(1) Increasing the effectiveness of 4A's current leaders, and (2) developing future 4A leaders to ensure the continued success of this organization -- these are what National President Murthy Vangala had in mind late last year when he asked Steve Cha, President of the L.A. chapter, and Li Chung (Southern New Jersey Chapter) to plan the leadership training workshop. After a lot of hard work, it all came together in Orlando this past May when the National Executive Board and committee chairs gathered for three days, combining workshop sessions with the Spring quarterly, National Council face-to-face meeting. Li and Steve had tapped TAMCO, Training & Management Consultants, Inc., for a two and a half day workshop which emphasized issues faced by volunteer organizations. Host Jennifer Rose, President of the Orlando chapter, arranged for the conference facilities and lodging. And with Orlando being home to Disney World, Epcot®, and a few other attractions, Jennifer made sure team building opportunities continued outside of the classroom.

The class was taught by Dick Cummins, who is also a Texas A&M University professor and director of its leadership program. Dick provided valuable insight into what it takes to be an effective leader. He encouraged the class to use 4A issues as context for examining the different facets of leadership. With that, the exercises quickly became real problem solving sessions with subteams employing just-acquired techniques for the analysis and resolution of pressing 4A problems. The Membership committee chaired by Wendell Peng took charge of collecting the output, most of which dealt with how to stimulate and manage 4A growth.