Leadership Lessons of Michael Lewis, Sr. V.P Progress Energy, Florida

How often do two young urban leaders get a private lunch with a high ranking corporate executive? It is rare. Today Shawn Collins and Tylore Mays two members of the 2010 Leadership Council the governing body of the Leadership Academy did. They traveled to St. Petersburg to meet with Mr. Michael A. Lewis, Senior Vice President of Progress Energy to glean wisdom to prepare for their purpose and futures careers.

They were initially introduced to Mr. Lewis at the American Association of Blacks in Energy’s 2009 Youth Summit in Orlando organized by Progress Energy’s Melvin Philpot, Mikle Gordon and Malcolm Barnes. This opened the door for these young men to connect further Mr. Lewis one of Florida’s key energy executives.

Sitting with the one-time youngest district manager at the age of 27 and the second in command for Progress Energy in Florida was a rare treat for Shawn 17 and Tylore 16. Both agreed that their experience was transformational and will mark the rest of their lives as men and leaders.

Shawn: Wow, this experience was simply incredible! I had the opportunity to sit down and have a life changing conversation with Michael Lewis, Senior Vice- President of Progress Energy. Most people do not get an opportunity like this. Mr. Lewis spoke to my life in a way that helped confirm my future/purpose and my journey in achieving it. He shared the secrets and fundamentals behind integrity and leadership. I am looking forward to more experiences like this one and will use what I have learned to help better others in the future.

Tylore: Integrity and the self worth to challenge yourself to follow. Determination is the focus you put forth for your goal. Preparedness is the ability to be ready two steps beforehand. I learned these lessons in the meeting with Mr. Lewis. This experience was a blessing. It reiterated and taught me aspects of the importance of the process of becoming a successful leader.

The Executive Board and leadership at Frontline Outreach (See how kids become leaders at Frontline ) are extremely grateful to Mr. Lewis and Progress Energy for assisting in the developing of the next generation of urban leaders at Frontline Outreach. The Leadership Academy is a premier initiative in preparing young people in high school for leadership, service, and workplace readiness through job shadowing. See where the Academy’s student leaders job shadowed in the last year: Leadership Academy Job Shadowing .

To learn more, get involved, or give go http://www.fl-.o.org/ , email giving@fl-o.org or call (407) 293-3000 extension 122.

2010 Leadership Summit @ FLO

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-juneteenth-youth-leadership-20100617,0,6306580.story

Thank you to BOA, Mechanical Services, Florida Hospital, FAMU Law, Chatlos Foundation, State Farm, Urban Trust Bank, OUC, Orlando Food Partners for their support.

Thank-a-Thon Survey

Thank You! The Frontline team is indebted to you and your family for enabling us to continue to equip the next generation of urban leaders starting at preschool. In 2009 over 500 young people were served at Frontline Outreach with 80% of the students in Read and Succeed improving their reading by one grade level and 75% of the high school students in the Leadership Academy successfully completing job shadowing at places like Barton Marlow Construction and Florida Hospital.

This is strong evidence that your investments are crucial to young leaders like Marjorie Felix, a leadership alumnus, who received a full scholarship via Frontline and is graduating from the University of South Florida in May. She and many others from urban Orlando depend on you to help them develop their God given purpose and become leaders.

Please click here to help us learn how we can better serve you!

Sharon Bobik, A Great Soul

David Aiken in his book Great Souls noted Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Billy Graham and a few others as the true “Great Souls of the 20th century”. Sharon Bobik was one of Orlando's great souls. Though she endured major surgery every year of her 39 year marriage, she didn't complain. Instead, she exhibited a contagious enthusiasm for life. She kept fighting through rheumatoid arthritis. Though her body was bent her spirit never bowed.

Sharon first approached me after the Christmas Eve Service at First Baptist Orlando. She said that God had laid it on her heart to serve young people at Frontline. She followed up with me in the beginning of the year and soon began tutoring and administering the tests for young people and parents without high school diplomas. Sharon was a beacon of light as she administered the GED testing at Frontline Outreach from 2000 to 2005.

In her five years of service, Sharon shared God's love verbally and through example. She became more than a volunteer; she became a member of the Frontline team. Even as her body began to fail and her days of coming into Frontline ended, her support for our children remained. Sharon's indomitable will kept her engaged as a donor, and a constant encourager via email and through prayer. Her commitment was unwavering.

Then as quickly as she entered my life, she left January 2010. The legacy she left for me and the Frontline team is indelible. First, she taught us how to serve beyond our excuses and infirmities. Second, we learned that when passion and commitment are combined, the world can be changed. Finally, for all volunteers she showed that when you are called by God to serve your call is just as important as the people on the paid team.

Sharon embodies 2 Corinthians 3:5 when paraphrased states: we are not qualified to do anything, our qualification comes from God. Sharon lived, moved, and operated in God’s strength. This drew people to her and inspired them to know what motivated her to come in the inner city and serve young people that others had long forgotten.

In a world filled with cliches and image conscious people, Sharon was a real person who faced adversity and served as an inspiration through her service. The poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley is reminder of her inner strength.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Sharon Bobik, one of Orlando’s Great Souls and friend of urban children at Frontline Outreach, will always be remembered and loved.


To learn more about serving and giving at Frontline email volunteering@fl-o.org, visit the Frontline website click Partner with Us, or call (407) 293-3000. We need you and all our friends to help to equip the next generation of leaders and cover the great opportunities of 2010.

Read & Succeed

Our Reading Mentoring program, Read & Succeed, is off to a great start in 2010. We had 68 students, Kindergarten - 9th grade this Tuesday!

Special thank you to all of our Reading Mentors. Because of their generous gift of time and support we are able to equip our students to become world-class leaders of tomorrow.

Here is what some of our mentors are saying about their time at Read & Succeed:
The best part about volunteering at Frontline is knowing that the children are not only growing in knowledge but they are also growing into tomorrow's servant leaders. It's rewarding to see them have that"ah ha!" moment during the reading, but it's also rewarding to see them helping one another, taking the initiative to get things done,and gaining the confidence to lead by example. - Stephanie Bush, Reading Mentor since 2008.

If you would like to become a Reading Mentor, or to learn more about how to get involved at Frontline Outreach, please email ServantLeadership@FrontlineOutreach.org or call 407.293.3000 x127.

Thank you!

A big thank you to Pfizer for supporting our Afterschool students. Because of sponsors and volunteers like Pfizer, we are able to prepare tomorrow's leaders with a vision for success and service!

DISCOVER YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS BY SERVING

Devotion below is from the Purpose Driven Connection Daily Hope by Rick Warren.

Since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be. Romans 12:5 (Msg)

The best way to discover your spiritual gifts and abilities is to experiment with different areas of service.

For instance, when I was younger, I could have taken a hundred tests to determine my gifts and abilities; yet, they would have never told me was gifted at teaching. It was only after I began accepting opportunities to speak that I saw the results, received confirmation from others, and realized, "God has gifted me to do this!"

Many people get the discovery process backwards. They think, "Once I discover my spiritual gifts, then I'll know my ministry." It actually works the exact opposite way. Until you're actually involved in serving, you're not going to know what you're good at. The thing to do is just start serving and experimenting with different ministries; only then will you discover your gifts.

You have dozens of hidden abilities and gifts you don't know about because you've never tried them out. So I encourage you to try doing some things you've never done before. No matter how old you are, I urge you to never stop experimenting.

Over the years, I have met many people who discovered hidden talents when they were in their seventies and eighties. In fact, I know a woman in her nineties who runs and wins 10K races; she didn't discover that she enjoyed running until she was seventy-eight!

Don't try to figure out your gifts before volunteering to serve somewhere. Just start serving. Try teaching or leading or organizing or playing an instrument or working with teenagers. You will never know what you're good at until you try. When it doesn't work out, call it an "experiment," not a failure, because it will help you eventually learn what you're good at.