Leadership Development Activities

Asset Awareness

The asset awareness sessions are designed to highlight the community assets and to help us understand the history, current status and our role in meeting the future challenges of that community asset. Past asset sessions have included visits to large local dairy agribusiness, manufacturing organizations, facilities for health care, human services, and education. Each session features speakers who are knowledgeable leaders in the area.

Of the six asset sessions, one or two is planned and presented by the curriculum committee utilizing community leaders and other experts, some of whom are CLN alumni.

Four are planned and presented by members of the orientation year as a sort of "class project". This gives new members an opportunity to exercise their emerging leadership skills, to connect them with each other, and explore the trends and challenges of a selected community asset.

The final asset session is the "Safari Report"! Though out the year, the organization members are encouraged to visit as many unknown, unfamiliar locations as possible with the purpose of expanding their awareness of the assets of this county.

On Safari Report day, presentations are given by participants about their discoveries. Every year participants are amazed at what they did not know about Chautauqua County.

Skill Building

The orientation year includes four half-day skill building sessions and one full day skill building session. Topics for the skill building sessions are selected by the curriculum committee and the members of the Orientation Year Class. The role of the curriculum committee in selecting topics for skill building sessions is to insure that crucial leadership skills are developed. The role of the class members in the selection of topics is to identify skills which will enhance their leadership behavior by learning and doing.

Chautauqua Lectures

The July and August sessions provide the opportunity to attend a portion of the Chautauqua Institution's lecture series. Each year, two speakers are selected by the current Orientation Year Class. After the lecture, CLN hosts a luncheon with a discussion leader. If available our discussion leader is the lecturer. Other times, the discussion is lead by a local leader from a similar profession or area of expertise - often a CLN alumnus.

Commencement

Commencement is the closing event of the orientation year. This celebration marks the completion of a year of learning and the beginning of continuous participation as effective leaders inside and outside the Chautauqua Leadership Network.

Members of previous classes honor the new members in this celebration by giving each new member the Chautauqua Leadership Network pin as a symbol of pride in belonging to a growing network of committed community leaders.