HANCOCK COUNTY — As Leadership Hancock County works to recruit its class for the 2018-19 year, organizers are adding more actual leadership instruction to the curriculum.
Leadership Hancock County, a tuition-supported leadership academy, seeks up to 24 adults to enroll in this year’s program, which has been tweaked to include more study and analysis of leadership, said director David Hill.
Board member Kara Harrison spearheaded a program audit last spring to look at the amount of time devoted to actual leadership instruction during the nine-month academy, which immerses budding leaders throughout the county in leadership discussions and exercises during its program, all while providing hands-on experience helping county agencies with various needs.
“Our program was kind of deficient in that area,” Hill said. “For an organization that touts itself as teaching leadership, it didn’t have as much leadership study as we thought we should.”
Part of the academy for years has been a survey of county history and county businesses, with tours at historic sites in the county as well as stops at businesses small and large throughout the county.
That aspect of the program will be scaled back somewhat, while an additional class day will be added to learn about servant leadership, Hill said.
The term ‘servant leadership’ was coined in an essay by Robert K. Greenleaf in 1970, in which he described a servant leader as someone who works to make sure others’ needs are being met.
“A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong,” according to the Greenleaf Foundation website. “While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.”
Hill said the day of study will dovetail well with a situational leadership day taught by Hancock Regional Hospital CEO Steve Long.
A big change to the academy’s curriculum is teams will be assigned their service projects two months earlier, in October instead of December, Hill said. Projects in the past have included renovation of a local nonprofit’s office, the establishment of an emergency clothing program in the Mt. Vernon school district, and the creation of a curriculum to teach second-graders the 5-2-1-0 principle, which is: five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, limit of two hours of recreational screen time per day, one hour of moderate physical activity per day and zero sugary drinks.
Other changes anticipated for this year’s class are an expansion of the study of diversity from a half day to a full day, as well as more analysis and exercises involving enrollees’ DISC personality profiles, Hill said.
The psychological test evaluates how the factors dominance, influence, steadiness and compliance predict an individual’s behavior toward others and in their everyday activities.
Hill said he hopes to install monthly activities that will help class members to better interact with people with different personality styles.
“We hope to impart tools people can use to navigate interactions in their own organizations,” he said.
Leadership Hancock County was formed in the 1990s with the mission to inspire residents to foster the traits needed to take on leadership positions in the community, officials said in May. Leadership Hancock County is accepting applications for the 2018-19 class until Aug. 7; individuals may apply by visiting leadhc.org.
