This year’s Highlands Economic Partnership Leadership Program is underway, showing strong participation.
Highlands Economic Partnership Vice President Adam Poe said the program provides affordable leadership training for leaders or soon-to-be leaders in businesses, industries, and local government. Poe said he credits the strong participation to it being more affordable compared to other leadership development programs.
“When we are able to provide opportunities for education and development at next to nothing for cost,” Poe said. “We will start to see a leadership group that is investing in themselves and not being held back by financial burden. That’s one thing I am incredibly proud of as a part of this Highlands Economic Partnership team.”
Poe said the program has received good feedback from participants with some participants saying the program is the best leadership training program in which they have participated.
Poe said providing local leaders a seat at the table to be better leaders will have a positive impact on the Upper Cumberland for years to come.
“That has a huge impact on quality of life,” Poe said. “That also has a huge impact on collaboration and volunteering in the future for the community, but you will also see a lot of next-generation leaders that start to step up and make a difference in this beautiful region that we live in.”
Poe said the program has 15-20 participants and keeps it at that size so the program is not stretched thin.
“The key to a group like this is to not get it too big because it takes away from the vulnerability aspect of it,” Poe said. “So we are incredibly selective with the group that goes through each year.”
Poe said the participants in the program meet once every other month to discuss different topics such as decision-making in crisis situations and how to scale a business. Poe said participants have been committed as the program is extensive work.
“There’s also homework that is assigned to it and the homework is not like something that you can power through in an hour or so,” Poe said. “It is something that takes weeks of preparation and we do that through a couple of different ways but, it’s really a homework pairing along with the theme of the leadership that build on each other.”
Poe said he handles the bulk of the program but has had several outside speakers visit to provide additional expertise. Poe said the program does not charge participants for the curriculum but does charge for meals during the program.
