Leadership academy applications being taken

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

SEK Inc., the Business & Technology Institute at Pittsburg State University, and the Southeast Kansas Prosperity Foundation are accepting applications for the Regional Leadership Academy.

The Regional Leadership Academy is designed to address the need for community leaders. Too often, the same group of community-minded individuals is asked to contribute to multiple causes. Often, leaders do not have the resources, energy or specific skills needed to sustain them over time.

The RLA program is not intended to replace local leadership programs, but to enhance and serve the following purposes: build on local leadership programs, take leadership training to the next level, provide leadership training for residents whose communities do not have a leadership program, and build skills in individuals who have leadership thoughts or a desire to serve, a news release said.

The criteria for participants is that they live in one of the 13 counties of Southeast Kansas. Tuition for the program is $300 which includes materials and lunch for each session. Applications and additional information are available on the website at www.btikansas.com/rla. Applications will be taken until Aug. 5.

RLA is based on a philosophy of service and allows for two avenues of learning and growing. The first avenue of learning is exclusively for the participant. A series of six day-long sessions will cover topics such as "What is Leadership?," "Understanding Challenges," "Tools for Making Progress," "Exploring Your Capacity for Leadership," and "Moving to Action." The final session is a celebration for the participants.

The second avenue of learning is the "First Impressions" Program sponsored by the Huck Boyd Institute of Kansas State University. The communities in which the participants reside will have an opportunity to participate in a "First Impressions" program. This program is designed to bring outside community/regional leaders to a community they are not familiar with to experience their first impressions of that community.

The team arrives unannounced in the community and visits with people on the streets and business owners. The observations are jotted down and compiled into a community report. It will give participants a hands-on opportunity to use their facilitation skills as well as collaboration and consensus building skills.

Southeast Kansas Inc. won the Huck Boyd Institute Community Leadership Program award for its innovative approach to leadership in 2007. For more information, contact Kathryn Richard, PSU BTI, at (620) 235-4920.