ST. LEO, FL – Leadership Saint Leo, the university’s program to develop and train leaders, recently was honored at the LEAD2017 forum hosted by HR.com in Nashville, TN.
LEAD2017 is a two-day forum that brings together top thought leaders and the world’s best leadership practices.
The Leadership Saint Leo program began in 2005 to expand leadership capacity, build culture, and create a common leadership lexicon across the university, including its education centers, online offices, and University Campus. The 13th cohort started its program in April.
Approximately 110 of Saint Leo’s active leaders have graduated from the program, having met every month for 10 months for an all-day workshop that incorporates a variety of lecture, discussion, case study, and experiential activities along with supplemental coaching provided by the university’s leaders.
Saint Leo’s program is conducted by CODA Partners Inc., a professional services firm based in Gulfport and Dade City. Its principal partners are Jim Sartain and Kathy Davanzo, who have collaborated to design and provide leadership development programs for more than 25 years. They created the award-winning Leadership Saint Leo program to develop the leadership talents of university managers, incorporate the university’s six core values in the effective leader behaviors being taught, and promote effective teamwork and mentorship.
In applying for the LEAD awards, Joe Arner, director of Professional Development, surveyed past participants and graduates. Based on the feedback, HR.com recognized the Leadership Saint Leo program, selected from entrants, in the following categories:
● First place Best Third Party Channel Partner/Customer Training Program;
● Second place Best Use of Executive Coaching;
● Fourth place Best Use of Team Building;
● Fifth place Best Mentoring Program; and
● Sixth place Best Experienced/Senior Leaders Program.
“Every single year, changes have been made in the program,” Arner said, “to deal with changes we’re experiencing at the university.”
Changes also are made to the program to incorporate the latest research, Sartain added.
The newest iteration of the program includes features such as a leadership journal to help facilitate participant’s deeper exploration of the classroom content, and a highly successful Leader P.O.V.® capstone experience that helps participants explore, clarify, and refine their personal leadership philosophy and to share it with others as a culminating program activity.
Photo by Renee Gerstein, Saint Leo University
Joe Arner, director of Professional Development at Saint Leo University; Liz Yourkievitz, CODA associate partner; and Jim Sartain, CODA principal partner. Not pictured: Kathy Davanzo, CODA principal partner and Michele Norris, CODA associate partner.
About HR.com and the LEAD Awards
HR.com, the largest global social networking and resource site for human resource professionals is committed to providing a deeper understanding of the HR function for more than 290,000 members by offering an annual global leadership annual event – LEAD, the LEAD Awards, HR Certification Exam Prep Courses, certification programs, a personal development app, monthly themed HR epublications, webcasts, eLearning credits, virtual conferences, blogs, community networks, industry news, and advisory boards
About Saint Leo University
Saint Leo University (www.saintleo.edu) is a modern Catholic teaching university that is firmly grounded in the liberal arts tradition and the timeless Benedictine wisdom that seeks balanced growth of mind, body, and spirit. The Saint Leo University of today is a private, nonprofit institution that creates hospitable learning communities wherever our students want to be or need to be, whether that is a campus classroom, a web-based environment, an employer’s worksite, a military base, or an office park. We welcome people of all faiths and of no religious affiliation, and encourage learners of all generations. We are committed to providing educational opportunities to our nation’s armed forces, our veterans, and their families. We are regionally accredited to award degrees ranging from the associate to the doctorate, and we guide all our students to develop their capacities for critical thinking, moral reflection, and lifelong learning and leadership.
We remain the faithful stewards of the beautiful lakeside University Campus in the Tampa Bay region of Florida, where our founding monks created the first Catholic college in the state in 1889. Serving nearly 15,000 students, we have expanded to downtown Tampa, to other sites in Florida and beyond, and maintain a physical presence in seven states. We provide highly respected online learning programs to students nationally and internationally. More than 82,000 alumni reside in all 50 states, in Washington, DC, in three U.S. territories, and in 76 countries.
Media Contact: Mary McCoy, University Writer & Media Relations, mary.mccoy02@saintleo.edu, (352) 588-7118 or cell (813) 610-8416