CLASSROOM REFLECTION

“You should apply to Leadership Montana,” they said. “You’ll love it,” they said. “You will learn so much,” they said.

I took “their” advice and applied (twice) and got accepted. I also took the advice of the LM staff, and replied to the first carpool notice that showed up in my inbox for the meeting in Big Sky.

And so I met classmate-to-be Mike Worden in a CVS parking lot in Helena, and we embarked together on the Leadership Montana road to Big Sky. On the way, we talked about real estate. We talked about buying vehicles, and we discovered a number of mutual friends and personal interests. We shared our nervousness about doing the Meyers-Briggs assessment (again) and our trepidation about spending 3 days with a group of forty strangers, talking about our strengths and weaknesses.

When we arrived, we met Anna Berg, Amy Kellogg and Fred Kellogg on the patio. We had dinner with Luke Anderson from Culbertson and we learned that we were not the only ones who were nervous about what lay ahead.

The next three days went by in a whirlwind. The staff and trainers led us through a series of exercises that had us laughing, thinking, and yes, even crying. It was an intense and extraordinary few days.

On the way back to Helena, Mike and I debriefed. It was a LOT, we decided, but the work was stimulating. It was interesting but staying engaged for such a sustained period was also exhausting.

Were we ready to keep going? You bet we were! When Anna sends the agenda for Polson and Whitefish, you’ll find us back in that CVS parking lot, ready to roll.