mind is my mentor Karen Kalis. She has pushed me to always strive to better myself in all aspects of my career. I admire the way she leads and strive to be more like her. She has made me feel like the ideas I have and directions I take in the company are good ones. This then makes me feel more confident to continue to express my ideas and continue to try and look at different directions to take to better the work environment. Karen has helped me push myself to do my best in every aspect of my job as well as strive to develop more leadership skills for future positions. I enjoy all my mentor meetings with Karen and appreciate all the support she has given me to develop my leadership skills. – Shannon Bundy

I’ve been inspired by many leaders throughout my life. Many have inspired me with their humbleness, concern for others, and desire to leave things a bit better than they originally found them. I appreciate a leader who is willing to jump right in to lend a hand, listening to gather perspective, and then work their tail off to contribute towards strengthening the common good. To me leadership isn’t about perfection, because perfection is the enemy of the good. – Sterling Wind

A leader who has had a significant impact on my life was my college swim coach, Rich Pein. There is no way I could have accomplished what I did without his influence. He cared about all of us and our performance not just in the pool, but also in the classroom and more importantly in our lives. He was passionate and inspired all of us to achieve our personal goals. He built one of the greatest teams I have ever been a part of. I strongly believe that how we perform is a result of the environment and the people we surround ourselves with. – Laura Ball

Many Imagine! employees are role models and leaders to the individuals we serve. Leadership is not limited to a job title. Leadership is a set of skills every member of our organization can master and demonstrate.