Group 14 – Orientation Session

You never know what to expect at the beginning. 
Where you’re going, what to wear, who you’ll meet. 
Everything is a question mark.

By Laurel Norris Bacque, Group XIV Fellow

In a program like Leadership Wisconsin, the other fellows are the biggest question mark.  Until the face-to-face meeting, they were just names.  But over two years, we’ll share planes, buses, hotel rooms, and life-changing experiences.  Those names will become friends, teachers, and fellow students.  The orientation session was a chance to get to know the other people, and to my surprise, myself.

I’m sure it’s no coincidence that the first step in getting to know others is to know yourself.  I’m an orange.  Outgoing, impulsive, and creative.  I like taking risks, and I like having fun.  Knowing myself and recognizing my personality helps me to think about what kind of person I want to be in the future.  Which, honestly, is to be more gold.  You know, kind of an orangish-gold mix.

Acknowledging personality types really set the stage for helping me understand how other people tick, and made me think about how to listen to people, talk to them, and work with them.  I remember sitting in the classroom and thinking “This could really help me in my personal relationships too.”

While the personality testing was fun (and educational-that’s the gold talking), one thing that really impressed me were when my fellow Group Fourteener’s delivered their bios.  It was one after another, and all of them impressive.  These were people who got things done.  In their community, their company, or in their own lives-these people were moving.  Accomplishment after accomplishment filled the room.  Hearing everyone’s stories made me very proud to be included in the program.  

It was exciting too, making mental notes to talk to someone about their experiences and finding out who is interested in the same topics that I am.

Another high point of the weekend was meeting alumni.  There is nothing more encouraging then a group of people who have been a part of Leadership Wisconsin smiling at the memories and saying, “It will be a wonderful time.”  Shaking their heads like they can’t even relay what the program will be like, remembering what it was like to be a newbie, excited and curious, seeing all the question marks.

I think what they were telling me with their smiles and their excitement was:  This is a special moment, this beginning.