Businesses soak up leadership advice during ‘Maximum Impact’ simulcast

Bryan Hedges understands that leadership is about teamwork, and sharing a vision, and working to see that everyone buys into common goals, and on and on.

Such ideas are nothing new.

But sitting in on the “Maximum Impact” simulcast Friday in Lawrence, Hedges took in concepts and advice from a panel of national leaders from Atlanta – and had nine of his co-workers from Realty Executives Hedges Real Estate sitting right there with him, discovering new ways to see that their collective leadership can be translated into valuable action.

“You need to take one or two things and actually implement them,” Hedges said, echoing some of what he’d learned during the event shown at Free Methodist Church. “You need to schedule it, and make it a part of your daily life.

“If you don’t schedule it, it can’t be a part of your daily life.”

Such lessons were making the rounds for many of the 60 people who signed on for the Lawrence version of the event. National leadership experts – from Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy to college basketball analyst Dick Vitale – had their live presentations from Atlanta projected onto a wall-sized screen, as participants listened from their seats at round tables.

During lunch, a panel of local leaders shared their own thoughts about leadership.

James Bush, who organized the local showing of the simulcast, said that the presentation was particularly valuable for the Lawrence area, given an ongoing discussion about the need for leaders to carry forward a community vision.

“Leadership education is ongoing,” he said. “A community never has enough leaders.”

Bush plans to organize a showing of next year’s simulcast, set for May 8, 2009.