Students shine in leadership competition

Three teams from the University of North Georgia (UNG) practiced their leadership skills and placed in the top six of the Collegiate Leadership Competition (CLC) Southeast Regional held March 28 at Berry College in Rome, Georgia. The teams that placed were:

• Third place: Cottrell Leadership Fellows team including Ashley Healey, Truett Hoffman, Natalie Lockwood, and Isaiah Seidel.
• Fourth place: Honors Program Gold team including Olivia Dunn, Giana Harris, Emma Perron, Mary Sanders-Tucker, and Nik Starks.
• Sixth place: Honors Program Blue team including Ethan Brinson, Thomas Floystrop, Katie Anne Jones, Lydia Menhorn, and Tommy Murillo-Bivins.

Hoffman, a senior in UNG's 4+1 program that includes a bachelor's degree in accounting and a Master of Accountancy, plans to go into public accounting. The Gainesville, Georgia, resident said CLC was a valuable experience for his group.

"I experienced a lot of growth in understanding different leadership perspectives. It was interesting to see how we could tailor our leadership styles to what they were looking for in the competition," Hoffman said. "UNG showcases us as students and how much the professors have helped us learn what we need."

Healey, a senior from Social Circle, Georgia, who is also in the 4+1 accounting program, liked that the competition forced teams to rotate who their leaders were throughout the event.

"It helped me know how to make decisions in the moment and also how to step back and let someone else take the lead," Healey said.

Perron, a senior from Jasper, Georgia, pursuing a degree in psychology with a minor in philosophy, serves as president of the Philosophy Club at UNG's Dahlonega Campus. She is a member of the McNair Scholars program, while her other team members are in the Honors Program. She appreciated the self-reflection and teamwork CLC brought.

"We really had to keep our cool and think through these situations logically with everyone bringing their different personalities," Perron said.

Dr. Jie Guo, an assistant professor of management and coach of the Cottrell Leadership Fellows team, said the combination of otherwise low-stakes tasks with the pressure of a loud, competitive room tested the students.

"It's a very interesting way of explicitly showing some of their leadership skills and abilities, communication and teamwork," Guo said.

Dr. Thomas Greene, an associate professor of history, assistant director of Honors on the Dahlonega Campus and coach for the two teams made up largely of Honors Program students, appreciated the intentionality of the CLC event. Students were graded not just on achieving a task, but also on the process to get there and following a rigid set of rules governing their decision-making process.

"The environment forced each of them to emerge as leaders in their own way," Greene said.

Dr. Meg Smith, a professor of biology and director of Honors at the Dahlonega Campus, also helped coach the Honors teams.

"The relationships they built with each other enabled them to be successful in this event," Smith said.