What does it look like to lead in your business and in our community?
When I stand up in front of the volunteers who are part of this year’s Loaned Executive program, sometimes I feel like an imposter. It’s easy to feel that way when you’re looking out over such a talented group of men and women, each emerging as leaders in their circles of influence. Those characteristics, along with numerous others, are why they are selected to represent their companies in the LE program. Anyone of them could serve in the chair role and many will. It’s truly a humbling experience.
One of the things I love most about being a LE is that the program teaches you how to lead both in your business and in the community while broadening your circle of influence. Many Loaned Executives will connect with nonprofit boards, they’ll serve in other volunteer roles with United Way, and they’ll be people who face community challenges head-on and choose to be part of the solution.
Being a LE not only changes a person for the better, it changes the South Plains for the better.
Over the last two months, this year’s volunteer class has been engaging in learning opportunities and hands-on activities to help us learn more about our community and the difference United Way makes. United Way is more than just a passthrough that helps other nonprofits. They are consistently bringing people around a table to tackle hard problems and create collaborative solutions. They expand the boundaries of what any single community entity can do alone. As Loaned Executives, we get to be a part of that collective effort.
This week is the Loaned Executive Retreat. We’ll spend a few days together in Ruidoso, learning how to help companies run employee campaigns and how to share our personal experiences with United Way. It’s a great event made possible through the generosity of the companies who sponsor employees to be in the program.
When we get back to Lubbock, LE’s will begin reaching out to companies to set up meetings and kickstart United Way’s Annual Campaign. They will put into action all that they have learned, and hopefully, the end result will be thousands of more local households supported because of donations to the Annual Campaign.
I want to personally thank you for your support for Lubbock Area United Way, and I invite you to join me and the 2023 class of Loaned Executives in continuing to support United Way through this year’s campaign.
With gratitude,
Ian Spector
2023 Loaned Executive Chair