Carolina Leadership Seminars
Serving South Carolina's dedicated new nonprofit executive directors.
SInce 2016, Carolina Leadership Seminars has established itself as a trusted, multi-faceted, leadership development program, designed exclusively for nonprofit executive directors.
Over 150 SC executive directors have participated since the program's inception. Scroll to the end of the page to meet the 2022 Cohort recent graduates.
Sisters of Charity Foundation of SC provided the initial grant funding, inspiration and support for the first three years and continues to host our convenings, often joining to share their insights.
We are appreciative of the scholarship support provided by SC First Steps, United Way of the Midlands and other funders.
Each cohort is limited to 25 to 30 participants who engage in candid and confidential discussions with peers regarding their organization’s current performance and their personal leadership challenges.
Charles C. Weathers, MBA, founder & President of The Weathers Group, designs and leads seminar sessions in conjunction with his colleague, Rieta Drinkwine. Under Charles Weather's tutalege, and with input from Together SC staff, each session offers practical tools and actionable insights to improve your leadership, effectively steward your organization, spur your resolve to advance race equity, and increase your impact. Session topics are provided in detail below.
Our Facilitators
Charles C. Weathers, MBA, founder & President of The Weathers Group, is a nationally known speaker, writer and consultant who is a recognized expert on nonprofit leadership, organizational effectiveness and performance improvement. He and his team provide creative, interactive learning opportunities for participants to address current organizational and leadership challenges in a confidential, open-dialogue learning environment and brave space.
Rieta Drinkwine, also of The Weather Group, is ADD BIO.
Fall 2023 Schedule
- Registration will open in February.
- There will be five monthly sessions for the Fall 2023 Carolina Leadership Seminars.
- These Friday in-peroson sessions will run from 10am till 2pm and include lunch.
- The session topics are presented below. Please be sure you can attend all sessions before registering.
- The Sisters of Charity Foundation of SC will host our gatherings. They are located at 2711 Middleburg Drive, Columbia, SC.
2023 Session Dates &Topics |
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Aug. 11 - The Board/CEO Relationship: Teamwork From the Top The relationship between the Board and the CEO can make or break an organization. High-trust, understanding, clarity, and accountability are just a few of the traits that can strengthen this vital relationship. During this session participants learn to identify approaches that ban nurture meaningful relationship with their Board, as well as recommendations on how to repair a damaged Board/CEO relationship. |
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Sept. 8 - Leading Through Effective Communication People frequently complain about a lack of communication on the job or in relationships and the inability of others to communicate. We have found that there is rarely a LACK of communication, but instead a lack of understanding about the many factors influencing communication. So how do we transform our dysfunctional communication styles into effective and productive interaction with others? Through this session participants will be equipped to communicate effectively and pointedly with a variety of individuals and groups and better prepared to maintain composure in challenging situations. |
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Oct. 13 - Cultivating a High Trust Culture Trust, according to Stephen M. R. Covey in his critically acclaimed book, The Speed of Trust, is more than a nice social virtue. It is a quantifiable, hard-edged economic factor that impacts our decisions and results on a daily basis. This session highlights the value of developing high trust relationships as well as the cost of low trust relationships. Leaders who cultivate and maintain high trust relationships are much more likely to experience success in life, both professionally and personally. |
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Nov. 2 - Navigating Organizational Change Organizations that navigate change have a greater chance of remaining relevant, viable, and competitive. Your ability to navigate change will contribute to your success as well as the success of your organization. This session allows participants to explore approaches they can employ to better recognize and navigate organizational, economic, social, and political changes. |
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Dec. 8 - Celebratory Lunch with Board Chairs and Funders Board chairs and chairs-elect are invited to join participants for a day of shared learning, lunch and conversations with funding partners |
2022 Carolina Leadership Seminars Cohort
Eligibility
- Participation is limited to Executive Directors/Chief Executive Officers, who have generally served in their current position for five years or less.
- Organizations must be Together SC members in good standing, unless a Philanthropic Partner chooses to scholarship a participant.
- To build an effective learning cohort, a selection process will be used to ensure class representation of diverse organizational types, backgrounds, and regions served.
- Please carefully review the schedule posted below, BEFORE registering for the course. Participants must attend ALL sessions to receive a Certificate of Completion. Attendance will be kept.
- To encourage support, applicants will be asked to provide an endorsement or nomination from a foundation involved in their organization. Foundations may also provide scholarship support for participants to encourage participation and defray costs.
- We will open the 2023 application process in the Spring.
Cost
- $325 covers lunch, materials, and facilitation costs for four, possibly five, sesssions of four hours each.
- Member dollars, coupled with support from our generous philanthropic partners, help to make this program possible. The full cost would be over $700 a participant. If cost is a concern, please reach out.