UK involvement began with the 2018-19 Leadership Winchester Clark County in the spring of 2018 with a consultation with the Chamber of Commerce Director, Cindy Banks. Cindy invited me to assist with the program delivery with the class that began in August of 2018.  I had worked with the previous class. Registration for this class had increased to 30, six more than the previous year. Indications were that the previous year’s participants had actively recruited more enrolled participants, which is one of the indicators the Chamber uses to document a successful program.  Working with Shannon Ferrell, 4-H Agent with Clark County Cooperative Extension, we opened the first session with some team building activities and presentations to help guide the class in a better understanding of leadership and community.  We utilized a community leadership self-assessment tool to help participants think about their skills and asked them to identify areas they would like to improve that related to community leadership.  I collected the note cards from the class with the priority improvement areas.  

Over the next seven sessions, I had an opportunity to speak directly with the class or invite a speaker on my behalf at each meeting.  I designed the program around the priority improvement areas identified by participants on the note cards I had collected. Aside from my brief monthly appearance, the day coordinators of the class took the class on tours and arranged for the session details.  At the end of the eight-month session, I asked participants to rate any changes they perceived in themselves around the topic areas they had identified for growth. Combining all class scores, the average change scores improved on every assessed priority improvement area the participants had identified. Average scores on each question increased from 1/3 of a point to 1.8 points on a five point scale.

I am conscious to practice citizenship/serving others in my community. AVERAGE END SCORE = 4.25; AVERAGE CHANGE= + 1.4

I am confident in my communication skills. AVERAGE END SCORE = 4.43;  AVERAGE CHANGE= + .35

I am confident in my knowledge of self/personal skills development. AVERAGE END SCORE = 4.15;  AVERAGE CHANGE= + .76

I have a firm understanding of the complexity of the Community.  AVERAGE END SCORE = 4.32;  AVERAGE CHANGE= + 1.8 

I feel I am adept at managing conflict. AVERAGE END SCORE = 4.16; AVERAGE CHANGE= + .88

My level of confidence in leading change. AVERAGE END SCORE = 3.9; AVERAGE CHANGE= + 1.24 

My overall understanding of leadership. AVERAGE END SCORE = 4.58;  AVERAGE CHANGE= + 1.6

My ability to lead team development.  AVERAGE END SCORE = 4.28; AVERAGE CHANGE= + 1.4

Narrative responses to the question “What was the most beneficial experience or elements of this program?”  included the responses:

The process of learning the complexity, the necessity, and the barriers of leadership to a community. Knowing what goes on and what it takes to develop community belonging and leadership is a key.

Learning about the community, how to get involved and what to do when I get there.

Learning how to be a better leader.

Team building, local governance, everything really, I learned about varied aspects of leadership.  Eye-opening- sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know.

Paring evidence-based research info with the daily activities.

Teamwork. Learning about the community

Advancing my understanding of leadership and the community.

Overall, the participant evaluations reflected positive growth of participants in their class experience. The skill areas identified in the community leadership assessment provided a good framework for identifying areas for personal and interpersonal development, and the evaluation results reflect an overall average trend of improvement.  While there are some identified issues with the assessment methodology (incomplete and improperly completed evaluations, and issues of controlling for maturation in results), the outcomes of the program reflect overall positive gains in specifically targeted intended outcomes of leadership development for the program.