Effective leadership, the ability to gain influence and credibility, requires trust. Yet, as leaders feel the increased pressure of delivering results in a constantly changing environment, with transitory relationships and reduced time frames the challenge of developing trust in our organizations and communities seems unattainable. The traditional foundation on which trust is developed – time and exposure – isn’t available. Leaders in a low trust culture often revert to power and control to get things done. They replace trust of others with control of information, access, and resources. They develop elaborate accountability systems. They collect myriads of data then question its validity. They secure relationships with contractual agreements. These techniques to maintain control take increased effort, time and money.  A non-trusting environment is costly, ineffective, unsatisfying, and demoralizing. So, how do leaders create trust?

This workshop will focus on how leaders build trust in themselves, their organizations and their communities. Participants in this workshop will walk away with:

• An understanding of the trust crisis, its nature and its impact on our culture

• A realization of the cost of trust and non-trust to our organizations

• Understanding their individual capacity for self-trust

• Practical approaches to increase your ability to build trusting relationships

• Understanding of how to build trusting cultures within organizations and communities

The workshop is highly participatory. It will include self-reflection, storytelling, small group work and journaling as trust is viewed and experienced from a variety of angles. The facilitators’ intent is for participants to have an experience with trust that increases both their knowledge and their ability to bring trust more fully into their lives, their relationships and their organizations.

This is a day-long workshop on Tuesday, March 20th, 2012, taking place at Youth Alternatives on Washington Avenue in Portland. The cost is $230 if tickets are purchased by February 15th, and $260 thereafter.

To sign up for this workshop or for more information, please click here.

Breakfast with Anna Eleanor Roosevelt

On February 29, 2012, ICL will host Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.  Anne (as she is known) is the President and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Northern New England. A social enterprise for over 100 years, Goodwill, at its core, reflects economic, social and environmental sustainability, with a focus on connecting people to marketplace employment.

During Anne’s talk, she will share stories from her life and her career, including her experiences so far at Goodwill, to illustrate both the challenges and opportunities for leaders working across all sectors who seek to build a shared sense of responsibility, security, inclusion and community.

ICL will be holding two information sessions for the Leadership Intensive on Tuesday, February 7th and Wednesday, February 22nd at Youth Alternatives on Washington Avenue. The sessions will run from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. For more information about the Intensive, please click HERE. To sign up for one of the information sessions, please email Shawn Hunt. To nominate someone to be a part of the 20th ICL Intensive class, please click HERE.

ICL will have an information session for the Young Emerging Leaders program on Monday, February 13th at Youth Alternatives on Washington Avenue. The session will run from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. For more information about Young Emerging Leaders, please click HERE. To sign up for the information session, please email Shawn Hunt. To nominate someone to be a part of the next Young Emerging Leader’s Class, please click HERE.

Angus King speaks at the ICL Leadership in Action Breakfast

Former Maine Governor Angus King energized an early-morning crowd at the Institute for Civic Leadership’s “Leadership in Action” breakfast on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at the Clarion Hotel in Portland. 

Weaving in stories from historic 20th century events like the Cuban Missle Crisis and Apollo 13, King spoke about the need for collaborative leadership.  “At one time, leadership came from the top down.  Now, we have realized that through collaboration and listening to everyone’s ideas, we can come to better solutions.  There are no stupid ideas.  There are no stupid questions.  You never know where the best ideas will come from.” 

To illustrate that point, King led the participants through an exercise in collaboration:  he gave them a list of items to order by importance if they were stuck on the moon.  He compared their personal results and their group results with the results determined by NASA.  The groups performed much better than the individuals.

The event attracted a full house, and attendees expressed a desire to come to future ICL events. 

The Leadership in Action Breakfast Series is sponsored by Woodard and Curran, with additional support from Wright Express, Norton Financial and Fairchild Semiconductor.  The next breakfast will take place in late January.

The signature program of the Portland-based nonprofit, the annual course teaches proven collaborative, facilitative and change leadership skills to a diverse group of 35 senior and middle-management professionals from the private, nonprofit and public sectors.

The nine-month, 14-day program begins in September and ends in May and includes an Outward Bound component and a practicum project using the tools and skills taught in the course to help move forward a real issue facing a Maine community.

Laura Moorehead, ICL Director of Training, facilitates the program, which helps participants to increase their capacity as leaders, understand why inclusive and innovative leadership is critical and provide them the network and skills to exercise it effectively within their organizations and their communities.

This year’s Tau Class members come from a variety of southern and central Maine communities and the private, nonprofit and public sectors and were selected for the program based on their demonstrated potential to leverage their training to make a positive difference in their organizations and the civic work within the state.

TAU CLASS LIST

Anne Bardaglio, Island Institute

Elizabeth Barrett, Attorney at Law (Self Employed)

Nancy Berrang, King Middle School

Crispin Bolese

Selma Botman, University of Southern Maine

Mary Chris Bulger, Lemonade Day Maine

Molly Burk, Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Scott Carter, Unum

Brad Choyt, North Yarmouth Academy

Jay Collins, Wright Express

Wendy Cunningham, Unum

David Daniel, The Nature Conservancy

Donna Gaspar Jarvis, University of New England

Tara Hill, Maine Cancer Foundation

Maureen Hurley, World Affairs Council of Maine

Jan Kearce, Institute for Civic Leadership

Claudia King, Falmouth Recycling and Energy Committee (Volunteer)

Amelia Kurtz, Key Bank

Andy Lilienthal, Camp Winnebago

Bodi Luse, LearningWorks

Thomas Marlow, Fairchild Semiconductor

Patrick Morin, Baker Newman Noyes

Carolyn Nishon, Portland Symphony

Sally Oldham, Oldham Historic Properties

Catherine Richards Olney, Coastal Studies for Girls (Board)

Mark Pavitt, Martin’s Point Health Care

Regina Phillips, City of Portland

Jason Shedlock, American Red Cross of Southern Maine

Sandra Stone, Sea Cove Solutions

Thomas Stoughton, Woodard & Curran

Mark Sundermann

Susan Violet, Good Shepherd Food Bank

Bruce Walker, L.L. Bean

Warren Whitney, Maine Coast Heritage Trust

Emily Wolff, PROP

In an effort to ensure that the class is as inclusive as possible, nearly $60,000 in scholarship support has been provided to participants. In addition to funds raised by ICL through its annual alumni appeal, scholarship support was also made possible by organizations including Wright Express, Unum, Ethos Marketing and Design, Fairchild Semiconductor and VONT Web Marketing.

For more information about the ICL Leadership Intensive or our other offerings, please visit www.civicleadership.org.

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR CIVIC LEADERSHIP- The Institute for Civic Leadership (ICL) was founded in 1993 to build Maine’s civic capacity by training, supporting, engaging and convening a growing network of skilled leaders. In 2006 ICL merged with The Board Network, an organization founded in 1999 to build stronger nonprofit boards of directors in Maine. ICL brings innovative and inclusive models of leadership to Maine’s communities and organizations by providing a broad range of civic leadership offerings, as well as programs specific to nonprofit boards. At the Institute for Civic Leadership we are committed to opening doors, building new relationships, and inspiring leaders. We move Maine forward. For more information, contact 773-3254 (extension 100) or visit www.civicleadership.org.

Angus S. King Jr. served two four-year terms as Maine’s 71st governor.  His presentation, “Forging Collaboration through Effective Leadership,” will offer several lessons from history that demonstrate collaborative leadership at its best.  He took office in 1995 as the only independent governor in the country, making collaboration a necessity. His 1998 reelection was one of the largest margins of victory in Maine’s history. He left office in January 2003. 

Governor King graduated from Dartmouth College in 1966 and earned a law degree at the University of Virginia Law School in 1969. He began his career as a staff attorney for Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Skowhegan. In 1972 he became chief counsel to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Narcotics in the office of then-Senator William D. Hathaway.

In 1975 he returned to Maine to practice law with the firm of Smith, Loyd and King in Brunswick. In the same year he began his almost 20-year stint as host of the television show “Maine Watch” on the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.

In 1983 he became vice president and general counsel of Swift River-Hafslund Company, an alternative energy development company based in Portland and Boston.

In 1989 he founded and served for five years as president of Northeast Energy Management, Inc., a Brunswick-based company specializing in the development of large-scale energy conservation projects at commercial and industrial facilities in central and southern Maine.

During his term as Maine governor he focused on economic development and job creation, education, mental health services, corrections, land conservation and environmental protection, and improvements in service delivery by state government.

Governor King’s administration accomplished a total rebuild of the state’s mental health and corrections systems, major improvements in the state’s service capability, a substantial increase in the state’s commitment to research and development, the largest increase of lands in conservation in the state’s history, and the nationally recognized program to provide laptop computers to every seventh and eight grade student in the state.

He has served as Visiting Fellow, Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is currently Of Counsel with Bernstein Shur of Portland, and lectures at Bates College, Bowdoin College and University of New England. He recently joined the board of the Portland engineering firm of Woodard and Curran.

The Leadership in Action Breakfast Series is sponsored by:

Our other sponsors include:

The 2010 Pilot Program Class for ICL Young Emerging Leaders

Applications are now being accepted for the second year of an innovative program that will prepare and launch 25 of Maine’s young emerging leaders to governance roles on nonprofit boards and committees.
 
Nationally, only 6 percent of nonprofit board members are 35 or younger, a troubling figure especially given that Maine has the oldest population in the country.  After seeing trends in the state that confirmed that national statistic, the Institute for Civic Leadership (ICL) became concerned with the challenge of engaging Maine’s young leaders in nonprofit board service.

“Young leaders who are actively involved in their communities are two to three times more likely to stay in them. This program connects young emerging leaders to their communities and increases their commitment to Maine.  In addition, local nonprofits have an opportunity to add new perspectives and energy by engaging young leaders on their boards and board committees,” said ICL Executive Director Jan Kearce.

With the belief that this program would help keep Maine’s young people invested in the future of the state, the Cumberland-based Norton Insurance and Financial contributed a matching grant of $10,000 to seed fund the pilot program last fall and has continued to fund it this year.  Additionally, Wright Express, Fairchild Semiconductor, philanthropist Maddy Corson and other anonymous donors have generously stepped in to fund the program again. Thanks to these contributions, participants will pay only $400 of the $2500 per person total training cost.   

The program begins with a two-day session that will include an overnight at Rippleffect’s outdoor educational outpost on Cow Island in Casco Bay.  The leadership training portion of the program will then continue through mid-December.  More information about the program and schedule can be found on the ICL website, www.civicleadership.org.

Participants in ICL Young Emerging Leaders will in turn make a commitment to serve on a nonprofit board or committee in Maine for a minimum duration of six months to three years, a term dictated by the assignment. The matches will be made based on the interests, skills and experience of the participant and the needs of the receiving nonprofit.

Last year’s pilot program was an overwhelming success.  Said one of last year’s participants, “Since there will come a day when my generation will inherit the responsibility for these communities, it is important that we provide a voice for ourselves early on, to ensure that we can advocate for the interests of the residents who have a stake in these neighborhoods and organizations.”  Ultimately that is the goal of this program:  to provide Maine’s young leaders with the ability to take on those critical responsibilities.

To request an application for yourself or to suggest a potential participant(s) for the program, please contact Jan Kearce at jkearce@civicleadership.org or 773-3254 (ext. 105). Applications are due by Monday, August 1st, with all applicants being notified of their acceptance status by Wednesday, August 17th. The $400 program cost and signed letter of commitment will be due to ICL no later than Wednesday, August 31^st, with the first training session scheduled for Tuesday, September 30.

If you are interested in being a mentor or you are a nonprofit board interested in accepting a program participant to serve on your board or committee, contact ICL Executive Director Jan Kearce at jkearce@civicleadership.org or 773-3254 (ext. 105).
 
Additional information about the program can be found at www.civicleadership.org.
 
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR CIVIC LEADERSHIP – The Institute for Civic Leadership (ICL) was founded in 1993 to build Maine’s civic capacity by training, supporting, engaging and convening a growing network of skilled leaders. In 2006 ICL merged with The Board Network, an organization founded in 1999 to build stronger nonprofit boards of directors in Maine.  ICL brings innovative and inclusive models of leadership to Maine’s communities and organizations by providing a broad range of civic leadership offerings, as well as programs specific to nonprofit boards. At the Institute for Civic Leadership we are committed to opening doors, building new relationships, and inspiring leaders. We move Maine forward. For more information, contact 773-3254 (extension 100) or visit www.civicleadership.org.

Dr. Lisa Letourneau receives the Distinguished Alumnus Award from ICL Executive Director Jan Kearce

On June 15th, The Institute for Civic Leadership (ICL) honored Distinguished Alumna Dr. Lisa Letourneau at its Annual Recognition Celebration, held at Unum.

A highly regarded health care quality improvement leader at the national, regional, and local levels, Letourneau is a graduate of the ICL Leadership Intensive Xi Class. She also played a key role in setting the stage for Institute for Civic Leadership and the Daniel Hanley Center to collaboratively develop the Health Leadership Development program.

As Maine Quality Counts Executive Director, Letourneau guides the regional health care improvement collaborative’s many programs and projects; and serves as physician champion for the Maine Aligning Forces for Quality initiative. She also promotes and supports several statewide quality initiatives in Maine including the Maine Patient Centered Medical Home Pilot.  

Said Dr. Letourneau, “The fact that there are so many great people here today is truly a tribute to ICL and the tremendous work you all are doing to promote collaborative leadership.”  Dr. Letourneau then spoke of the leadership lessons she has learned throughout her career, pointing out that in situations when all voices are heard, “…regardless of the eventual outcome, the effort itself was a success, and a real testament to the power and potential of collaborative leadership.”

Over 500 leaders from southern Maine have participated in an ICL Leadership Intensive, the signature program of the Portland-based nonprofit.  Annually, the course teaches proven collaborative, facilitative and change leadership skills to a diverse group of senior and middle-management professionals from the private, nonprofit and public sectors. The nine-month, 14-day program begins in September and ends in May and includes an Outward Bound component and a practicum project using the tools and skills taught in the course to help move a real issue facing a Maine community forward.

Sponsors supporting the recognition event include Wright Express, Woodard and Curran, Norton Financial Services, Fairchild Semiconductor, Unum, Curtis Thaxter and Associates, and Ethos Marketing and Design.

For more information about the ICL Leadership Intensive or our other offerings, please visit www.civicleadership.org.

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR CIVIC LEADERSHIP- The Institute for Civic Leadership (ICL) was founded in 1993 to build Maine’s civic capacity by training, supporting, engaging and convening a growing network of skilled leaders. In 2006 ICL merged with The Board Network, an organization founded in 1999 to build stronger nonprofit boards of directors in Maine.  ICL brings innovative and inclusive models of leadership to Maine’s communities and organizations by providing a broad range of civic leadership offerings, as well as programs specific to nonprofit boards. At the Institute for Civic Leadership we are committed to opening doors, building new relationships, and inspiring leaders. We move Maine forward. For more information, contact 773-3254 (extension 100) or visit www.civicleadership.org.

As I reflect on my first 100 days on the job, I have had the opportunity to connect with many alumni, community members and supporters who are deeply engaged in moving Maine forward. ICL Alumni, in many cases, are realizing their potential and leading the way in every sector of our local community and beyond. Their passionate commitment to effective leadership, collaboration and civic engagement is instrumental to their success. Many tell the story of the impact of their ICL experience.

Leading an organization that has effectively developed and engaged over 500 leaders since 1993, is an honor and a responsibility. Approaching our 20th anniversary (only two years away!) becomes a call to action. Looking forward, I remember and have added to a Winston Churchill quote, “The further backward you look, the further forward you can see,” and the better you are able to envision your leadership role.

Looking backward
Former ICL Executive Directors, Ellen Grant and Steve Schuit, continued to build upon the success of the core Leadership Intensive and answered the question, “what’s needed now?” Ellen partnered with the Hanley Center to develop and deliver the highly successful Health Leadership Development (HLD) intensive experience, and expanded leadership services for non-profits through a merger with the Board Network. Steve envisioned and supported the launch of the Young Emerging Leaders Pilot Program that just graduated its first class and successfully answered the call for younger leaders on boards across our community.  

Looking forward
Building on the legacy of these leaders, we ask again, “what’s needed now?” Continuing and enhancing the success of our core programs serves as our foundation. Building on the energy of Young Emerging Leaders by repeating the program this fall is a high priority. Continuing to partner with the Hanley Center to foster collaborative leadership in a complex health care environment has never been more important. Yet, we ask,”what more can we do to live up to our commitment of moving Maine forward?” Answering this question, takes us on a journey to explore new sectors, programs and geographies. 

Charting the way – together
Upcoming focus groups for the Leadership Intensive and Young Emerging Leaders will help us chart the course of both programs. Conversations with alumni and other stakeholders will engage us in assessing and defining the work ahead as we deliver on our mission to develop, deeply engage, convene and inspire leaders in service to their missions and our communities. 

YOU can help. We invite our alumni to join the conversation. Contact me to sign up for a focus group.

Join us in looking further forward.

Jan Kearce 
ICL Executive Director