Partnering with Leadership 2000 to Develop Future Leaders in Our Community
KCK Chamber Partners With Leadership 2000 to Identify and Motivate the Next Generation of Leaders in Our Community
Identifying and motivating the next generation of leaders in our community has long been a focus for Leadership 2000. The KCK Chamber is pleased to announce a partnership with the longstanding Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County leadership program.
Leadership 2000 expands the horizons of your understanding of leadership by challenging you to understand yourself better and begin applying civically engaged leadership in new ways.
Leadership Characteristics
Leaders must be able to communicate effectively with all types of people. They are also able to make decisions quickly and with limited information. The best leaders consider the likely consequences of their choices and the available alternatives. They then make a decision with conviction and take responsibility for it.
They must be able to develop and motivate followers. This includes the ability to inspire and energize staff, encourage their ideas, and promote a positive attitude. Leaders must have the ability to be a role model for other employees, so they should demonstrate ethical business practices and respect others’ personal freedoms.
Self-confident leaders have high self-esteem, assertiveness and emotional stability. They can project their confidence in themselves and their decisions to others, creating trust and commitment. They are able to follow through with their promises and have integrity in everything they do. They are dependable and able to stay calm in stressful situations. They are often trusted by their peers and considered a leader by many.
Leadership Challenges
Leadership challenges are the bumps in the road a leader faces. A smooth ride is a goal, but not always realistic in the real world of business. A leader may have to deal with internal issues such as coworkers disagreeing on a presentation, or external events that affect the company, such as semiconductor shortages that require layoffs.
The best way to overcome these leadership challenges is by having a strong balance between management and leadership skills. Managerial skills can help in handling internal issues, while leadership making provides higher motives and greater openness for innovative thinking.
The KCK Chamber is proud to partner with the long-standing community leadership program, Leadership 2000, to identify and inspire emerging leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors in the metro Kansas City area. Leadership 2000 is offered throughout the year for participants to gain a greater understanding of the local communities they serve and how their leadership can make a difference.
21st Century Leaders
Leadership in the 21st century is more fluid than ever before. It is important for leaders to understand that everyone has different perspectives and strengths. This means that they need to be able to create an environment where everyone feels like they can bring their authentic self to work and that they are appreciated for their contributions.
21st century leaders must be able to balance long-term business strategies with short-term tactics. This requires that they be able to see the big picture and understand how their decisions impact the company’s future.
Additionally, leaders must be able to identify people issues and handle them effectively. This includes empowering employees to pursue their own ideas and solutions to problems, while also providing them with support and direction when necessary. It is also critical that leaders recognize the importance of embracing diversity in their teams. This allows them to harness the power of individuals’ unique skills and perspectives to improve performance, creativity, productivity and innovation.
Developing Leaders
For more than 30 years, Leadership 2000 has inspired leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors to develop working relationships within our community. Our graduates are mayors, council members and legislators, as well as transformational leaders in the private sector and in non-profit organizations.
Developing leaders is critical to ensuring your team has the skills and capabilities needed to execute on the strategy of your business. The best way to develop leaders is to leverage your existing talent and invest in the growth of new leadership capacity.
Identifying and developing leaders is most cost effective when you are able to combine natural talent, key experiences and focused development. Gallup’s assessment, CliftonStrengths, provides an individualized perspective of a leader’s most natural ways of thinking, feeling and behaving to help identify the key experiences they need. The combination of these factors ensures that you have the right leaders in place when and where they are needed.