A Closer Look at the Leadership Development Program

This article was originally published in the 2016 Summer issue of NC Currents.

Learn more about the Leadership Development Program at www.ncsafewater.org/page/Leadership.

If you ask John McLaughlin how he first became involved with NC AWWA-WEA, he will tell you that it was the proverbial “tap on the shoulder.” One day, a colleague he highly respected
asked John to accompany him to a meeting for the NC Water For People Committee. There were 20 or so people at the meeting, and the discussion revolved around a new project to be launched in Bolivia. Before he knew what was happening, someone was volunteering
McLaughlin to head up the project.

“It was the first time I had ever even heard of the committee,” recalls McLaughlin. “I was scared to death. I had just come to see what it was all
about.” In the end, the prankster, longtime committee member named John Burmeister, in league with Lin O’Neal and a couple of others, became instrumental in helping McLaughlin learn about NC AWWA-WEA.

“I wanted to be involved, but I had no clue how,” says McLaughlin, adding that he owes a debt of gratitude to people like Burmeister who showed him the ropes.

Recently, McLaughlin was given the opportunity to repay that debt when he was asked to lead a task force responsible for putting together the new NC AWWA-WEA  Leadership Development Program.

Following an initial draft outline developed by Barry Gullet, the organizing committee designed the program to facilitate member development for leadership roles within NC AWWA-WEA. The program uses structured mentoring to prepare eligible members within NC AWWA-WEA for various leadership roles. Other members of the initial task force include Robert Walters and Crystal Broadbent.

Mentors are selected from recent NC AWWA-WEA board members. “We’re very interested in trying to be a sustainable organization to ensure we’re preparing future leaders,” says McLaughlin, “so it seemed to make perfect sense.”
 

Up to 10 mentors and mentees are paired for a 1-year period, starting with a face-to-face orientation for the entire group, facilitated by the Student and Young Professionals at the annual conference.

Within the first month of the program, the mentee and the mentor determine and document the mentee’s specific goals along with how and how often they will communicate. About halfway through the year, a second face-to-face meeting of all mentors and mentees, held in conjunction with an existing NC AWWA-WEA event, provides an opportunity for the pairings to review their progress and share lessons learned with the entire group. These group meetings also give mentees a chance to interact with the current NC AWWA-WEA leadership and benefit from presentations on a variety of topics including the governance structure of NC AWWA-WEA, the relationship between state associations and national parent organizations, and the job descriptions of various board member positions.

“The goal is to better inform prospective leaders about what NC AWWA-WEA does, how it functions, what a board meeting is like and what current issues are being considered,” says McLaughlin. “It is important that they have this firsthand experience.” Mentors should include mentees in a wide variety of association activities including board of trustees meetings, schools, workshops, seminars, and other activities as they arise. In total, the pairs are expected to commit to a minimum of 24 hours of direct contact time.

“There are certain things that are expected to happen over the year,” notes McLaughlin, “but flexibility is also important.”

Throughout the year, prospects are actively encouraged to apply as mentors and mentees to apply for the program, with the goal of creating a large pool of both mentors and mentees. Applications must be submitted by September 1 of each year. Selection criteria for mentors include previous, recent participation in NC AWWA-WEA, AWWA, WEF or AWWA Sections or WEF Member Associations.

Experience as a committee member, chair, instructor, speaker or attendee at conferences, seminars or other events is also taken into consideration for both mentors and mentees. “You also have to show that your employer will support your participation in the program, because it involves some travel, attendance at conference events, and additional time,” adds McLaughlin.

An ad hoc organizing committee was in charge of the pairings, with most of the members also serving as mentors. Next year, the mentors will not be drawn from the group managing the program, so the latter will no longer have to do double duty. Mentor-mentee pairs will be announced on October 1 of each year.

“It’s an evolving program,” explains McLaughlin. “It’s very much in its infancy right now.” This year’s organizing committee is planning to solicit formal feedback at the end of the year in order to further fine-tune NC AWWA-WEA Leadership Development program.

In the coming years, McLaughlin plans to continue being involved as a mentor. Like many new leaders, he recalls spending his first year just “figuring out what was going on.” However, by the end of his mandate, he had accumulated plenty of knowledge and experience about the functioning of NC AWWA-WEA. “I wanted to make sure I passed that along,” he says. The NC AWWA-WEA Leadership Development program is poised to help him and other mentors do just that.

Inaugural Leadership Development Class
• Tony Mencome (Mentor, TJ Lynch)
• Tony Martin (Mentor, Barry Gullet)
• Derek Dussek (Mentor, Crystal Broadbent)
• Tom Bach (Mentor, Leslie Jones)
• Courtney Driver (Mentor, Robert Walters)
• Nick Dierkes (Mentor, John McLaughlin)