A New, Sharper Edge to Debut in the Fall

ILA has grown tremendously in its first 5 years. Along the way, we have attempted to keep you up to date through our Leader's Edge publication. The Edge has functioned reasonably well as a monthly newsletter, but has generally lacked more substantive pieces on leadership research and real-world practice. Beginning in the fall, we will introduce a new and improved Edge as a tri-annual publication with a sharper focus on information that will be helpful in your leadership development. You will still be able to count on the Edge for summaries and updates of ILA events and activities, but the new publication will deliver so much more. If you have a suggestion for an article, do not hesitate to share it with us. See you in September!

Dale Gauthreaux Named ILA Director!

We are delighted to announce that, effective July 1, Dale Gauthreaux will be joining the Terry College as the new director of the Institute for Leadership Advancement. He will have the non-tenure track faculty rank of Academic Professional.

Dale has a Ph.D. in Communications from Purdue and has held faculty positions at Augustana College and the University of Akron. He is currently employed by Capital One Services in Richmond, Virginia and also teaches on an adjunct basis at the University of Richmond. Dale has nearly 20 years of experience in leadership development and executive coaching and is a founding partner of Accelerated Growth Resources, an organizational development consulting firm. His background is ideal for the role he will play as ILA director.

Please join us in welcoming Dale and in thanking the search committee for a job well done. The committee members are: Rick Watson (chair), Chris Cornwell, Mel Crask, Mark Dawkins, Marisa Pagnattaro, and Bob Vandenberg.

Maximum Impact: 360º The Measure of a Leader

More than 1,500 people poured into the World Congress Center, on May 5, to learn the leadership lessons being taught at Maximum Impact:360º The Measure of a Leader. The day was opened with a warm welcome from Dean George Benson of the Terry College of Business, as he prepared the audience to get the most out of this incredible learning experience.

The day proceeded with amazing speakers giving the audience the tools needed to become 360º leaders, to get from where they are to where they want to be. They pointed out that to lead others one must first lead themselves exceptionally well. Each speaker emphasized the need to pursue excellence because it is the pursuit that makes the journey worthwhile.

During the noon break, Dean George Benson hosted a VIP luncheon attended by the speakers on the day's program and a special appearance by the "human highlight reel", Dominique Wilkins. The afternoon session resumed with comments on leadership from football greats Archie and Peyton Manning, who stressed the importance of being a leader in the community as well as in your profession. When the day came to a close, the audience had gleaned valuable leadership lessons from super models to generals that they could take with them and apply in their everyday life.

John Maxwell, best selling author and founder of Maximum Impact, urged the audience to be prepared because while "managers assume that everything will stay the same, leaders believe that everything will change". With that in mind, preparations have already begun for next years Maximum Event, scheduled for April 20, 2007, where they will once again offer insight from renowned athletes, authors, and leadership experts.

Teaching Leadership a Success

The Institute for Leadership Advancement and Terry College Office of Executive Programs hosted 28 visiting professors at the third annual "Teaching Leadership" faculty development workshop May 17-19 at the Terry College of Business. The program is designed to give college faculty the theoretical and conceptual framework to teach and develop student leadership. Participants traveled to the UGA campus from such distinguished institutions as Brigham Young University, The Citadel, Duke University, The University of Kentucky, Michigan State University, Morehouse College, Penn State University and more. Participants left the conference with syllabi, lectures, and all the tools needed to teach leadership courses at their institution.

Here are a couple of quotes from the participants:

• "Exceptional Program, your (ILA's) willingness to share all your expertise and material is wonderful."
• "Great Overview of Leadership, new Ideas presented in very clear concise manner."
• "Better than I hoped for -- facilitators were all very passionate about the concepts and contents presented. I am taking away a great deal away from this workshop -- I had several "AH-HA" moments. I have been truly inspired by the facilitators and the seeds that were planted -- I can't wait to put them into action and share with my colleagues."

Community Connection: Making Significant Contributions Throughout Georgia

Now in its fourth year, ILA's Capstone Service Learning Project (CSLP) continues to be a vibrant and vital opportunity to serve our community by sharing the leadership knowledge and skills they have acquired as scholars. The ILA has formed strong relationships with local hospitals, American Heart Assoc. and area high schools to create everything from a coffee shop, shown here, to a day of leadership, details of all CSLP projects can be found in the full story.

Georgia Leadership Institute's Executive Leadership Program is in Full Swing

Thirty-four graduates of the Georgia Leadership Institute's Executive Leadership Program received their certificates on April 18 during ceremonies held at the Terry College's Executive Education Center in Atlanta. The graduates were the first produced by the program, which was inaugurated in August 2005.

Speakers at the event included Jim Lientz, chief operating officer (COO) of the State of Georgia; Lonice Barrett, director of implementation for the Governor's Office; class speaker Gena L. Abraham, executive director of the Georgia Building Authority's State Properties Commission and the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission's Construction division; and Dink NeSmith, president of Community Newspapers Inc. and member of the Commission for a New Georgia.

The program has since changed its format to a one-week residency program instead of three separate sessions. The first residency program was successfully held May 7th through the 11th at the Lake Lanier Islands Emerald Pointe Resort. Thirty-two participants from seven state agencies were in attendance. Future residency programs will take place in August, October, and December with tentative programs planned for April and June 2007.

Conducted jointly by UGA's Carl Vinson Institute of Government and Terry's Institute for Leadership Advancement, the Executive Leadership Program provides leadership training for the heads and senior managers of Georgia's state agencies.

More information about the Georgia Leadership Institute is available online at http://www.gms.state.ga.us/leadershipInstitute.

Farewell to Graduate Assistants

The ILA graduate assistants have made a huge impact this year on all aspects of ILA including undergraduate students, faculty and staff. We are extremely grateful for their efforts and talents. We wish the following students the best of luck as they embark on their career:

• Brooke Crawford- ILA MBA Assistant for two years
• Erik DeVriendt- Leonard Leadership Scholars MBA Assistant for one year
• Ben Phillippi - LEAD Certificate Program MBA Assistant for two years

We are excited however that Mike Hair and Matt Thompson will be returning for another year of lending their tremendous skills and expertise to benefit the mission of creating new leaders.

ILA Photo Gallery

Check out photos from the most recent orientations, graduations and everything in between. New photos have just been added, so be sure to check out the events of the past year!

Speaker Gottung Discusses the Challenge to Rise “Back to Great”

Lizanne C. Gottung, Senior Vice-President and Chief Human Resource Officer of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, addressed the Leadership Scholars April 12. The students were captivated by the openness and candor with which she spoke about her rise to the senior leadership team at K-C and the challenges she faced along the way, both professionally and personally.

In her talk, Lizanne described K-C as a company that had gone from “good to great” (the company is, in fact included in the Jim Collins bestseller), but more recently had slipped “back to good”. She outlined how the K-C leadership team planned to align vision with strategy and mobilize for change to put the 100+ year-old company back on the path to greatness.

On the personal side, Lizanne shared that her husband chose to stay home with the children to provide work-family balance as her career transitioned from lower-level HR positions, to running a manufacturing plant, back to HR as a senior-level executive. Those remarks had a special resonance with the audience because one of Lizannes' daughters, Lauren, is a member of the 2007 Class of Leadership Scholars. Lauren added her unique perspective on the arc of her mother's career. Lizanne left the students with a good deal of professional and personal wisdom that will no doubt stick with them as they embark on their own careers.

Speaker Isdale Details Path of Investment Banking Career

M. Holly Isdale, Managing Director, Lehman Brothers New York, spoke to the Leadership Scholars on April 19. Holly became acquainted with ILA through Drew Fulton, a member of the Class of 2006, who interned with Lehman under her supervision last summer. Through Drew, Holly met Mr. Leonard who suggested she come down for a visit. She did, along with a Lehman crew from New York and Atlanta, including Robert Durham (BBA ‘79), a Lehman Managing Director in Atlanta.

Holly challenged the students on both a professional and personal level. She shared leadership lessons she has learned as she moved from her position in a NY law firm to JP Morgan to Goldman Sachs, and then to Lehman Brothers. Her insights were eagerly absorbed by everyone in the audience. Questions of work-life balance rose in her talk and Holly was candid and honest about the importance of managing career and family concerns.

Holly's visit was capped off with a dinner hosted by the Lehman team in honor of the new (Class of 2008) Leadership Scholars. Students attending the banquet had a unique opportunity to interact with a number of Wall Street professionals about their jobs and lives. Representing Lehman were: Sylvia Gort, VP Private Investment Management Atlanta; Larry Cummings, Institutional Equity Group Atlanta; Jason Orlosky, Analyst New York; Matt Vandenack, Senior Vice President New York; and Holly and Robert as well. This was the first event for the new class and a special introduction to all that LLSP has to offer.

Kicking Off a New Class of Scholars by Courtney Doran

The orientation for the 2008 class of Leadership Scholars was on April 22 in the Student Learning Center. The afternoon was designed to inform parents and students about the overall prestige, activities, and benefits of the Leonard Leadership Scholars Program through presentations from the director, the professors, and current scholars.

The reception that followed was a time for the newly initiated scholars and their parents to interact and ask questions. All left feeling excited and inspired for what the next two years in the Scholars Program will do to enrich their lives.

The day after orientation, in hopes of expanding the network of support, Scholars decided to have a BBQ and kick ball game with the classes of 2006, 2007, and the brand new 2008 class. This was the first time that three classes of Scholars have been able to come together for one evening. The new Scholars were inspired by the seniors and the jobs that are awaiting them upon graduation.

Off the field, the evening was very casual and just a fun way for everyone to have the opportunity to mix and mingle before summer vacation. But on the field, the competition was intense ('06 and '07 vs. '08). The '08 class came out on top by one run! There is already a rematch in the works!

Class of 2006: “It's not the best of times, it's not the worst of times, but it is your time!”

Said Mr. Earl T. Leonard to the parents, grandparents, siblings, mentors, UGA and ILA staff and others dining at the Athens Country Club on May 6 to celebrate the graduation of the 2006 Class of Leonard Leadership Scholars. Special guests included Mike Mannina '04, Bebe Leonard, and Provost Arnett Mace. The evening of awards, dinner, and speeches was emceed by Director Cornwell. Dean Benson and Mr. Leonard spoke about the history of ILA and the opportunities that lie ahead for this fine class. The scholars gave us a sense of their legacy with a toast, video, and snapshots that captured their 2 years in the program. Kathleen McNicholas (International Business & International Affairs), Joseph Antonio (Accounting), Evan Randall (Risk Management and Insurance) and Steve McGuire (Finance) were honored and selected by their peers as: Leader Among Leaders (female), Leaders Among Leaders (male), Journey Award, and Servant Leader respectively. Photos are on view here on our website photo gallery.

Scholar featured as Student Speaker at UGA Graduation

Chloe Thompson, a 2006 scholar, Foundation Fellow, Arch Society member, and Honor student who graduated with a degree in International Business, was the student speaker at Sanford Stadium on May 13. She asked the crowd, "what will you do with the rest of your life?, will you be great, or will you just be?". Chloe empowered the graduates recognizing, "You cannot make this world a better place if you lack direction and integrity. Do not forget this feeling that you have today. Never lose your optimism, never lose your way. We have come much too far to give up now. We can reach our goals. We can achieve greatness beyond our wildest dreams. We can make this world a better place. They say that youth is wasted on the young. Class of 2006, let's prove them wrong."

UGA Local Channel 15 broadcast the Spring 2006 Commencement ceremonies on Thurs., May 25 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 28 at 4 p.m. and may repeat upon request.

Sharing Leadership

Many L.E.A.D. students are involved with other organizations on campus. A few of them have been chosen to share their leadership skills as President of their respective organizations. Congratulations and good luck!

• Michael Eubanks (Accounting) - President of Beta Alpha Psi, the Accounting Fraternity
• Matt Kreis (Risk Management and Insurance)- President of Gamma Iota Sigma, the Risk Management and Insurance Honor Society
• D'Andrea Swoope (Risk Management and Insurance) - President of the Insurance Society

Hail & Farewell Spring 2006

The L.E.A.D. program was pleased to honor 43 graduates at the Hail and Farewell Ceremony on April 26. The event was held in the University of Georgia Chapel at 7:00pm with many of the current L.E.A.D. students, faculty, and family members present.

The ceremony honored all 2006 graduates that had completed the necessary course work and extracurricular activities in order to receive a certificate. Dr. Huber, the Director of L.E.A.D., and Dr. Feldman, Associate Dean for Research and a L.E.A.D. professor, presented the graduates with their certificates and a ILA pin to honor their accomplishments in the program while James Jackson (Telecommunications and Broadcast Journalism), L.E.A.D. President, helped administer the ceremony.

Cake cutting and tasty refreshments flowed at the reception where the graduates said goodbye and enjoyed a slideshow of many of the past activities. Congratulations to all graduates and good luck on your future endeavors!

~ Special Thanks to our Corporate Partners ~