Every year the Leadership Buffalo organization holds its Values Awards luncheon to honor a member of the Western New York Community in each of five categories. As a graduate of Leadership Buffalo’s 2011 Rising Leaders Program, I have attended this event for most of the past seven years. This year’s awards were presented on May 4, 2017. It was a pleasure to attend and be inspired by the honorees.

Since leadership is a valuable component of management, I thought I would take a break from the more legal topics on this blog to highlight the 2017 Values Awards winners.

The first four awards are based on Leadership Buffalo’s 4 core values: Service, Inclusion, Diversity, and Openness To Change. The final award is a more all-encompassing Community Impact Award.

Service

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Service Award recipient is Chuck Collard. Mr. Collard is regional vice president with Heritage Christian Services.

Is your organization providing service to its community? Can you better engage your employees by enhancing the impact your business has on its neighborhood?

Inclusion

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Inclusion Award recipient is Marlies Wesolowski. Ms. Wesolowski is the Executive Director of the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Human Services Center of W.N.Y.

Are you involving the right people, both inside and outside of your organization? Who could benefit from an opportunity you could provide?

Diversity

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Diversity Award recipient is Vivian Ruth Waltz. Rev. Waltz is the Director of the Sisters of St. Joseph Karen Klimczak Center for Nonviolence.

It’s one thing to avoid discrimination as the law requires. But even better than defending claims of unequal treatment is being proactive in diversify your workforce.

Openness To Change

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Openness To Change Award recipient is George W. Scott. Mr. Scott is the President of The Colored Musicians Club.

You don’t get anywhere exciting by standing still. What can you do differently to move your organization forward?

Community Impact Award

The 2017 Leadership Buffalo Community Impact Award recipient is JoAnn Falletta. Ms. Falletta is the Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

As a Leadership Buffalo graduate, I occasionally reflect on the organization’s core values as a check on whether I’m on the right track. If you do the same, it can only improve your overall impact on the world around you.

Adopting Leadership Buffalo’s Values

Congratulations to all of these and the past recipients of the Leadership Buffalo Values Awards. Surely, these awards are not obtained by seeking them, but rather by demonstrating true leadership in one or more aspects of life. Likewise, this blog will not make you a leader. But I hope it will help you lead your organization’s employees on the path towards success!