ENEWS GUEST EDITOR – GEORGE SMITH

Recently, I attended an event where the icebreaker was for each of us to anonymously write down three brands that described our personalities and then we had to guess which person belonged to what brands. The responses ranged from Tiffany to Caterpillar to Purcell and everything in between. I already knew everyone in the room in some capacity which made it all the more fun to try to get in their heads and determine who had submitted which brands.

George Smith  LT 24 Retreat
George Smith
LT 24 Retreat

I didn’t, but could (should) have included Leadership Tallahassee as one of my three brands. It is everything you could want in an organization and therefore a fantastic brand. Instant recognition and credibility. It accomplishes its mission and helps me to connect more easily. In the various roles that I have held in Leadership Tallahassee, I have had the need to contact many of you and ask for your assistance in a program day or some other capacity. Even though we didn’t know each other, there was little need to identify who I am other than to say that I am a graduate of Class 24 and calling on behalf of Leadership Tallahassee. With that simple introduction, I have found Leadership Tallahassee graduates to be very gracious and willing to assist in our various programs even though they had little knowledge of the person extending the request.

That is part of the beauty of Leadership Tallahassee. It is a valuable program that has turned many of us into raving fans. We are happy to recommend it to our friends as a worthwhile experience. We are happy to contribute in whatever capacity requested. When we participate, the brand value of Leadership Tallahassee increases to each of us individually and collectively.

During the coming year, Class 32 is going to rock. We know that. YLT Class 11 will allow for incredible growth. We know that. This year, we will also focus on you, our alumni, and on increasing the Leadership Tallahassee value to each of you. We will continue with our membership lunches and happy hours. We will also have a fantastic second year of LT 2.0. These are alumni only events. They provide the opportunity to continue to benefit from all that Leadership Tallahassee has to offer and to stay connected to the brand and the alumni network. I hope that each of you will take advantage of these opportunities to make Leadership Tallahassee an even hotter brand during the upcoming year.
–George Smith (LT 24), 2014-15 Chair, LT Board of Governors