Wheeling Chamber’s Leadership Program Offers Keys to Professional Development | News, Sports, Jobs

|Photo by Eric Ayres|
Keynote speaker Jeff Hancher addresses a crowd at the Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack Showroom on Wednesday as a featured segment of the third annual Live2Lead program presented by the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.

WHEELING – Professional development was a winning bet at the showroom of Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack on Wednesday when the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce presented its third annual Live2Lead program.

A roomful of career-minded local professionals participated in the half-day event that offered a mix of live and virtual leadership training presentations, live local panel sessions, networking opportunities and more.

Highlighting the morning session was a live presentation by keynote speaker Jeff Hancher who presented a talk on “turning pressure into potential.”

The annual event has continued to grow, and this year’s pool of participants was bigger than ever. Those in attendance included chamber members and guests of chamber businesses. They represented everyone from young adult entrepreneurs to seasoned business professionals, but all came for an opportunity to hone their leadership skills.

“We registered around 180,” said Mike Howard, chief operating officer for the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce, noting that Live2Lead gives people in the community a chance to grow and develop as professionals. “As they say, ‘Rising tides raise all ships.’ If we develop more leaders, our companies are going to be better and our community is going to be better.”

Portions of Live2Lead included a rebroadcast of an annual event held in Atlanta that is meant to bring some of the best leadership teaching to leaders around the world. Through the Wheeling Chamber and event sponsors, Live2Lead is an experience designed to help participants with new perspectives, practical tools and key takeaways.

Renowned leadership expert John C. Maxwell was a featured virtual presenter, and some of the Ohio Valley’s business and community leaders headed breakout groups for live panel conversations. The event’s keynote speaker was Jeff Hancher, one of the region’s foremost trainers and presenters.

Hancher’s message focused on being prepared to seize opportunities, using adversity as fuel for motivation and striving to reach one’s full potential.

“Opportunity is going to present itself to you – are you prepared for it?” Hancher asked the crowd, noting that moments to seize are often fleeting, so true leaders need to be ready for them.

A native of Claysville, Pennsylvania, Hancher said he grew up in poverty with parents who he never saw work. They relied on the welfare system. These hard times and challenges actually helped him gain perspective and motivation, Hancher indicated.

“Moments of adversity shape who you become,” he said. “You can allow adversity to be an anchor or you allow it to be a propeller. It’s really a choice.

“When the chaos hits, have a choice. You can be a thermometer or you can be a thermostat. A thermometer can tell you the temperature of the room, but a thermostat changes the temperature of the room.”

Hancher said he believes there are three things that can serve as a bedrock to equip yourself to be in a state of readiness and to seize opportunity when it comes: being accountable, continuously improving and engaging your motivation.

“Hold yourself accountable when opportunity presents itself,” Hancher said. “Tough days are the biggest opportunities. We are all going to face tough days. It’s how you’re going to respond when adversity hits, because it’s coming. That’s how you separate yourself from the ‘people pile,’ as John Maxwell says.”

Even through tough losses, resilient people with the right attitude focus on the tools they have left, not what’s been taken, Hancher noted.

The keynote speaker proposed that it’s a challenging path to fight for success and overcome obstacles. It’s also a challenging path to wallow in failure.

“If there’s going to be pain in losing and there’s going to be pain in winning, then let’s win,” he said, urging everyone to have “positive discontent” – constructive dissatisfaction that motivates people to continue to improve.

“The goal is not to be better than you once were – don’t celebrate that you’re better than you once were. That’s a false sense of security. I’m not as good as I could be. Find out what your potential is and chase that,” Hancher said.

The motivational speaker asked participants if they stand out because they excel among others in their crowd. He challenged them to surround themselves with mentors who consistently challenge them, and then they are on the path to becoming the kind of leader that they would want to follow.

“How do we become not bosses that people report to but leaders that people don’t want to let down?” Hancher asked. “The journey to success is all uphill the whole way. You have to dig deep for that motivation that’s going to bring you out the other side.”