Jim Herdt, CEO of Herdt Consulting, Inc. and retired master chief petty officer for the U.S. Navy says dynamic leadership skills are about 99 percent environment and one percent genetic.
“Anyone can become successful,” Herdt said, who along with his team of leadership consultants have just completed a three-day youth workshop in Pickens County - at no cost to participants.
“Children of accomplished people tend to arrive at success faster purely because of their environment. If I would have known these kinds of leadership skills at an earlier age there is no telling where I would be.”
Herdt visited Pickens County in May of this year as keynote speaker for the Youth Leadership Pickens graduation and, “Fell in love with the community…the investment in growth and development is extraordinary. It is a thing you do not see in this country. Pickens County, you’ve got it right,” he said at Thursday’s workshop graduation.
Ten students nominated by leaders in the Pickens community took time from their summer break to act as guinea pigs for this, the first of three pilot sessions, which received a, “triple- A plus on the feedback and response we received, “ Herdt said. “This has exceeded our wildest expectations.”
High-school students spent three full days, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., working on various elements of ethics-based leadership skills including crafting statements about personal ethics, philosophies, values and missions.
“We asked [the youths] what the most valuable lesson they learned over the past three days,” Herdt said. “Over 50 percent said they learned a lot about themselves…and they unanimously said they would take the course again.”
The walls of Appalachian Technical College’s conference room were lined with these overwhelmingly personal admissions by Thursday’s end.
One girl wrote about a facial scar that made her self-conscious. Another about her dedication to the community. A young boy touched on the importance of his faith.
“I haven’t seen thinking in young men and women of this age anywhere,” Herdt said. “Reading some of these personal statements is enough to bring a tear to your eye.”
Herdt Consulting will take feedback from the pilot sessions and make some final adjustments before taking the program nationwide and, according to Jasper Optimist Club President Jim Baily, seminars similar to the DyLead program can demand a pretty penny.
As a gesture of gratitude, however, Herdt has offered the DyLead Youth Leadership Workshop series to Pickens County in the future free of charge. “This is not about revenue,” Herdt said. “It’s about being able to give back to a country that has done something good for us.”
During his Jasper visit Herdt also spoke at the Jasper Optimist’s breakfast and said the conditions of U.S. youth of today inspired him to develop DyLead.
According to Herdt only 25 percent of the 52-million youths age 17-27 are qualified to serve in the U.S. military. This figure is based on minimum educational, physical, and moral standards of the military.
Herdt told the civic group communities need to provide more nurturing for youth in regard to values, ethics, morals, and a mission-directed life.
“Pickens County was given a huge opportunity being the first to pilot the program,” Chamber of Commerce Executive President Denise Duncan said. “The youth, parents, sponsors and community are to be commended for stepping up and recognizing this opportunity. Their involvement makes it apparent why we were chosen.”
While several students who participated in the pilot program were members of Youth Leadership Pickens, other students were also involved.
Duncan urges all students (grades 10 -12) to submit an application for Youth Leadership Pickens beginning in August. Contact the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce for more information at 706-692-5600 or visit their website, www.pickenschamber.com.
The chamber would like to thank Appalachian Technical College, the Rotary Club of Jasper, United Community Bank, North Georgia Safety Training, Jerry Daniels, the Jasper Optimist Club, Bojangles and Collaborations for Resiliency in Children for their support.
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| PHOTO BY DAMON HOWELL |
| Leaders in the making-Participants in the DyLead Youth Leadership Workshop pilot program read a personal philosophy drafted by one of their peers. |
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