C You at the Top

This is an informative and motivational presentation about leadership. I share my story of growing up poor in a broken home (at least that is what some people call a home missing one parent). However being in the FFA was a turning point in my life. The first presidential office I held was with the Lampasas Texas High School FFA. Since then I have served as national president of:

Alpha Tau Alpha -An agricultural education honorary

American Vocational Education Research Association – Policy makers and university professors who conduct research on topics related to vocational education.

American Association for Agricultural Education – University professors who prepare agricultural educators.

Association for Career and Technical Education – a 25,000 member organization of career and technical educators at the high school and postsecondary level.

I never sought any of these positions, but nominating committees and individuals persuaded me to be a candidate for these offices. Based upon my leadership experiences I have developed the leadership pyramid. It is somewhat like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs but has eight levels. Each level is a leadership trait or quality needed to be a leader. And each level starts with the letter C.

Near the start of the presentation I ask the audience to guess what C-words might be in the leadership pyramid. This keeps the audiences’ interest as I discuss each level to see if the word or words they selected appears.