The Luckett List

LE Graduation -Madison Club
August 16, 2013
(Josh Erickson, Mary Vertacic and me
our little candles to light the way)

Be engaged, ask questions if you have them, take ownership of your progress. The 2013 Loaned Executive class graduated last Friday after 2+ weeks of the most thoughtful, well run training in the area.  Despite the 'fire hose' of information the United Way staff tackled every aspect we'd need to be successful.  They were skilled at exposing us to unfamiliar ideas, giving us a chance to practice and get feedback on particular techniques and encouraged us all along the way! 

"So What Happened...?"  Shel Ellengstad, Community Leader, has been a certified Dale Carnegie Course instructor for 25 years, performs 40-60 hours of live TV and a legend in the ranks of Former Loaned Executives (FLE's).  We started the week with Shel and public speaking training.  Apparently, public speaking training is fun and not the least bit stressful.  Our assignments; come prepared with 3 topics and 'brief notes'.  Brutal. I guess I've been in the corporate world too long because every speech I remember starts something like..."When we were doing this, than that happened, which resulted in X."  EENT!  NO!  Completely wrong.  I will forever have ingrained in my mind Shel saying to each of us, "So what happened?" basically, get to why someone would be interested in the story and not a lot of blathering about this and that.  

A guest panel including Ellis Ragland, 100 Black Men and Sun Prairie School Superintendent, Tim Culver talked with the LE's about initiatives aimed as students succeeding academically and graduating from high school, regardless of race. We learned about the United Way's School of Hope which is helping close the achievement gap in Dane County.  Its mission is to work with school staff to increase the academic performance of students of color and those from low-income families.  

Campaign Chair, Doug Nelson, Regional President, BMO Harris Bank spent a good portion of his week with the LE's holding an open Q & A session, leading the Cabinet Meeting and speaking at the LE graduation.  

Investment decisions needed to be made by the group.  We had a small budget and several grant requests.  Our mission, determine which requests would be awarded available funding. All requests came in writing and the agency prepared a face/face presentation.  It's so much easier to make decisions when there isn't a human element and you're not sitting across from someone that is passionate about the work they do. 

The completion of a course of academic study. [Answered in Jeopardy format] What is graduation.  A graduation test in the form of a Jeopardy Game provided a light-hearted final exam.  Team "My Little Pony" had some issues with our buzzer otherwise we would have been in first place, I'm sure.

Final Exam Jeopardy with Deedra Atkinson

Joe with our game buzzer! 

Jane and Renea provide another correct answer!

Finally back to the Madison Club for graduation day, where we all started.  The room was noticeably louder and with all our sponsors in attendance there was a lot of excitement in the room! After the ceremony we were whisked off to the LE "Suite" to see where we'd be working during the campaign and who our cube-mates would be.
Congratulations to my fellow LE's!  

2013 LE Graduating Class
August 17, 2013

 Our 'LE Mom", Dani Luckett gave us her Luckett List of Big Ideas From Training:

• You are composing a good world.
• Inspire organizational leaders.
• People give to people.
• Be thoughtful and creative.
• Be a proactive and responsive partner with your campaign teams.
• Demonstrate credibility, take time to understand a different perspective and you will earn trust.

The best cube farm row every assembled!