Many years ago, at the ripe old age of 24, I was given my first titled leadership position. I was quite proud and excited to finally “lead” a team, and I didn’t waste any time getting started. I spent much of my first few weeks in my new position talking about what was wrong with the organization and how I was going to change it. I demanded that my teammates either join me or get off the bus altogether.

Well, you can imagine how well my leadership style worked. Many teammates became resistant. Some quickly left the organization. But most of them simply checked out and quit producing at their previous higher-preforming levels. I began to despise my teammates and my leadership position. Then a mentor of mine handed me John Maxwell’s book, “Developing the Leader Within You.”

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Partnership Gwinnett – the community and economic development initiative led by the Gwinnett Chamber and over 160 public and private investors – held its fourth annual summit, marking the beginning of the next phase of in economic development– Partnership Gwinnett 2.0. With the onset of a new beginning for this award-winning initiative, Keynote Speaker Mark Vitner, managing director and senior economist at Wells Fargo, forecasted a strong future for Gwinnett. This optimistic outlook is not by chance, as just in the past year alone Partnership Gwinnett brought in over 3,150 new jobs to the county from nearly 100  company expansions. Reporting on how Partnership Gwinnett achieved such success, the event highlighted the four goal areas of the initiative including job growth and wealth creation, education and workforce development, quality of life enhancement, and marketing and outreach. Here are a few highlights from the 2010-2011 reporting year:

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