Leadership Development Program for Sisters of St Joseph begins in Racine, Wisconsin

Sr. Herlinda provides a dance to accompany the prayer

Sr. Barbara Bozak, Program Director

Sr. Mary Dacey challenged the group

Twenty-eight sisters under 62 year of age gathered to begin a year of further honing and developing their leadership skills at the first Leaders as Leaven program sponsored by the US Federation for its sisters.  I am one of the 28 sisters so I will try to give a first-hand account of what is happening here.
 
An opening ritual and a symbolic use of scarfs as part of the ambience and the prayer set the stage for what looks to be a powerful five days together.  Sr. Barbara Bozak welcomed the group and set the tone on Thursday evening.  Sisters from Los Angeles and New York joined us late due to fogged in flights. 
In the opening prayer, the readings helped us reflect on leadership.  Sr. Mary Dacey, as part of the prayer, helped us to see the importance of leadership at this moment in history in religious life and the world.  She challenged us to use this opportunity to further develop our skills as leaders.

Sr. Dolores Clerico presented some
 old material with a new twist
 

On Friday, Sr. Dolores Clerico focused her talk on the core values of the Sisters of St Joseph by providing a brief overview of how evolving consciousness has impacted our view of leadership, where the church has evolved to at this time and then a new look at the core values of the Sisters of St Joseph.



Sr. Ginny Maitland
serves as facilitator
 

One of the highlights of this gathering is to meet sisters that I do not know and catch up with friends.  I had a very stimulating lunch discussion with Sr. Susan Wilcox and others at our table as we discussed the powerful energy connections that can heal the world.  Of course, it wouldn't be a US Federation event if we didn't play "Hand and Foot," a card game in the evening.  Last night six of us joined together.  Sr. Rosanne Oberleitner reminded us of the rules and Sr. Ginny Maitland served as coach for the three novice players.  Lots of fun and promises from others to join us tonight.

We have been joined at this event by 28 wisdom sisters who will serve as our mentor for this year period of growth in leadership.  I was extremely happy to have a meeting with my mentor, Sr. Mary Quinn.  As seems to be the sense among those of us participating, the matching of the sister with a mentor seems to have gone very well. 

Today we meet with two staff from the Leadership Circle who will continue the process of helping us learn how to use the Leadership Circle Profile, a tool that we and those we work with filled out.  It is compared with a vast database of the results of many thousands of leaders who have also taken this profile.  It provides helpful feedback on areas of strength and areas that could be further developed. 

I'll keep you posted on how the days go.




Sr. Donna Del Santo led us in song