Leadership Maryville begins 35th year

By Jacki Wood

The Leadership Maryville program provides participants with learning opportunities designed to nurture and engage the leadership skills of potential and current leaders. Now in its 35th year, the seven-month program includes community immersion, leadership training and educating individuals on how things work in Maryville and Nodaway County.

“Leadership Maryville helped me to see the inner workings of our great community and put me in a position to show my children what leadership looks like,” Gentry Martin, Northwest Audio Visual office manager, said, who was part of the 30th Class in 2017-18. “It changed me from being a person living in a community to a person that works for my community.”

Over the years, the program has given both new and longtime residents an opportunity to network and build relationships.

“The biggest value I recall is meeting people from other parts of the community,” Matt Baker, vice president of Student Affairs at Northwest Missouri State University, said. “I work at the university but I got to know people in K-12 education, city government, industry and retail businesses.”

Baker was in Class 14 in 1999-2000 and also served on the board.

“I think the program is great for new members of the community as well as people who have lived here a long time,” he said. “You learn more about how things work and meet new people.”

Today the program encourages an atmosphere that stimulates creative thinking, fosters diverse viewpoints and encourages teamwork while utilizing both new and proven tools to meet the challenges and issues leaders face.

It’s a slightly different approach from its beginnings.

“For the first 30 years, Leadership Maryville was a revolving door, one year a graduate, then next a facilitator,” Martin said. “We felt that too much was left to chance with the curriculum without more oversight.”

Kaity Holtman had gone through the program the year before Martin with a class of only five members, and when she became a facilitator, she helped ramp up recruitment efforts to have more than 20 members while also implementing some changes.

“Kaity was the spearhead for adding more leadership modules to the program,” Martin said. “We put together a facilitation committee that would allow a facilitator to stay with the program for a longer period of time (to) make sure the program was more uniform through the years. Adding those modules have been key to truly teaching someone how to be a leader.”

Holtman, director of communications at Conception Abbey, said the biggest change was to make leadership development an integral part.

“Learning about what happens in Maryville is important, but we also saw the need to mix in leadership training components to the classes,” she said.

They open each year with a leadership retreat with Dr. Tim Crowley.

“This gives businesses more incentive to send their employees through the program, knowing those they are investing in will have such training to better themselves,” Holtman said. “We know leadership isn’t just a title, but instead an attitude and value that can build up our organizations, businesses and communities in the best ways.

“Leadership Maryville equips these rising leaders with the resources and empowerment they need to impact our community for years to come.”

Tuition is $400 for Maryville Chamber members and $500 for non-members. Applications are due November 15 with the opening retreat on December 2.

For more information, contact Amy Gessert at director@maryvillechamber.com or 660.582.8643.