As a local professional in Central Kentucky, you may be looking for different ways to get your name out in the public. Whether it is through referral networking, attending public functions, non-profit work, or involvement in your local Chamber of Commerce, it can fill up a calendar pretty quickly. What if you don’t have a lot of experience in your area? What if you are trying to grow your business in an area that you are not familiar with?
Local chambers and governments have set up a series of classes normally with Leadership in the title to solve this specific problem. By offering a curriculum of classes, professionals can get plugged into their communities and create a connection that helps everyone. Local groups include Leadership Lexington, Leadership Kentucky, Leadership Winchester, Leadership Madison County, and Leadership Scott County.
In 2004, I was accepted into the Leadership Scott County Class. Over 11 meetings, the goal of the class is to provide background knowledge of the Scott County community while developing leadership skills for the participants. While these things have been accomplished, the strongest result has been deepening the connections of each participant in the community. Forging relationship with classmates, teachers, and guest speakers gives reasons for participants to stay involved in Scott County. These relationships set a foundation to keep a connection with the community strong, and it provides an incentive to keep improving Scott County.
My class is a group of 20 including non-profit professionals, a hospitality manager, a marketing professional for the library, an attorney, a realtor, bank officers, a towing company owner, an insurance agent, a Director for the Chamber of Commerce, a government employee, an engineer, a security professional, a business manager for a landscaping company, a hospital professional, a local school representative, a professional from the parks and recreation department, and a Georgetown Fire Department Captain.
We started with a retreat at the Life Adventure Center in Woodford County. This took place over two days with a required overnight hotel stay. This was a tremendous way to kick off our program, as it forced us to bond as a group. The Life Adventure Center had multiple obstacle courses and team building activities that helped everyone get to know each other in a strong quick fashion. We learned how to rely on each other, and strong friendships were made in a 48 hour time period.
During that retreat, as a group we came up with a service project to improve the Scott County community. It has to be something that can be self-sustaining, and it had to be fully funded. Our group decided on 2 projects that will serve the community. The first building and planting a garden at the Gathering Place Mission in Georgetown. Those garden boxes will provide fresh vegetables to help feed those served by the Gathering Place for years to come. Second the group planted trees at the new Scott County High School. These projects were funded by tree sponsorships along with a sponsorship from local Lowe’s Home Improvement Center. This work also allowed for the group to create a closer bond through working together to accomplish these goals.
From there we set aside a day for education on different parts of Scott County. Classes have included education on Agriculture, Economic Development, History & Culture, Health & Wellness, Education, Public Service, Community Service, and Government. During each program, we spend the day being exposed to local businesses, professionals, and leaders who educate the group in their area of expertise. Each of those areas of focus allows the class participants to learn what makes Scott County special, and they learn how they can be a part of it moving forward.
By the end of the programs, a participant has been exposed to a large amount of what Scott County has to offer. Not only do you have a strong relationship with your classmates, but you have built a network including the teachers, area business owners, local professionals, and government officials that can help improve all areas of your life. I personally have gained clients, and I now have personal connections that have allowed me to know who to call when I need help. For example when I had a landscaping issue in Georgetown, I knew that Travis with Pratt’s Lawn & Landscape would be right there to help me.
I highly recommend Leadership Scott County (or any of the local comparable groups) for any professional looking to deepen their relationship with their community. I am a banker, and my goal is to build a strong successful bank that gives great service to our clients. You can’t build a great bank without building a great community. That goes for any other profession as well. Keeping a strong community focus makes us all stronger moving forward.