Bright Wood Blog
More Managers Graduate from COCC's Leadership Lab
[November 16, 2022] The second cohort of Bright Wood managers graduated from Central Oregon Community College’s (COCC) Leadership Lab on November 4. Thirty-one people have completed the seven-week leadership course this year, and another 16 will enter the program on February 3, 2023. The aim is to give new supervisors the foundational skills to build and manage teams that thrive.
“We want to provide our future leaders with tools to help them be successful in coaching and mentoring our teams to success,” Casey Jackson, Operations Manager, said. “Success being the attainment of our company’s mission and vision.”
Bright Wood’s participants met on Fridays from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. in the Madras Education Center. Each session covered a skill set that all great leaders have:
“I learned a lot of new details on how to talk with people, determine how they like to be treated, handle difficult situations, and what is legal to do and say in the work environment,” Gustavo Rico, Madras former Plant 8 Manager, said.
“I’m a different manager now,” Jeff Doty, Redmond Lamination Plant Manager, said. “I am a dominant person, and this class showed me how to deal with that. People listen better if you talk with them, not at them. Know your employees; everyone learns at a different pace. People will respect you for holding them accountable if you treat everyone the same.”
“I enjoyed the class,” James Clay, Madras Plant 7 Swing Supervisor, said. “The exercises were great. We heard some of the struggles other managers go through and how they’ve dealt with them. The instructor Mike [Cieri], had a great attitude and presented the material in a manner we understood. Plus, the homework wasn’t too bad.”
“I have seen several of these classes over the years, and I was impressed with our individuals’ engagement in the activities and what appeared to me to be a genuine desire to learn the leadership tools being taught,” Casey said. “We have a lot of great people here at Bright Wood who are committed to improving the company and want to do what they can to be a larger part of our success.”
Bright Wood has also partnered with COCC to teach Excel and Word classes to associates who use these programs daily for work. Let your supervisor know if you would benefit from Excel or Word training. The classes are taught at COCC.
