FCCS News & Insights

Grow your NextGen Leaders at The Gettysburg Leadership Experience for Young Professionals

As the Baby Boomer generation edges increasingly toward retirement, many organizations are taking a closer look at their younger, high-value employees to identify future leaders. At the same time, professionals earlier in their careers are demonstrating an interest in their own development and in taking ownership of their careers and their learning paths.

Addressing both of these trends, FCC Services is launching The Gettysburg Leadership Experience for Young Professionals this June, delivering a customized program modified to meet the expectations and learning preferences of the younger generations.

“We’re taking what’s strong about our traditional program and adapting the delivery, approach and process to excite and motivate young professionals,” says John Regentin, Director of the Gettysburg Leadership Experience. “We’ll be challenging their thinking outside of traditional leadership, and they’ll learn and grow together through the experiential challenges they’ll share.”

Delivered at Gettysburg College, the Young Professionals program is targeted to high-potential, young professionals who are individual contributors or are positioned to progress to a leadership position. Its curriculum will balance the dual role of leader and follower, emphasizing the importance of followership, or “servant leadership.” [Please see Main Article.] It will include the cornerstone features of The Gettysburg Leadership Experience, including visits to the battlefield itself, but differ in the type of learning environment: where the traditional program focuses on senior leaders and board members identifying individual learning opportunities, the Young Professionals program will focus on experiential learning within a cohort.

The Young Professionals program will be customized based on the specific learning goals of the participants, which FCC Services will ascertain during a series of pre-calls. Based on this input, John will modify the leadership modules and build in active learning opportunities. During and after the June program, FCC Services will also be looking to attendees for input on how to enhance the new program and process for future groups.

“Beyond the learning and growth that individual participants will gain through the program, these high-value young leaders will appreciate their organizations’ investment in them, which will increase their loyalty and deliver long-term benefits,” says Jean Cantey Segal, FCC Services’ Chief Learning Officer of Learning and Consulting Services. “They’ll also be interacting and engaging with other young professionals across Farm Credit, gaining new perspectives that they can bring back to their own organizations and teams.”

Registration is now open for the June 11-14 program. Click here for more information, or register now.