When Brian Pickering was a college student at Plymouth State University, he achieved something very few had done before: become a captain for two sports teams.
“I wasn’t the best athlete on the team, but someone clearly thought I was a leader back then,” said Pickering, principal of ConVal High School, who was recently awarded the 2016 principal of the year award by the NH Association of School Principals. “People tell me I have the ability to stay calm in any situation.”
Pickering was one of a dozen guests gathered at Bass Hall on Tuesday night for a Community Conversations – a collaboration of the Monadnock Center for History and Culture and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript – on leadership.
In addition to Pickering, Karen Hatcher, a former national director for Students In Action, a youth training program that effectively uses service to the community as a vehicle for developing students leaders aged 12 to 18, and Perri Chickering, a director and senior consultant for Dialogos, a management and leadership development firm, also spoke of leadership.
“I’ve learned so much about leadership through training horses,” said Chickering. “The cool thing about training horses is you cannot fake it. If you aren’t a good leader, they will walk away from you.”
Much of the discussion Tuesday revolved around what makes a good leader and how to get more younger people involved in leadership roles in the community.
“There is a lot of value in exposing everyone to an opportunity for leadership,” said Hatcher. “I’ve seen students who didn’t think they could lead become great leaders.”
Hatcher said there are four things needed to help younger people become proper leaders: help them find their passion, help them develop skills, be a good support for them, and get out of their way.
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com.