Leadership McLean County

Next week I'll help interview 51 applicants for Leadership McLean County, the program that I went through in 2004. About 35 are accepted each year.

http://www.leadershipmcleancounty.com/

Participants commit to all-day sessions on about 13 Fridays from September through April. Much of the course involves learning about the community, such as:

- An hour with the mayors of Bloomington and Normal to discuss current issues
- An hour with the school superintendents
- A slide presentation of coming improvements for Uptown Normal
- A tour of the many facets of farming, including technology
- A trip to Springfield and visit with government officials
- An update on crime and tour of the city jail
- Visits from several social service agencies like Boys & Girls Club

Graduation requirements include community service projects, attending town and school board meetings, among others.

Some stats:

27 of the applicants are from State Farm.
5 are from banks.
4 are from Country/Growmark.
4 are from health care.
4 are from education.
2 are from nonprofits.
2 are from technology.
1 from each of AFNI, WHOI, and government.

I serve as class facilitator, or "homeroom teacher." Collect assignments, emcee the sessions, that sort of thing. This year my role will expand to include discussion of specific leadership topics from the book "Lincoln on Leadership." It's about as well-suited for me as a volunteer role can be: well organized, well-defined roles, and team members who hold themselves accountable.

I expect it's a gig that will last another year or two, if only because I've never held a volunteer role for more than three years in a row, and I'm not much of a "board" person which is mostly what all of the other LMC roles are. So I'm enjoying it while it lasts, including the perks of essentially hand-picking a group of friends with a heart for others.