BY LORI FULTON,

LEADERSHIP WASHINGTON COUNTY

A good plan should produce good results. The key is to capture and measure those results to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the plan. For Leadership Washington County (LWC) those results are being measured in a more intensive format to gauge the strengths of the recently revised curriculum for the nine-month course. The evaluation results also present a clear illustration to the participants' employers and sponsors that there is a distinct payback in the program.

The rewritten curriculum better integrates leadership skills that can be utilized in the workplace as well as in the community. The skills addressed thus far have included recognizing and resolving conflict, dealing with change, assessing personality types, project management, working as a team member and problem solving. Skills are often demonstrated through hands-on activities or role play styled to encourage critical thinking and assist in retention of that skill.

Each session is designed around a topic important to the sustainability and growth of a successful community including demographic and socioeconomic data for Washington County, local and county government, economic development and marketing, and the justice system of the county.

At the end of each session, the evaluation results are compiled and reviewed by the Curriculum Committee to address the strengths and weaknesses of each session. The current class is now halfway through the new improved curriculum; and the results being reported demonstrate the effectiveness of the changes. The class members are consistently building their knowledge in virtually every topic and skill that has been presented.

What employer would disagree that effectively dealing with change is an important strength for an employee to possess? At the September session, entitled "Leadership in a Changing Society," class members participated in hands-on activities that were engaging and incorporated the skill of dealing with change. When asked later to assess how equipped they felt to deal with change before the session, 60 percent of the respondents felt only somewhat informed. After the activities and discussions, all class members felt that they had gained the knowledge to effectively deal with change. One class member stated, "The change sessions were good-it is not a subject that comes easily to me."

The Business and Economic Development session gave the class the opportunity to observe the marketing strategy of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. The class was then asked to divide into teams and given the assignment to develop their own marketing plans for Washington County. 90 percent of the class reported that they felt confident to very confident with project management after the exercise, versus 50 percent who were not confident that they possessed project management skills prior to the exercise.

Employers who have made the commitment to sponsor employees to participate in the LWC program will reap the reward by gaining a more informed employee equipped with skills to be a leader in the community and the workplace and LWC has the results to prove it.