CEO Academy Equips Leaders for the Journey
December 1, 2006 Baltimore, MD - CEOs from Lutheran health and human services organizations from across the country meet in Florida every January for four days. Most such events would include golf and time by the pool. The agenda for this group is quite different.
Our purpose is to offer a high-powered learning opportunity in the company of peers, says the Rev. Douglas Johnson, vice president of programs and services for Lutheran Services in America.
The 2007 program is focused on building teams and creating a wholesome and effective workplace for employees. Staff retention is a major issue for CEOs of Lutheran social ministry organizations, according to Johnson. During the event, chief executives from health care facilities, rehabilitation centers, social service organizations and outreach centers will learn the five dysfunctions of a team and how to eliminate behaviors, politics, and confusion that get in the way of organizational success. They will also explore techniques to build celebration, reward and recognition into their workplaces to create high morale and productivity and reduce turnover.
The CEO Academy, now in its fourth year, is not an ongoing curriculum, but rather a four-day shot in the arm for busy executives. It can give leaders new to their positions a real step ahead. The CEO Academy was extremely valuable to me. I had just been hired and had not started in my new position. It provided a quantum leap on my learning curve, says Jim Glynn, CEO of Metropolitan Lutheran Ministry in Kansas City, Missouri.
As a new CEO assuming acute responsibilities that needed to be addressed immediately, the Academy provided me tools to evaluate my organization, strategies for intervention and contributed to the confidence that I needed to implement them, says Patricia Pitcher, President of Lutheran Care Ministries Network in Clinton, New York. I am pleased to say that the organization is doing well and the Boards of Directors are now informed, participating at a higher level and are exercising their fiduciary responsibilities.
The CEO Academy is scheduled for January 15-18, 2007 at Canterbury Conference Center in Oviedo, Florida.
From its headquarters in Baltimore, Lutheran Services in America facilitates the social ministries of more than 300 organizations related with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Together these organizations serve more than six million Americans each year, providing health care and housing, AIDS and addiction counseling, retirement and rehabilitation, grants and gateways to independence, disaster response, adoption and advocacy in thousands of communities throughout the United States.
For the latest information and to learn more about how you can help you are encouraged to visit the Lutheran Disaster Response website at www.ldr.org.