TRANSFORMING LEADERS, TRANSFORMING JOPLIN
THE UNPARALLELED IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP JOPLIN
Not only does local entrepreneur Chris Roberts think Leadership Joplin is one of the best programs the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce facilitates, he thinks it is one of the most transformative things he has ever done.
“It absolutely changed my life,” Roberts said of his 2012 Leadership Joplin experience. “It is one of the most powerful programs I’ve been a part of. It’s become such an integral part of how I think about things.”
Those are strong words about what, on the surface, may look like just another leadership-skills-development class. Yet, consider these confirmations from some of Roberts’ fellow Leadership Joplin graduates:
∞ “It completely exceeded my expectations just halfway through the curriculum,” said Shawn Patterson, class of 2023. “It motivated me to become better.”
∞ “I would 100 percent recommend and encourage local companies to send participants,” Joshua Oathout, also class of 2023, offered. “The knowledge that they gain and bring back to those companies will pay off tenfold.”
∞ “You can have a huge shift in the way you go about doing your business,” added Heather Lesmeister, who completed the program in 2015.
Roberts, Patterson, Oathout, and Lesmeister all believe in the power of Leadership Joplin so much that each of them joined the program’s steering committee, thereby taking the reins in ensuring that future graduating classes have as impactful an experience as they did.
Now in its 41st year, Leadership Joplin has graduated more than 1,075 local business leaders. Each year, the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce accepts about 30 participants for a curriculum that includes 12 in-person sessions between January and June. Topics and activities include a social mixer, two different retreats, an extensive personality assessment, deep dives into several different local business sectors, a service project, and a graduation.
The Power of Understanding Personalities
Roberts, Patterson, Oathout, and Lesmeister all noted that the personality assessment portion of the curriculum was one of the most beneficial. The personality test, led by Van and Tammy Benson of Motive Matters, assigns each individual in the class a color that corresponds with their overall personality traits. The idea of the assessment is not to suggest that one type of personality is superior to another but rather to gain a better understanding of how different personalities are motivated differently.
“You learn about yourself and your strengths and weaknesses,” said Lesmeister, executive director of the George A. Spiva Center for the Arts. “But you also learn about your employees and how to identify their personality traits so that you better understand how to lead them effectively.”
Oathout was so inspired by the experience that he applied it to the team of engineers he leads at OWN, Inc., an engineering firm.
“It really helped me understand how to engage with them and where frustrations may be within the team and how we can negate that,” he said.
The Motive Matters training happens during a two-day, overnight retreat. Roberts, who owns and operates Content Creative LLC, a marketing firm, and Nudge Books, a publishing company, said the retreat lays the foundation for the overall Leadership Joplin experience.
“You’re really bonding with your class,” he said. “We want to create a dialogue and introduce vocabulary that we can use for the rest of the sessions.”
Fostering Community Connections
A large portion of the Leadership Joplin program focuses on developing a deeper understanding of how the community operates. That means visiting sites related to different public and private business sectors, including communications, health care, public safety, economic development, and nonprofit organizations.
“There’s so much that you may have thought you knew but that you didn’t really understand about the businesses that are here,” said Patterson, a commercial sales consultant with Bug Zero. “You really learn a lot.”
Roberts said making contacts throughout the city through the opportunities afforded by Leadership Joplin is one of the program’s biggest benefits. Yet perhaps even more valuable is the networking among fellow classmates, he added.
“The people that you get to know and the connections that you get to make are invaluable,” Roberts said. “It goes beyond business networking. Those classmates are dear friends. That class was 12 years ago, and I still see and hang out with those people all the time.”
Oathout said having classmates from a variety of industries strengthens his overall decision-making abilities.
“I was able to make a good friend in the medical field,” he said. “And another person who works in accounting and another who works at a bank. If I need to bounce an idea off someone, I have that at my disposal.”
The Trickle-Down Effect
Area businesses that send prospective or established leaders to Leadership Joplin are making an investment. The cost for each participant is $900. The return for those businesses, each graduate agreed, is exponentially more valuable.
“The business community is a lot about relationships, and this class helps you develop those,” Patterson said. “But it also helps you learn a lot about your strengths and weaknesses and sharpen your skills as a better leader.”
What might not be as obvious is the overall benefit for the community of Joplin. As stronger leaders return to their respective businesses, now armed with more established connections with other leaders across different industries, the entire community and the local economy stand to gain.
“When you can have that kind of a bond with people who are also working in the community, you’re helping to make the place where you live better,” Roberts said. “To employers, I can’t think of anything better that you can do for your employees than to invest in them in this role.”
To learn more about Leadership Joplin, visit the Chamber website at www.joplincc.com.