The Camaraderie Begins
A high level of anticipation was in the air as class members entered the conference room at the Bardstown Fairfield Inn and Suites the morning of Thursday, October 21, 2021. The Leadership Hardin County Class of 2022 excitedly assembled for an in-person, two-day retreat, and although a few people knew several other attendees in advance, connections and friendships were quickly established between fellow participants serving our community across diverse disciplines.
Students were greeted by Hardin County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, Margy Poorman, and the Leadership Hardin County’s fearless leader and coordinator, Anthony Conder. As Kentucky’s fourth largest Chamber of Commerce, the Hardin County Chamber seeks to NETWORK, PROMOTE, DEVELOP and ADVOCATE for their local businesses. Margy emphasized students in this class were chosen because we are already leaders in our community, and the Chamber will help to develop our skills further in the next seven months.
Attendees quickly jumped into networking and bonding with classmates as they conducted introductory interviews of fellow attendees. Kenny Rambo, President and CEO of Heartland Communications Consultants, Inc., led an effort to help students get to know each other better by publicly introducing another classmate and giving information about what a normal workday might look like and what they might be doing at home over the weekend. From this exercise, a very personal and interesting timeline was created that highlighted how students first began interacting with Hardin County, whether by birth, a move into the county or a job that brought them local. The timeline also showcased local historical events of significance, many of them being mentioned because they have shaped classmates’ personal lives. The impact of those who have lived, worked and played in this region before us from as long as over 200 years ago is still shaping current residents’ lives today.
Kenny then led a discussion on “The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership” as highlighted in the book, The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. Through 1) Modeling the Way; 2) Inspiring a Shared Vision; 3) Challenging the Process; 4) Enabling Others to Act; and 5) Encouraging the Heart, we can create better relationships with those with whom we work and interact, at the same time building a stronger foundation within ourselves.
Post-lunch break, Anthony ramped up the activities by cracking the seal on the bourbon and wine early and got classmates ready for a fishbowl discussion with Kenny on the top three issues for Hardin County and its future. Seated in closer quarters than anyone has been in a year a half (masked, of course), two tight circles were formed where students on the inner circle were allowed to speak and discuss the issues. However, outer circle members were only given a few minutes to speak to the person in front of them to “coach” them with their opinions. The heavily debated topics included 1) the need for additional infrastructure; 2) developing more family friendly outlets to retain talent and recruit newcomers to our area; 3) affordable housing; and 4) transportation (or lack thereof in the form of public transportation). The word “drainage” was also used a lot; thank you Rita!
A great deal of discussion in this activity centered around the recent announcement of the Ford/SK Innovation announcement for the development of BlueOval SK Battery Park, an electric car battery plant in Glendale. Although the impact of this recent economic development announcement is not yet known, what we do know is that the Elizabethtown of now will not be the Elizabethtown of five to ten years from now. Early estimates indicate population could increase as much as 250%, and the phrase, “just look at what happened to Georgetown when Toyota came in” has been used heavily in the past few weeks around town. Exciting change that will stretch and grow our local economy and also burden our current level of resources has us pondering: “What do we need to get started on right away”?
Dayna Parrett Fentress, the Hardin County Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, led students in a personality exercise for the next activity that helped us to reveal our “true colors”. It was no surprise to learn that our leader Anthony possesses the qualities of a very organized and structured personality found in Gold. One of the biggest revelations of the day though was the division among student “color diversity”. Dayna said previous classes generally fall under a majority of Gold and Orange personality types with very few Blues and Greens. However, the class of 2022 is shining with a sea of blue and green and only one lone orange and two twin golds. We are here to challenge Anthony’s structure with our feelings and curiosity!
A sliver of nepotism was detected in the next group bonding activity when three separate groups were formed and a designated representative was sent to view a secret tower built of styrofoam cups, masking tape and index cards. The engineer in Rita produced hieroglyphic notes that won her team second place. The clear winner was completely overlooked as Cecilian Bank cohort Thomas Cofer‘s team took the Payday prize with no regard by the judges for actual structural reproduction. Success in building a worthy replica was stacked against each team though, as some did not have the necessary materials and some had too many. To further muddy the waters, Anthony rebuilt, knocked down, broke and tried to rebuild another tower, making it difficult for team leaders to convey a clear sense of what the end result was supposed to be. An obvious takeaway from the exercise was that if we all ever happen to be on an episode of Survivor together, we are happy to share supplies that support each other’s basic needs, but intellectual property is a premium commodity and will never be public knowledge. Therefore, the final winner of the day was crowned to the snack bar which was well stocked with every possible cookie, candy, beverage and charcuterie option – thank you, Kendra! This smorgasbord was more than enough to satisfy any munchy desire!
A hearty dinner from Colton’s Steakhouse kicked off social time, and the group slowly formed three groups of gamers. A lively Yahtzee table competed with a rowdy Cards Against Humanity table, while the front of the room partook quietly in games the rest of us had never heard of.
Day two began with a lively presentation from returning guest Kenny Rambo on the effects of different generations of people in the workforce. Focusing on two of the most impactful experiences that define a generation, parenting trends and technology, with a lot of TV references thrown in, generations from Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials and Gen Z were defined and discussed.
The morning ended with a final team building exercise that consisted of the back of everyone’s hands and a quarter. Who knew it was so simple to challenge 19 great minds with a task of funneling a coin? In the end though, the class of 2022 proved they are a force to be reckoned with by almost beating the standing record and completing the task in about seven seconds.
A working lunch discussion regarding the class service project for the year completed Day 2, and the group identified initial ideas of expanding public transportation, developing community gardens that support local food pantries, assisting with Room in the Inn and transitional housing needs, providing financial literacy training for adults, developing access to free mammograms for women in financial need, and many more. A steering committee was developed to help refine those suggestions into what will become the legacy of the class of 2022.
We cannot conclude our recap without a huge shoutout of thanks to Kenny Rambo, Dayna Parrett Fentress, Kendra Scott and Anthony Conder for creating the content and schematics for an awesome retreat. The Class of 2022 is going to be legendary!
Signing off for now, this has been Joy Swope and Chelsea Benham reporting from the Class of 2022 retreat.
Joy Swope Rev. Chelsea Benham
Chief Joy Officer and Owner Pastor and Head of Staff
The House on Helm First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown
238 Helm Street 1016 Pear Orchard Road
Learn about class members here!