Clarkdale AZ (February 18, 2016) – On Friday, February 12th Class X of the Verde Valley Leadership Program (VVL) attended Mid-Year Skills Day, marking the mid-way point of the program’s 2015-2016 year. Class X began their year in August with the VVL 101 Class followed by a two-day retreat in September, with various issue days and field trips spread throughout the year culminating with graduation in July.
Mid-Year Skills Day started with a leadership class on “True Colors” presented by Yavapai College Instructor, Chris Heyer. Chris stated, “It’s not just about knowing your ”Color”, it is about how to apply what you do know about these personality traits in leadership”. Whether interviewing for a new job or presenting a project to various boards, commissions, and the public, considering these traits will be extremely important.” Chris created a project for the class. Two teams worked as “developers” where they used “key words” in presenting this project to “council members”, a.k.a. the VVL Board of Directors. This experience taught the class to consider communicating in ways to reach the diverse personalities and approaches of those with whom one works.
As part of leadership education, the class read “Leading at the Edge, from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition”. For the seventh year, Dan and Pat Engler presented their knowledge of Ernest Shackleton, his team’s harrowing expedition to the Antarctic, and leadership lessons to be learned from his adventures to the VVL class. The Englers, passionate researchers on Shackleton and his leadership traits bring Shackleton’s team and their amazing experiences to life. The leadership qualities and character of Ernest Shackleton kept his whole team alive through their attempts to be the first team to reach the South Pole.
Continuing the work they began with Class X at the two-day retreat, Al and Jodie Filardo of the Filardo Group further refined information on personal Vision, Mission and Goals for the class. The Filardos also met with each class member to assist in their VMGO development for presentation to fellow class members and the Board of Directors at Mid-Years Skills Day. The audience listened to each VMGO and provided feedback. Class X impressed the audience with their presentations and all feedback was extremely positive.
Class member, Jennifer Hernandez, presented her inspiring Mission, “To provide myself opportunities to engage and learn, to create and to share joy with the world through my talents. I seek to leave behind a legacy of thoughtfulness and caring. I want to leave a place better than I found it – by creating and sharing art, by inspiring people to take political action, by reminding a woman how strong and beautiful she is, or by thanking my husband for keeping our community safe. I wish for people to invest in education because someday these kids will be taking care of us.”
This is just one of the many inspiring statements presented by this exceptional leadership group, representing the Verde Valley Leadership Program “Inspiring Individuals to Action”.
If you would like to be a part of Verde Valley Leadership, the program is now taking applications for Class XI. Please contact Krishan Ginige, Recruitment Chairperson, at (928) 634-5889 or Krishan@SEC-Landmgt.com. You may also find the application and more information about the Program on our website, VVLeadership.org.