The Greater Cumberland Committee

Regional Leadership Series

The Regional Leadership Series was developed by The Greater Cumberland Committee (TGCC) and the four sponsoring educational institutions to compliment existing leadership programs including:  Leadership Allegany!, The Western Maryland Rural Leadership Academy, Leadership MD and Leadership WV.  The goal of the series is to give graduates of these programs and other existing and potential civic and corporate leaders the tools they need to affect positive and sustainable change in our regional community.  This program received rave reviews in 2009 and 2010.  Based upon feedback from prior participants, the Regional Leadership Series III includes the following new courses sponsored by the educational institutions listed.

2011 Line-Up

August 11, 2011 – 9am – 12pm @ Frostburg State University, Library, Ort Room:

Visioning & Strategic Planning

Have you wondered why some firms seem to have mission and/or vision statements and others do not?  Does the size of the organization or whether it is a for-profit, non-profit, governmental, family business, or a huge corporation really matter?  Find out what these statements do for an organization and why they can be an important part of your success.

Do you have to be a big corporation to engage in strategic planning?  Do you need a dedicated staff of strategic planners or some vice president in charge of strategy to make it happen in your organization, big or small?  What exactly do strategists do?  What are the differences between strategic and tactical moves?  How do you engage in “intelligence gathering” to be a well informed strategist?  Are there some basic tools to assist any type, or size, of organization when it wants to get involved in strategic planning?  Where does the strategist start?  How do they make heads or tails of all the things they find out to determine what is important to success?  How do they make the tough choices between strategy “A” and strategy “B”?

Walk away from this informative workshop with the knowledge that anyone can engage in strategic planning and take home some tools to get involved in the process whether you are planning a strategy for yourself personally, your smaller firm, or a larger organization.  Become a “big picture” person which enables you to focus on more than the fires you need to put out today, but rather what tomorrow should look like…that “tomorrow” that happens down the road next year, or even further away, that you see in your “vision”.

September 9, 2011 – 9am @ Allegany College of Maryland, Continuing Education Room 14:

Working in Coalitions II: Motivating & Leading in a Multi-Generational World

In today’s “do more with less” environment, a generationally diverse coalition can be a tremendous asset, bringing a variety of skills, knowledge, and experience together to meet your goal(s).    However, coalition building is always a challenge, and finding ways to connect effectively with the various generations can create additional hurdles.  Once you understand the generations, how do you effectively leverage their talents and motivate each to their fullest?

Join us for this fun, interactive session where you’ll gain a better understanding of coalitions and the four generations that may be a part of your team.  Learn how each generation’s unique experiences impact their view of organizations.  Then learn some effective ways to motivate your generationally diverse team to their full potential, without having to add to your budget.

Through a format of lecture, blended with interactive group activity, you’ll learn how to:

  • Understand the benefits and challenges of creating and working in coalitions
  • Identify the various generations, and the challenges associated with each
  • Recognize and overcome stereotypes
  • Use techniques that foster positive and effective communication
  • Employ strategies that create unity within your coalition to meet your common goal
  • Implement seven practical strategies for motivating members of your team
  • Fill your toolbox with more than 50 low or no-cost motivational ideas

October 19, 2011 – 9am – 12pm @ Garrett College, Continuing Education, Room 205/207:

Building Financial Knowledge

As a non-profit Board member, fiscal responsibility may seem like just another “task” associated with the many duties you accept when you agree to serve.  What many volunteers fail to accept is the true seriousness of this “task” and what is really associated with the many aspects of reviewing finances.

Don’t let the subject matter force you into hitting snooze just yet – we promise to make this an interesting and worthwhile program.  You are guaranteed to walk away with increased knowledge that will improve your comfort level and effectiveness in the financial oversight process.

Through a format of lecture blended with interactive group activity, this course includes:

  • Financial Statements
    • How to read and analyze
    • Basis of accounting – advantages of each
    • Required statements
  • Services of CPA
    • Types of services and related reports
    • Materiality issues
    • Audits
      • Requirement for audit
      • Audit Committees/Board of Directors responsibilities
      • Fraud
  • Tax Issues
    • Filing requirements
    • Unrelated Business Taxable income
    • Best practices
    • Types of 501(c) organizations
  • Mock Presentation of a CPA meeting with a not-for-profit Board of Directors/Management
    • Planning Conference
    • Wrap-up Meeting
    • Board of Directors Meeting
      • Financial statements
      • Tax filings
      • Common management letter comments for improvement

November 9, 2011 – 9am – 12pm  @ Potomac State College of WVU, Davis Conference Center:

Organizational Capacity Building

Capacity building refers to intentional, well planned mission-driven efforts aimed at strengthening the performance and impact of an organization.

In the life of any thriving organization, growth in demand for goods or services is inevitable.  Leaders must be able to assess the extent to which the organization has the capacity to respond to growing demands and yet maintain quality and fiscal stability (profitability).  This seminar is designed to explore:

  • Identification of key factors that could limit growth.
  • Assessment of current capacity related to these factors.
  • Estimation of marginal cost vs. marginal revenue resulting from increasing capacity related to key factors.
  • Estimation of the potential for further market penetration.

We will explore how to address some methods for assessing these issues, explore how an existing organization addressed these questions as it grew nearly twice as large while anticipating efforts to move into a more competitive segment of the market, engage in group activities that help participants think about how they would identify and address these issues as an organization, and share ideas about how to assess impediments that may not be well defined.