Chamber chat: San Marcos chamber offers leadership skills

Chamber kicks off new cohort in March with a five-week course

Richard Marks leads a session last year for the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Academy. The academy returns in March. Courtesy photo

In 2024 one of the goals of the San Marcos Chamber was to launch a Leadership Academy. I had recently completed Leadership North County offered by California State University San Marcos.

Many Chambers offer similar programs and they provide individuals a great opportunity to meet community leaders and visit impactful businesses and organizations throughout the community.

The first step in creating our program was to form a Leadership Committee. As we discussed our goals and pathways to creating a program, it quickly became apparent that this committee, formed of successful leadership trainers, teachers and leaders, was talking about leadership skills. We were going to create a Leadership Development program to focus on leadership skills employees could take back to their workplace to make them and their businesses/organizations more successful.

“While we recognize the importance of inspiring leaders, our focus has been on equipping and training them with practical tools and skills they can immediately use to maximize their impact on those they lead,” said facilitator Mike Winter, Hillside Properties.