For the 2017 class of Leadership Hardin County, the opening retreat held Aug. 18-19 at Barren River Lake State Park, was a time to learn a lot about each other, leadership and our community.
We started the retreat by pairing off to interview each other and then introduce our partners to the rest of the class. As a class, we also developed a Hardin County timeline that showed when each of us became a part of the Hardin County community. We learned our class has a great mix of Hardin County natives, transplants who joined the community later in life and what we call “boomerangs” – natives who left the community for a time and then returned. Each class member also noted what they believe to be a significant Hardin County event on our timeline, which included community and economic development happenings spanning several decades.
Over the two-day retreat, team-building exercises led by Elizabethtown Community and Technical College Workforce Trainer Kenny Rambo provided opportunities to collaborate and problem-solve, all while sharing plenty of laughs and learning about each other’s strengths and leadership styles.
In addition, a session led by ECTC Workforce Trainer Connie Redmond introduced the class to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator Theory. This session provided an opportunity to learn something new about ourselves as we determined how we like to look at things and how we prefer to go about making decisions.
A review of the retreat wouldn’t be complete without noting this class’ enthusiasm for Hardin County, as was made evident during a lively discussion about our community’s future. The conversation covered the perspectives of local government, education, the nonprofit community, the business community and more. With the diversity of our backgrounds bringing value to the conversation, there was no shortage of ideas and insight about our community’s challenges and, as importantly, its potential.
By the time the class wrapped up the retreat with a discussion to identify potential service projects, it was clear our 26 members share a passion for our community and are eager to work together to learn how we can make Hardin County even stronger.
Sarah Berkshire
Account Executive
sarah@heartlandcommunicate.com
Heartland Communications Consultants
111 W. Dixie Ave., Elizabethtown, KY 42701
