Live2Lead Conference Held at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack
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WHEELING - Local and national leadership professionals offered insight into what it takes to be a great leader during the Live2Lead conference.
Hosted by the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce, the conference was held Thursday at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack.
The event included two video presentations by leadership expert and author John Maxwell and Ryan Leak, speaker and executive coach, and two in-person panel discussions. The event's moderator was Mike Howard, COO of the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.
The first discussion, titled "Servant Leadership," included comments from Ronna-Renee Jackson of LaunchPoint Leadership Group; Rocco Cozza of the Cozza Law Group; and Kevin Trout of Vistage Peer.
Trout said servant leadership is "people focused" and means "helping employees be the best they can be."
"If you take care of your employees, they will take care of their customers," he noted.
Cozza said when you take time to understand a person you can see that there are things happening in their life that may be impacting their work. Knowing this can help the leader help the employee.
Regarding mentorship, the panelists said it is important to have a good one. It is also good to have work experience and to learn from one's mistakes.
Cozza said he learned from one of his early mentors that it is beneficial to "listen more than you speak." He said this can help in practicing the law and in life in general.
The trio also believes it is important for a company to have a developed culture and to teach their employees what that culture is and what the company's values are.
"It's the leader’s responsibility to create the culture," Trout said.
Cozza added that "the best leaders put others first."
The second panel included Trout; Jessica Rine, assistant vice president of the Medical Park Foundation and Community Relations for WVU Medicine Wheeling and Reynolds Memorial hospitals; and Vince Consoli of Promark. They talked about "developing leadership in the workforce."
Rine said offering shadowing and internships to young people can help develop leadership skills early on. She suggests that people also do volunteer work to not only gain skills but to network as well.
In his video presentation, Maxwell said that leaders should "look for the good in every person" and to "value all people." He also noted that "who you mentor is just as important as what they're teaching you."
Tim Borchers, president of West Liberty University, and Tony Martinelli, president and COO of WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital, both were scheduled to be panelists, but had to cancel.