From Thursday through Saturday, March 24-26, Sidney will host a three-day learning session for this year’s Leadership Montana class. Leadership Montana, a state-wide intensive nine-month program, attracts participants from all walks of life and from all points in Montana. These participants join together to learn leadership skills that each individual can use in his or her respective community to help improve and strengthen that locality. The group visits different Montana towns throughout the nine-month period in order to study individual centers and learn the problems and challenges facing these communities. This month, the 41 participants will visit Sidney to learn about our town and to study local issues and challenges. Class members will meet with local leaders to discuss the problems the community faces and to experience first-hand the obstacles found here as well as notice the positive aspects of the Sidney area.
“2012 is the first time Leadership Montana has been to Sidney since 2006,” says Richland Economic Development (RED) Executive Director Leslie Messer, herself a 2008 graduate from the Leadership Montana program. “In 2005, I had the opportunity to facilitate and help showcase Sidney to the 2006 class, and I will help again this year with the 2012 class.”
She continues, “There are 41 participants this year and very few of them are familiar with Sidney. This gives us a great opportunity to highlight our area, educate the class, discuss the challenges we as a community face, and promote leadership skills.”
Messer explains that the Leadership Montana program, initiated in 2005, serves as a non-profit affiliate of the Montana Chamber Association, sponsored by organizations and businesses across Montana. “This is a new program, begun in 2005, and designed as a state-wide leadership training,” Messer comments. “Each year, the program accepts 40 participants from diverse cultural backgrounds and from all career paths who agree to dedicate nine months of their time to travel across this big beautiful state to learn about diverse communities and to understand the unique issues and challenges these communities face. The program focuses on issues state-wide, and once a month, the class spends three days visiting selected communities to observe, learn, and discuss what they find.”
The Leadership Montana class teaches participants to appreciate the diverse backgrounds of each class member, to learn the power of cooperation and collaboration, to develop and practice negotiation skills, and to help lead and guide communities as they grow and diversify.
Leadership Montana has produced some outstanding graduates who have gone back to their local communities and effected positive change.
Anyone interested in applying for the 2012 Leadership Montana program can visit the web site at leadershipmt.org for further information.
“This program does require commitment in both time and money,” Messer advises. “The program runs from September-April.”
Sidney will be one of the last communities this year’s class will visit. Participants will graduate from the program in May.
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