Leadership training program leads off convention

Intermountain Catholic

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Those attending Mary Matheus' ?Communications Unleashed? presentation at the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women on April 29 hold up papers that they had cut following Matheus' instructions. The point of the exercise was to show that everyone interprets directions differently, which is why no two papers look alike.

SALT LAKE CITY — The 83 Annual Diocesan Council of Catholic Women convention started with something new this year: leadership training.

The idea arose after the National Council of Catholic Women incorporated the Leadership Training Development Program at its annual convention, said Michael O’Shea, DCCW president. "A couple of our ladies went and just raved about it."

As a result, Pat Voorhees, the local leadership commission chair, suggested having the training in Salt Lake City, and organized the event on the first day of the DCCW convention, which was April 29-May 1 at the Sheraton Hotel in Salt Lake City.

The training was offered because "we want to build membership and keep them, and have better communication throughout the diocese," O’Shea said.

Ann Boyer, outgoing CCW president at Saint Peter Parish in American Fork, was among those who attended the leadership training. She has been involved with CCW for about 12 years at the local and national levels, "so I have a deep commitment to leadership," she said.

Much of what was presented at the conference was basic leadership material, Boyer said, "but obviously it has a strong twist to council leadership and is pertinent to what is going on in our parishes. It gives us a new lens to examine what we’re doing in council, and a lot of practical, grassroots examples of what people have used in their parishes that we can use in ours."

Boyer also appreciated comments about negative issues because that allows members to examine whether those behaviors occur in their own councils, she said.

Overall, the training was beneficial, particularly the information about the life cycle of an organization, she said. "It’s a real good time to revisit where we are. We’re going to take it back, and with the new team of officers we’re going to … assess where we are in that continuum, what we need to change and how to change. It’s a real tool that we’re going to take back to make our work in council better."

Lisa Strei of Saint Mary Parish in West Haven also singled out the information about an organization’s lifestyle as particularly helpful. In addition, she liked the information about the attributes and values of different generations. "That will help us communicate with people of different generations and values," she said.

A member of her parish’s CCW group, Strei said she takes every opportunity she can get for leadership training because she uses it not only for work but also in her volunteer efforts.

For Sally Pope, president elect of CCW at Christ the King Parish in Cedar City, the information presented at the training was all new. "I’m just learning," she said. "I think it’s good training for anyone who’s in leadership in their parish."

One idea that she thought would be particularly suited for her parish was that of the voice messaging system postcalls.com.

The three-day convention also included speakers and a panel of local religious, who presented information about their ministries in Utah.

The annual convention "is such a motivating thing," O’Shea said. "It is a strong bond of sisterhood. We have very, very spiritual meetings. I think all of us leave refreshed and renewed."