NEWS!

Leadership Ohio makes another visit to Marietta

By R. Glenn Ray, Ph.D.

The Marietta Times, June 23, 2010, p. A9

Last Friday and Saturday, a state-wide organization, Leadership Ohio, made its third consecutive yearly visit to Marietta.  Marietta was chosen because it was the first settlement in the Ohio Country and the Northwest Territories.  Charlotte Keim of the Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce and I led a planning committee to design and facilitate the two-day event.  In addition to Marietta, Leadership Ohio has visited Oberlin and Columbus and will visit Akron/Canton, Toledo, Medina, Dayton, and Cleveland this year.  Each visit has a topic and Marietta’s was Ohio History.  

Nineteen members of the class of 2010 attended along with the Executive Director and Board Treasurer.  One member said this visit was the best yet and another commented, “Who knew all that Marietta has to offer?”

We began Friday with a plant tour of Thermo Fisher and Sewah Studios to see a couple of the many shinning stars of Marietta companies.  Last year the Thermo Fisher plant won the award for one of the top ten companies in North America presented by Industry Week magazine.  Sewah Studio has a unique production process that creates roadside signs that identify and explain historic sites across the country.  I always love to stop and read each of these as I come across them in my travels throughout our 50 states.

We continued with visits to Washington State Community College and Marietta College.  Dr. Charlotte Hatfield described research about our national and local educational issues for the future and Dr. Tanya Pucella spoke about her research on the needs of nonprofit organizations.

Next, we had a leisurely cruise up the Ohio River on the Valley Gem.  We proceeded to the Campus Martius where I explained my leadership model called The Facilitative Leader.  Bill Reynolds kept the groups attention with his portrayal of Rufus Putnam and his wealth of historical knowledge.

Saturday, Harley Noland was honored by Leadership Ohio with an award for significant contributions to the three Marietta visits.  This year, he again taught us about Marietta’s history as we traveled Marietta’s streets.  We visited the Congregational Church where class members offered donations of food, the Mound Cemetery, and then was hosted by Alice Chapman at the Ely Chapman Education Center.  There we were excited to hear Henry Burke’s information about the Underground Railroad and the Ghana exhibit housed at the Center.  Class members donated about one hundred dollars to both the Campus Martius Museum and The Ely Chapman Education Center.  Our final visit was to the Hartline farm to see a state-of-the-art dairy farm.

The members of the 2010 class of Leadership Ohio range from employees of an engineering firm, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, hospitals, a courrier company, congressional offices, and nonprofit organizations among many others.  We have never had a Leadership Ohio class member from Marietta but I think this experience could be valuable for a number of our leaders.  It could aid in understanding one’s customers across the state or identifying new organizational processes.  One common characteristic of the best leaders I have known is their thirst for continual learning.  A Leadership Ohio membership could be an experience of a lifetime.

R. Glenn Ray, Ph.D., is the president of RayCom Learning.  To learn more about Ray’s new book Tons of Stone above my head: Coal Mining Stories with Leadership Lessons, visit his Web site www.raycomlearning.com. Everyday Leadership appears each Wednesday on the Business page.

RayCom Learning works with leaders who want to create an environment where people communicate clearly and choose to commit to organizational goals.