Springfield Regional Chamber’s Leadership 2016 to Graduate 22

SPRINGFIELD — Twenty-two business professionals will graduate from the Springfield Regional Chamber’s Leadership 2016 in a ceremony on Thursday, April 14 from 6-9 p.m. at the Springfield Sheraton.

Sponsored by the MassMutual Financial Group with scholarship support from the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation, the program is a collaboration between the Springfield Regional Chamber and Western New England University to teach middle- and upper-level managers the crucial thinking and problem-solving skills needed to prepare participants to be effective leaders in service to the community and their workplaces.

This year’s program, “Leadership Skills: For Personal, Organizational, and Community Development,” included an emphasis on strategies and techniques designed to create high-energy and high-involvement leadership, focusing on problem solving, learning to ask the right questions, and implementing creative and innovative solutions for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations.

“Notwithstanding the learning component, the Leadership program is unique in that it brings together people from different business backgrounds, providing an opportunity to view the various learning topics from different points of view, giving participants a greater appreciation of the lessons,” said 2016 graduate Youssef Fadel of New England Promotional Marketing. “The setting is casual and friendly, making it conducive to developing an atmosphere where one wants to learn and observe. You get to appreciate many aspects of leadership and come out with a specific plan for your own leadership journey. You can use what you learned in your professional, volunteer, or personal life.”

Working alongside Western New England University professors, participants actively explored best practices of leaders; analyzed their own leadership, learning, and problem-solving styles; were challenged to think in new ways and to analyze their own strengths and organizational challenges within a dynamic economy; and explored task and interpersonal focus, negotiation orientation, and emotional intelligence, supplemented by self-diagnostics, experiential activities, and case studies.

“The Leadership Institute offers a wonderful refresher on various leadership frameworks such as planning and problem solving. It helps you to stretch your mind to explore ways you can use your influence to help others. If you get the opportunity to participate in the Leadership Institute, I highly recommend it,” said 2016 graduate Gillian Palmer, business development and group sales coordinator with the Eastern States Exposition.

Sessions included “Each Person’s Behavior Makes Perfectly Good Sense to Them: We Are All Different,” which explored how individuals differ in the ways they learn, communicate, lead, and follow, and “Leadership Who Get Things Done: The Power of Influence,” which focused on influence skills such as reading other people and adapting the message so it will be better-understood, understanding the six universal forms of influence, and developing political savvy.

Since 1982, more than 900 area leaders have graduated from the institute.

“TD Bank’s focus on continued development of our rising talent goes hand in hand with the goals of the Leadership program,” said Christine Moran, senior vice president and market commercial credit manager for TD Bank, who has sponsored many of these area leaders. “Year over year, we have seen our employees develop increased confidence and gain negotiation and influential skills to become stronger team members. These accomplishments keep us committed to the program, as we continually grow our next generation of leaders.”

Members of this year’s class include: Bill Raimondi and Christopher Savenko, Baystate Health; Sean Nimmons, Big Y Foods Inc.; Gillian Palmer, Eastern States Exposition; Abby Getman, Food Bank of Western Mass.; Mahera Chiarizio, Ryan Howard, Terri Lombardo, Naida Lopez, and Shawn Teece, HCS Headstart Inc.; Waleska Lugo-DeJesus, Healing Racism Institute of the Pioneer Valley; Steven Facchetti and Tina Whitney, MassMutual Financial Group; Melissa Nelson, Medvest LLC (Doctors Express); Youssef Fadel, New England Promotional Marketing; Latora Godbolt, Ormsby Insurance Agency; Vickie Dempesy, Shriners Hospital for Children; Michael Ehmke and Christopher Scott, TD Bank; Julie Fregeau, the Republican; Marlene Johnson, United Personnel; and Mike Murray, Western New England University.

Reservations for the graduation are $40 per person and required in advance. Reservations may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or by contacting Kara Cavanaugh at (413) 755-1310 or cavanaugh@springfieldregionalchamber.com.