2022 Leadership Academy Fellows Complete Year of Development and Growth

Posted on December 8, 2022 by Barbara Landeen

On Dec. 1, the 2022 Leadership Academy Class of Fellows completed their program year of leadership development. The official graduation for the cohort of 45 leaders will be celebrated at the 2023 Institute & Expo.

Beginning in early May, the fellows met virtually in person to study and practice transformational leadership concepts. The four-part program included interactive discussions with forward-thinking leaders in our field and various settings.

Part I, Authentic Leadership, featured an intimate conversation with LeadingAge Minnesota's new CEO, Kari Thurlow. Her wisdom on confronting conflict: Be hard on the issue, but not on the person.

Part II, Rethinking Thinking, was held at Knute Nelson's Grand Arbor in Alexandria and featured a site visit and conversation with the senior leadership team. A significant takeaway on maintaining a culture of innovation: Learn, Unlearn, and Relearn.

Part III, Inspiring and Motivating Others, was held at Cassia's office in Edina. Fellows enjoyed hearing from Cassia leaders who shared the stories of three converging crucible experiences: merging two organizations into one, a fire that destroyed a senior living building, and opening two of the first COVID care units in the state. The overarching leadership lessons: Take care of your people, rely on your values when making decisions, and ensure your bucket is full of goodwill.

Part IV, Transformational Leadership, was held at Friendship Village of Bloomington. The Fellows heard from Executive Director David Miller, whose background in the hospitality industry prepared him to lead this life care community. They enjoyed a conversation with Sholom CEO and LeadingAge Minnesota Board Chair Barb Klick, who inspired a call to action to unite and use their leadership voices to lead necessary change for our field.

Each coaching team developed and presented peer training on key leadership concepts along the way. The fellows created and led an Action Learning Project that addressed their organizations' needs, using the leadership concepts presented throughout the year.

Eight volunteer coaches served as mentors for a small team of leadership fellows, helping to guide their journey through the program year.

Congratulations, leaders! See the list of graduating fellows here, and join us at the Institute in February to applaud their success.

Applications for the 2023 Leadership Academy will be available in January.