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Future Leaders Program

Program Objectives

This program is designed to give participants of all experience levels the opportunity to explore concepts and means by which both personal learning and business performance may be increased. Primary focus is on interactive learning with a select peer group facilitated by both local and national leaders of the business community and A/E professions.

 

Primary objectives will assist participants to:

  • Increase personal knowledge and skills, business acumen and awareness of the environment in which they practice.
  • Develop a greater self-reliance and confidence based upon a deeper understanding of themselves, the business of engineering and the social, technical, economic, political context in which they, their clients and the public operate.
  • Develop a commitment to life-long learning and be more aware of and inclined to act on their curiosity about themselves and their world.
  • Clarify what matters for themselves and their businesses so that compelling visions, goals & strategies emerge.
  • Develop a strong peer network as a resource for future business challenges.
  • Develop role models for the next generation of leadership in the engineering profession affecting their firms, their associations and their communities.
  • Learn the importance of balancing work and life and how to apply strategies to successfully achieve that difficult balance. Each participant will be given a behavioral analysis in order to reveal the areas in which he or she needs individual focus and development.

An added bonus to the Program is the focus on learning in an interactive environment. Traditional seminar-based learning does not allow for the depth of learning that occurs when the participants are committed to and fully involved in the experience. Therefore, participants will be encouraged to do just that - participate.

 

A strong peer network will develop between the participants and will provide benefits beyond the formal Program.

 

Outcome Benefits

Outcome benefits for Program participants include:

  • Additional knowledge of the business of consulting engineering
  • More experience and confidence in a management role
  • More professional value to their firms and to the industry as a whole
  • More personal job satisfaction and the honor of having been selected to participate in this initiative, which demonstrates upward mobility

Outcome benefits for employers who send their employees to the Program include:

  • A return on investment
  • A more reliable and knowledgeable company representative
  • A satisfied employee

 

Participation & Application Process

Participants must be nominated by a Principal of the firm of which they are employed and should have a minimum of five years experience in the field. All applicants will be selected on the basis of experience and background. There is a limit of 1 nomination per firm.

Insuring geographic and practice-area diversity in each Future Leaders class is an important goal of the Program, and those factors may be considered when selecting participants.

 

Participants must attend all sessions in person to graduate from the program. If a session is missed, participants will be given one year during which they can make up a missed session with the next class/year of Future Leaders. If missed sessions are not made up within one year, participants will forfeit all program fees and their opportunity to graduate from the Program.

 

Participants must attend at least one ACEC/NC Committee Meeting and Event prior to the ACEC/NC Summer Conference.