Learning to Lead

In a region with more than 50,000 college students, the Ozarks is no stranger to advanced learning. More than a dozen colleges, universities and trade schools educate southwest Missouri residents, but the learning doesn’t stop at the schoolhouse gate.

Today, companies are increasingly offering professional development opportunities to employees. From seminars to summits and week-long business events to simulcasts, regional leaders are getting a sometimes daily boost of knowledge from some of the best in the nation.

Russell Cellular Inc. Vice President of Operations Darin Wray understands the value of professional development within his company.

“Investing in your people is key to creating those company and community leaders,” he said. “You have to give them the tools for the tool belt they need to succeed.”

Wray said the Battlefield-based company, with more than 200 stores in 18 states, hosted its twice-yearly leadership summit the week of April 14 with the goal of investing in its employees – and they’re not alone.

According to a Training magazine industry report, total 2013 U.S. company training expenditures hit $55.4 billion last year, with outside products and services making up $7.4 billion.

“Companies are recognizing that investing in employees impacts performance and engagement, which ultimately impacts the bottom line,” said Karen Shannon, human resources consulting director for Ollis & Co.’s business consulting division.

Leadercast
Simulcast live from Atlanta to more than 600 locations in 40 countries, Leadercast is a one-day leadership event that brings together and dispenses the collective knowledge of world leaders.

Wray was in attendance during a Leadercast 2013 simulcast at Springfield’s North Point Church and says the experience changed the way he looks at professional development.

“The caliber of speakers drew me to the event, but the whole experience brings me back this year,” he said. “I loved it. I’ve attended different conferences and heard people speak, but it was nothing like this.”

Attending the event with eight local Russell Cellular employees in 2013, Wray said he was so impressed that this year about 20 people will attend the Springfield event and more than 60 sales leaders from across the company’s footprint will attend the simulcast nearest them.

Slated for May 9 this year, speakers include award-winning journalist Malcolm Gladwell, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, screenwriter and director Randall Wallace and former first lady Laura Bush, among others.

The 10th year for the event and the third year North Point has hosted a simulcast, church events coordinator Lacey Hartman said she expects a sold-out crowd of 300 people this year.

“This event is not just for C-level employees, it’s for everyone who wants to develop their professional and personal leadership skills,” she said. “Between speakers, attendees network and develop those valuable relationships.

“This is a real teamwork atmosphere. The world doesn’t operate in an industry-specific silo and neither can our leaders.”

Hartman said the church purchases a block of 300 tickets at a discount from Leadercast and sales range from $84 for an individual to $79 for a group of five or more. Including breakfast and lunch fees, Hartman said the total cost of the event comes in around $14,000.

Billed as the largest convergence of leaders in the world on a single day, North Point isn’t the only simulcast in the area. The Nixa Area Chamber of Commerce has hosted a sold-out simulcast the past four years.

Chamber Executive Director Marc Truby said the event draws everyone from business owners and city officials to police officers, school officials and other community members.

“Leadercast takes leadership training to the next level,” he said. “There is benefit to listening to people of this caliber speak. Taking in their words, feeling inspired in your job or at home and going out and doing your best to be a leader in our community.”

Originally slated for 110 seats and quickly selling out, Truby said the chamber purchased 15 additional tickets for the event, taking the room to capacity.

Leaders in training
Springfield is home to another unique leadership training opportunity known as Leadership Springfield. Sponsored by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the program, which turns 30 next year, has a mission to inspire, develop and connect leaders to serve the Springfield community.

Leadership Springfield Board of Directors President Alina Lehnert said the group had 84 applicants for 32 slots in this year’s class, proving professionals in the Springfield area want to learn more.

“I consider that a difficult and competitive application process when you turn away more than you accept,” said Lehnert, also a member of class 23. “Each class has a wide array of industries involved and career levels so that creates a group dynamic that I often describe as magical.

“People have the opportunity to look outside the silo of their industry, see the need in our community and step up to lead.”

If accepted, the program costs $1,200 and includes two leadership retreats and seven day-long programs on different community focus areas, such as education, public safety and health care.

“When they leave, we hope they feel inspired, we hope they feel developed as leaders and know more about who they are,” Lehnert said. “They create life-changing relationships and this is a life-changing process.”

Ollis & Co.’s Shannon, a class 15 alumni, took the inspiration she received to the next level by joining Leadership Missouri. Similar to its Springfield counterpart, the program’s class of 36 participants attend three-day-long programs each month from April through October.

Attending her first meeting this month in Jefferson City, Shannon said future programs take place across the state from Kansas City to the Bootheel.

“There is a difference between taking a college course on leadership and being part of a program like this,” she said. “This program is tailored to us, to what Missouri needs and what we need to know about Missouri to make our community a better place.”

A former senior human resources leader for Jack Henry & Associates Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY) and Commerce Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: CBSH), Shannon said the skills she learned during Leadership Springfield – and hopes to develop during Leadership Missouri – have served her well during her professional career.

“It’s an investment in yourself, in your career and in your community,” she said.

“Being a leader means taking charge of your life on every level. I’m passionate about that.”

Future leaders
Hoping to get in on the ground floor of business-leader development, Drury University will host its first Breech Business Week April 21–25.

Engaging not only students, but also members of the local business community, coordinator and associate professor of management Robin Sronce said the event has a two-part goal.

“We want to get those community business leaders in the classroom, show them what our students can do and let the students learn from their knowledge,” she said.

Prior to kickoff, Sronce said students worked with Commerce Bank Springfield Region President Bob Hammerschmidt to assess their LinkedIn profiles and he provided tips for improvement.  

The week will include guest speakers and a networking event where 25 students will work the room in 5-minute segments to improve their awkward initial conversation skills.

Sronce said she hopes to see the event expand in coming years to include larger community lecture events, but primarily, she’d like to see both students and professionals walk away with a renewed sense of success.

“You never know what you’re going to learn or how you can improve when you listen to the voices of leaders around you,” she said.[[In-content Ad]]