Boone County’s Emerging Leaders Want to Teach You How the Best Leaders Communicate

As we navigate inflation, a workforce shortage and the everyday obstacles that come with being a leader, effective communication is more important than ever. To better serve your customers, employees, co-workers and everyone in between, it is essential to be able to articulate your vision and point of view, especially when others are dissatisfied. 

The Boone County Emerging Leaders implemented a new program series all about Communicating with Impact. This series, which kicked off in March, is meant to help you become a better leader through effective communication. If you were unable to attend the March session, you can still attend any of the next three sessions. We encourage you to register for as many sessions as possible, but it is not mandatory to attend all four.

What is the Boone County Emerging Leaders?

The Boone County Emerging Leaders is an organization funded by BCDA and the Boone County Foundation Fund (BCFF) to help encourage young adults living or working in Boone County to become more involved in their communities. This effort was initiated after community members noticed a decline in volunteerism and burnout within the group of individuals who typically help at events and organizations.

In past years, the Emerging Leaders was offered as an Academy where participants from all over Boone County collaborated on a community project while gaining helpful knowledge about their leadership styles and how they could become better leaders. You can read more about the Emerging Leaders Academy and how it started here.

The Emerging Leaders 2023 Program Series: Communicating With Impact

In 2023, coordinators of the Emerging Leaders decided to try a new way of educating Boone County’s young adults by creating a program series called Communicating with Impact. This four-part series is designed to teach young adults in Boone County how to communicate effectively by breaking down essential practices into separate sessions. 

Session 1 – Rising Strong: The Stories You Tell Yourself and How They Impact Your Communication with Others took place in March. You can read a full recap of that session here.

Session 2 – Difficult Conversations: How to Give Feedback with Candor and Kindness will take place on April 27th. Registration for this event is currently open, you can register here

Session 3 – Public Speaking 101: I Can Do This, and Session 4 – Getting to Yes: The Art of Making the Ask and Getting the Response You Need will take place in May and June respectively.

Why Session 2: Difficult Conversations is Important

Each session of this series focuses on a different and equally important element of communication. More often than not, we encounter uncomfortable situations at work or at home that we wish we would have handled better. Session 2 is designed to help you communicate more effectively through difficult conversations so that your message is presented well and received with an open mind.

Session 2 overview: To communicate with impact, you must be able to communicate even when the message is hard to deliver. Leaders who have this skill create a culture of resiliency and growth mindset, of a willingness to try new things because it’s safe to fail and bounce back.

In this workshop, participants will learn how the best leaders communicate with candor and kindness, and what the most common barriers to doing so are.

Who This Session is For and How to Sign Up

All Emerging Leaders curriculum is designed for young adults living or working in Boone County that fall within the 21-40ish age range. This age range was chosen to encourage young adults who may not think of themselves as a leader to become more active within the community they reside and/or work. However, if you fall outside this age range, you are still welcome to join these sessions! Everyone can sign up for Session 2 here.