Mary Cox and Sheena Gibson Graduate From Fairfield Leadership
A population that possesses leadership skills is crucial for the wellbeing of any community and for the businesses, nonprofits and people that call that place home. Effective leaders can inspire, motivate and drive progress in many ways. That’s why Vinton County National Bank encourages employees to participate in Fairfield Leadership, an eight-month program offered by the Lancaster Fairfield Chamber of Commerce. Several VCNB employees are alum of this program and we are pleased to say that two more recently graduated.
Compliance Analyst Sheena Gibson and Canal Winchester Branch Manager Mary Cox just completed the program which is designed to teach leadership through important core principles.
Things like social responsibility, management by fact, visionary leadership, valuing employees and partners, and customer-driven excellence are among several principles around which lessons are taught. A monthly learning session and participation in a group project that benefits a local non-profit organization guarantee participants an immersive learning experience and a chance to make a lasting impact on a local nonprofit.
Cox called it an honor to participate and talked about the ways she has learned and grown. “I have been equipped with new approaches to apply to everyday situations. I will stop to evaluate if I am communicating based on my strengths or the other person’s. In addition to gaining new strategies and insights I have greatly expanded my network,” she said. I had the opportunity to learn about non-profits I did not know were out there. I was fortunate to meet, interact and build relationships with many individuals I may not have without the leadership class,” she said.
Gibson noted that these lessons learned will apply in all aspects of her life including personal and career. “We discussed different aspects of becoming a successful leader within our professional lives. I look forward to the being able implement these lessons not only as I progress in my career path, but also in my personal life as well.”
Both noted that learning how to communicate based on their own strengths will be helpful moving forward. “One thing that I really appreciated from this program was to learn to identify and utilize the character strengths not only in ourselves, but our coworkers as well. We may not all have the same strengths but that is what helps make a coherent team. My personal character strengths did include several aspects in the relationship building category. As I discovered this, it made sense, as my current volunteer work usually reflects this. I look forward to building on this to expand my volunteer experiences and maybe one day being able to serve on a non-profit board of directors,” Gibson explained.
As part of the program, each participant takes part in a group project, partnering with a local organization to provide realistic and useful ideas to help their organization grow.
Gibson’s group partnered with the Lutheran Social Services Food Pantry which operates several food pantry locations across central Ohio. Their project challenge was to identify areas of need to improve service reach. Cox’s group partnered with the Lancaster Fairfield County 4th of July Committee. Each of their groups gave project presentations as part of their graduation at the Fairfield Medical Center last month.
In all, eight local nonprofit organizations benefited from the creativity, expertise and skills of these newly inspired local leaders. Chamber President Travis Markwood remarked that it isn’t uncommon for some of these new connections to grow and for these individuals to become more involved in the groups as volunteers, consultants and even board members.
To learn more about Fairfield Leadership and to watch of video of all the 2024-25 leadership presentations, click here. VCNB would like to congratulate all the graduates and especially our very own Mary Cox and Sheena Gibson for a job well done! We look forward to seeing you flourish and grow as future leaders here at our bank.