Recently in Leadership Category

In the last blog - Change Makers, Camp to Belong was highlighted along with some other organizations.  The Founder and President Emeritus of CTB, Lynn Price, participated in our 50 for Colorado leadership program in 2008.  This weekend, Camp to Belong was featured nationally in Parade's Sunday (July 31, 2010) magazine.  Even though they have received a lot of national exposure, Camp to Belong and many other non-profit organizations still need donations and volunteers.  Please do whatever you can to help out organizations that you feel strongly about.  Thank you. 

Here's an excerpt from Sunday's article written by Christine Wicker:

"...Among the over 600,000 kids in foster care in the U.S., 70% are separated from at least one sibling. Camp To Belong's aim is to create the kind of memories for foster siblings that those in intact families take for granted. Around 3500 children have attended the camps--currently in eight locations from Maine to Washington--and Price believes their week-long experiences start ripples that keep spreading.

Take former campers Jessica C., 19, and her brother, Allen, 23, who are now both counselors. As children, the two were placed in the same home, but one day when Jessica was at school, Allen was moved out. "My brother was ripped from me," she says. "First my parents were gone, and then my brother." Camp To Belong was their lifeline to each other.

The camps are staffed almost entirely by volunteers. Fifteen years ago, counselor Patrick Harden, a youth pastor from Long Beach, Calif., was a social worker when his boss sent him to the camp to help. With a caseload of 85 children, Harden viewed himself as an administrator of the law--h e never really thought about his clients' relationships with their siblings. But at camp, he saw how the kids perceived social workers. In a rush. Rarely listening. Cold.

After he got home, he and his wife adopted a brother-sister pair of foster kids. Since then, Harden has volunteered at over 20 sessions of Camp To Belong..."

For the full article, please click here. 

 

On July 9, 2010, the 50 for Colorado leadership program met for the Entrepreneurship session held at CU Boulder. One of the great trends in entrepreneurship is being a change maker and therefore making a positive impact in this world. Two of our speakers focused on this subject. 

Heidi Ganahl, (photo above) CEO and Founder aka "Top Dog" of Camp Bow Wow, created The Bow Wow Buddies Foundation in 2003 (three years after starting the CBW franchise). The mission of the Bow Wow Buddies Foundation is to promote the health and welfare of dogs worldwide by focusing on finding foster and lifetime homes for unwanted dogs, promoting humane education and treatment, and investing in research and treatment for dogs devastated by illness and disease.

Lynn Price, Founder and President Emeritus of Camp To Belong, has also gone through many challenges. At the age of 8, Lynn learned that she had a biological sister, Andi, living on the other side of town! From her experiences, Lynn founded Camp To Belong and is an active volunteer for CTB in an effort to give brothers and sisters an opportunity to create childhood memories. Staffed by volunteer counselors across the country, Camp To Belong never charges a foster child to attend camp. 

In addition to our two speakers, we have three participants in 50 who work for non-profits. Karen Snow works for CBR YouthConnect, Jules Kelty works for the Colorado AIDS Project, and Allison Carey works for Project C.U.R.E. 

CBR YouthConnect (CBRYC) is a national residential treatment facility that provides accredited mental health services and education to at-risk boys, ages 10 to 21, from across the United States. CBRYC's mission is to achieve excellence in providing troubled youth with the means to become hopeful and productive citizens. CBRYC has a 97% success rate in helping troubled boys return to their home communities and become productive citizens. Over 550 boys have been to the ranch.

Colorado AIDS Project's (CAP) mission is to prevent HIV infection and improve lives affected by HIV and AIDS. CAP is a 27 year-old community based organization that helps those living with HIV/AIDS, and those at risk, to make healthy choices for a self sufficient, enhanced quality of life. CAP provides innovative, individualized services to those most in need, educates high risk populations, and advocates for social and health care equity. Over the last quarter century, Colorado AIDS Project has served 75 percent of the men, women, and children who have lived with HIV/AIDS in Colorado.

PROJECT C.U.R.E. (Commission on Urgent Relief & Equipment) was founded in 1987 to help meet the need for medical supplies, equipment, and services around the world. PROJECT C.U.R.E. builds sustainable healthcare infrastructure by providing the medical supplies and equipment that medical personnel need to deliver healthcare to their communities. Since its inception, PROJECT C.U.R.E. has delivered medical relief to needy people in more than 120 countries. 

For more details on any of these organizations and how you can help, please click on the organizations' name to be taken to their website.  To learn about the 50 for Colorado  program or to nominate someone for the 2011 class, please click here.  

Boulder is known for its entrepreneurial spirit (see links below) and we noticed this spirit with our 60 CUBIC students this year. CUBIC runs during Maymester for three weeks (8:30-5:00) and is open to non-business majors with at least 60 credits or recent graduates. The participants learn about accounting, marketing, finance, personal finance, business & government along with leadership & management. There are also two career days that covers résumé writing, networking and interviewing skills.

During the three weeks, each participant is placed into a group of 3-4 other students and they work on a business plan project and present it to a panel of judges on the last day. Over the past few years, only about 20% of the students indicated an interest in starting their own company; but this year over 60% were interested!!! To add to the competition, Ronda Phillips of S3 Talent Management awarded the top three teams with gift cards. Members of the first place (Gold) team each received a $150 gift card, 2^nd place (Silver) received a $100 gift card and 3^rd place (Bronze) received a $50 gift card. There were 14 teams total.

The Gold team's business plan was around a restaurant that was also involved with community giving. The team included: Mark Arnoldy, Todd McPherson, Funmi Ogunremi and Julia Schroeder. The Silver team promoted a product to enhance study habits of students. The team was comprised of James Caine, Justin D'Atri, Laura Hoch and John Kelly. The Bronze team focused their efforts on an outdoor recreational service. Team members included Zack Feirer, Sean Hanley, Samantha Kirberg and Spencer Sinclair. All of the teams had great concepts. We can't wait to see what kind of business plans next year's class will develop and present to the panel of judges. CUBIC 2011 will be held from May 9-27.

Colorado Specific

Boulder, Colo., a Magnet for High-Tech Start-Ups 

Claire Cain Miller, New York Times.  Published May 13, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/business/14boulder.html?src=me&ref=general

 

Why Boulder is America's Best Town for Start-Ups

Vivek Wadhwa, Business Week.  Published April 22, 2010

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/apr2010/sb20100421_531161.htm

On Friday, April 2nd, the 50 for Colorado leadership participants learned about Sports & Recreation in Colorado.  They started out in the morning at Invesco Field and the participants heard from CU Athletics, Kroenke Sports, Denver Broncos and Além International (Olympic Torch Race) and then they toured Invesco Field.

In the afternoon the group headed over to Coors Field and heard from more speakers, including representatives from Colorado Rockies and USA Rugby.  Afterwards they toured the stadium and had a chance to check out the Rockies' locker room, which isn't open to the public.

Even if the participants weren't major sports fans, it gave them a great overview of the economic impact sports has in Colorado and why so many people in this state love the variety of sports and recreation opportunities here. 

As an employee at CU, we hear from a lot of students that part of the reason they attend school here is the proximity to recreational activities.  With that in mind, the Leeds School of Business created the Business of Sports program for college juniors and seniors-which you may have read about in earlier posts.  Application and registration forms are due on April 9, so if you know of any students who would be interested in this program, let them know soon (it will also be held in the Summer 2011).  We are looking forward to meeting those students who really have a love of the game. 

 

This weekend I saw the Genghis Khan exhibition at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Most of us think of Genghis Khan as a major brute. Yes, that's true, but he also had some great leadership skills and was open to learning new things. He promoted people based on their ability, had an extensive army-which helped create one of the largest empires, allowed people to practice any religion, allowed various cultures to flourish, created cities for the non-nomads, and loved new inventions. He is still revered in Mongolia today as a leader.

Most of us will not become statesmen or military commanders-but a lot of us are looking on how to improve ourselves and the lives of people around us. Leadership is a 'soft' skill and doesn't always receive the kudos it should, because the ROI is much more difficult to track.

In the workplace, if you have great leaders, you will then most likely have a team stay with you especially when our economy recovers. That impacts your bottom line because you are not spending thousands of dollars replacing and training new employees. If the leaders can help create a positive environment when times aren't so good-imagine what will happen in the future. So if you are a manager, encourage your key employees to be involved in the community and life-long education.

If you want to see what our department offers, please check out our website and we can help you discover the leader within. Our next leadership class, Peak Performance Leadership, starts on January 22.

Executive Education Classes.

I recently sat down one of our past Peak Performance Leadership participants, Mario Vidalon. Mario is the director of the University of Colorado's Center for Advanced Engineering and Technology Education (CAETE). However a mouthful, CAETE is one of Boulder's most impressive Centers for Excellence, offering numerous masters degrees to students in every corner of the globe. Currently, Mario and his team are using digital technology to educate US soldiers in Iraq and oil workers in Venezuela (among others).

Mario has held an executive leadership position for over 15 years, which begs the question: Why was he compelled to take our PPL course? According to Mario, he's "constantly looking for new learning opportunities and self-renewal."  Jim LoPresti, professor of Peak Performance, provided just that - a chance for participants to critically look at their leadership style, the role of servant leadership in everyday life, as well as general self-awareness. Mario pointed out that Jim was a "great presenter, but an even better listener, which to [Mario] is half the battle."

 

 

Peak Performance Leadership is one of our most sought-after courses, aimed toward mid- to senior-level managers who want to develop an authentic, strengths-based management philosophy. Our next session of PPL is coming up in January '10; for more information visit our website, or shoot us an e-mail.

Ronda Phillips, Managing Partner of Client services for S3 Talent Management, describes how the class will help you transition into a successful manager and leader.

Successful leaders today understand how to select, hire, engage and retain top talent. Leaders know that the higher they rise in organizations, the more dependent they are on others for their success. Therefore, ensuring they have the best direct report teams possible is a critical enabler for attaining key results. Leaders must know how to recognize and attract talent and be confident in their ability to assess against both functional/technical skills and cultural fit. They must understand how to drive the highest levels of performance from their talent, using research-based approaches to ensure engagement and commitment and keep top performers retained in the organization.

Learn More: http://bit.ly/K4Hdq

It's that time of year where we are accepting nominations for the next 50 for Colorado class. The 50 for Colorado leadership program has been around since 1985 and has 1,000 alumni.  Each year participants from a variety of industries (non-profit, consulting, government, legal, education, finance, marketing, etc.) learn about key sectors that are important to Colorado's economy. 

The class will meet January 15, February 5, March 4-5, April 9, May 7, June 11-12, July 9, September 10-11, October 8, and November 5.  Sessions include government & politics, military & defense, sports & recreation, mining, energy, entrepreneurship, agriculture, research science, and arts & entertainment. 

To nominate someone, please visit our website at http://Leeds.colorado.edu/50forCO and look under the getting started section.  You can also send a nomination into our ExecEd@colorado.edu.  Please include the following information: 

·         Name of nominee

·         Company of nominee & Position

·         Address of nominee

·         E-mail and telephone number of nominee

·         Nominator's name

·         How you are acquainted with the nominee

-Heather

This Saturday is our second annual 50 for Colorado Bash.  We started the Bash last year as a fundraiser for our scholarship recipients and encourage class years to get to know each other better.  We have some amazing auction items including dinner with Red Miller (Former Denver Broncos' head coach), gallery rentals, Super Bowl XXXIII team signed football, amazing spa package in Pagosa Springs, lots of overnight hotel stays, and much more.  Our interns really helped out with procuring items this year.  They are rock stars!

Speaking of rock stars...each year all of us in Exec Ed can't wait to get to know our alumni at various events and also get ready for next year's class.  At this year's Bash we have alumni that are from class of 1988 to class of 2009.  The 50 program started in 1985 and we have about 1,000 alumni.  It's an amazing network of people that work in non-profit, financial, government, legal, arts, consulting, and marketing. 

Besides preparing for our event this weekend, we are also encouraging all our alumni to nominate someone that they think would be a great fit for the 2010 class.  Please visit http://leeds.colorado.edu/50forCO to see our upcoming sessions and nominate your colleagues on-line.  Nominations are due October 9. 

 

-Heather Owens, Program Coordinator

In the short video, instructor and Leeds faculty member Cathleen Burns shares success stories and the compelling reasons to take the class and grow your career.

This course is particularly useful for managers and executives who need to read and interpret corporate financial statements, and who would like to learn more about how their decisions affect the "bottom line." 

Learn More and Sign Up >

"This program is an excellent introduction to business finance and accounting and makes you want to learn more."
  --Rick Wietharn, March 2008
     Director of Engineering, White Wave Foods