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2019 Athenian Dialogue:

Saturday, October 12, 2019
8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Join us for our first International Institute for Municipal Clerks (IIMC) Athenian Leadership Society Dialogue at the Virginia Municipal Clerks Association (VMCA) Annual Institutes and Academy.

The registration fee includes a 6-hour program, breakfast and a working lunch. Please purchase the text and read the entire book before the dialogue session. We will complete the required learning assessment in the session.

Points towards the Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) or Master Municipal Clerk (MMC) designations (with the completion of the required learning assessment): 
6 Education Hours/3 IIMC Points.

Registration is limited to 30 participants.  

Registration is closed.

Facilitator and Mentee:

• Dr. Jane Long, IIMC Director of Professional Development and Athenian Dialogue Facilitator (left)
• Ms. Libby Hume, MMC, Athenian Dialogue Facilitator Mentee (right)

Book selection

Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney
by Lee Cockerell

"It’s not the magic that makes it work; it’s the way we work that makes it magic.”

The secret for creating “magic” in our careers, our organizations, and our lives is simple: outstanding leadership—the kind that inspires employees, delights customers, and achieves extraordinary business results.

No one knows more about this kind of leadership than Lee Cockerell, the man who ran Walt Disney World® Resort operations for over a decade. And in Creating Magic, he shares the leadership principles that not only guided his own journey from a poor farm boy in Oklahoma to the head of operations for a multibillion dollar enterprise, but that also soon came to form the cultural bedrock of the world’s number one vacation destination. But as Lee demonstrates, great leadership isn’t about mastering impossibly complex management theories. We can all become outstanding leaders by following the ten practical, common sense strategies outlined in this remarkable book.

Lee's Books - Lee Cockerell, 2019, www.leecockerell.com/books/.

About the Athenian Leadership Society

What is the Athenian Leadership Society, and how do I benefit from a dialogue?

The Athenian Leadership Society is an advanced IIMC Leadership Development Program. A Dialogue focuses on helping municipal clerks develop critical thinking skills and increasing their leadership ability. Leadership Dialogues provide valuable knowledge, vision and understanding to build increased leadership capacity and add value to the contribution of municipal clerks in improving local government.

What is an Athenian, and how does it relate to a municipal clerk?

The Athenians were leaders who invented the idea of political democracy, philosophy, logic, and rhetoric. The choice of Athenian in the title of the Leadership. Society signals the values of this culture from 2,500 years ago. To be an Athenian is to hold knowledge and the quest for knowledge in high esteem. They left the world enriched with their ideas. Municipal clerks at their best exemplify Athenian values.

What is involved in a leadership dialogue?

Leadership Dialogues are conversations that exceed the usual knowledge recall and application process. They explore leadership principles and practices, drawing on the insights contained in a book that all participants have read. Dialogues are a channel of communication in which municipal clerks share their experience and understanding as they relate to the author’s ideas and the relevance of those ideas to their public leadership role. A scholar intuitively familiar with the book’s subject and purpose leads each Leadership Dialogue. The interest and involvement of the participants, and the author’s specific focus and emphasis, require that the facilitator move purposefully using the language of feeling, meaning, and power. Participants devote a full day to a Dialogue and come away intellectually enriched by this communication experience.

“The Athenian Leadership Society: A Program For Leadership Development.” IIMC Information Sheet, International Institute for Municipal Clerks, www.iimc.com/DocumentCenter/Home/View/584.