If you find yourself in situations where it is important to know basic small group skills? Have you reflected from recent experience about how your own leadership impacts the life and work of the group? Every member of a small group is a leader, and everyone can learn the basic skills which help small groups work well.

    Continuing education for adults frequently calls us to think. Leadership Skills Institute (LSI) calls us to participate with heart and head. LSI is a series of two week-long residential conferences.

    Phase I, group process, is concentrated on understanding, through experience, the theory of how any group forms and functions as well as how individuals can enhance that ability. Phase II, design skills, provides a learning experience focused on ways to design events and environments to assist the work of any group.

    People who have attended the LSI experiences look back at the events with the following reflections: 

• "LSI is a springboard. I found it became foundational to the way I engage with my staff, my co-workers, my family."
• "Attending LSI helped me realize that the skills I had are useful in the work world."
• "LSI leveled the playing field. I pay attention to who I am rather than what I do."
• "LSI honors the learning styles of people. The experience engages all varieties of learning styles."
• "LSI helped me learn that I could take some risks and get beyond my comfort level."

     The baptismal covenant reminds us to respect the dignity of every human being. The experience-based model and the values underneath the presentations at LSI do just that.