PHOTO BY ANDREW POTTER The most recent Leadership Marshalltown session was held at the newly renovated Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC) on Jan. 19.

Ifound myself in a bind this week. Regular readers of the T-R probably know that we feature a local leader of some sort — whether they hail from the political, business or faith community — in each Sunday’s edition of the paper, and they get a chance to share their insights on whatever it is they feel inspired to write about within these pages.

Well, no one could do it this time, and I didn’t want to let this space fall by the wayside. So I decided to take it upon myself to jot down a few words — I do get paid to write, after all — about the leadership lessons I’ve been soaking in at work, but more specifically through the newly revitalized Leadership Marshalltown course offered by the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce and the Kansas Leadership Conference.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m probably not the ideal candidate for this sort of curriculum. I don’t spend my free time reading self-help books or watching seminars on how to become a business genius, and I’ve always had a cynical view of people who do. I’m an artist at heart, but like most artists, I’m keeping my day job in the meantime until my band can finally secure that elusive record deal.

Whether the 25 or so of us who entered the class came into it ready to wholeheartedly embrace the lessons we were about to be taught, with a healthy degree of skepticism or simply indifferent because our bosses made us sign up, I’d like to believe we’ve all taken something away from it and if nothing else, made some new friends in the process through the six sessions we’ve had so far.

Leading people, and by extension, leading in a community, is hard work, as I’m sure most of the folks who fill this space on the other weeks can attest. Others are going to disagree with your decisions — sometimes vehemently so — and chances are you’ll have to navigate through some major periods of transition and turmoil.

But I can honestly say after almost a year and a half here that I love Marshalltown, and with people like the ones I get to spend a day with every month at the forefront, the future is bright. I wasn’t far away before I came onboard, but now I feel that I have a whole new appreciation for this city and this county as someone who both lives and works here.

Everyone has their ideas about what we need to offer to grow, what the new and improved downtown might look like and how Marshalltown can position itself as a premier destination both in Iowa and the Midwest going forward. As a frequent attender of local government meetings, I know there are real disagreements on how we get there.

But I am confident — perhaps naively so — that we will. I’ve found inspiration from any number of sources in government, business, the arts, the food world, you name it. So a thank you to everyone at the Chamber and KLC who have worked overtime to revive and revitalize this class and train the next generation of local leaders and to the individuals who have taken time out of their busy schedules to speak to us and share their experiences.

A special thank you is in order to my former boss, Abigail Pelzer, for encouraging me to apply, and to my current bosses, Terry Christensen and Rhonda James, for supporting me as I continue to grow into the kind of leader and the kind of person I can feel proud of. There’s plenty of work left to do, but we’ll keep doing it, rest assured.

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Robert Maharry is the managing editor

of the Times-Republican.