Future Tolling Leaders Build Skills, Professional Networks at IBTTA Leadership Academy

It is a special week in Washington, D.C., with 36 participants gathered for IBTTA’s 2016 Leadership Academy. Two recent Academy alumni, Lauren Hakos of the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission and Lisa Telles of the Transportation Corridor Agencies, will be co-delivering a session on marketing and communications strategy. Below, they share their Leadership Academy takeaways and lessons learned.

What motivated you attend the Leadership Academy?

LH: Any opportunity to gather with industry leaders and peers is time well spent. And the curriculum developed as part of this program is phenomenal. It gives attendees a full view of the tolling industry, delivered by many industry professionals from a variety of viewpoints. It’s a great environment to learn more about the tolling industry and your role within your agency. And it gives you a new perspective on your own personal leadership style.

LT: You get to the point in your career where your calendar is filled with meetings and deadlines, and your primary focus becomes what has to be done today, this week, this month. The Leadership Academy was a really wonderful opportunity to take a week and think about the big picture. You don’t often get to do that in day-to-day life, and I attended the Academy at a time in my life when I really had a lot of things I needed to think big picture about. This was an opportunity to step back and in the process learn some new things, hone my leadership skills, and challenge myself.

What are your strongest memories from the time you spent at the Academy?

LT: I appreciated the broad range of ages among our participants. There were some very seasoned professionals. And then there were people in their early 30s who’d been identified by their organizations as future leaders. The more experienced people got to learn how important it is to mentor and support younger people to be a part of the decision-making process and help groom them for senior positions.

LH: We had some wonderful and candid discussions in the breakout sessions. I really enjoyed having an opportunity to hear from several executive directors, too. They were very open with sharing stories and answering questions from our group. The highlight of the Academy for me was meeting new people from other agencies, learning more about what they do, and building some strong friendships over the course of the week.

How does the Leadership Academy prepare participants for the opportunities and changes that are reshaping tolling?

LH: With so many nuances in tolling, it was interesting to understand a little more about the various agencies and the challenges they face. It’s important to have a network of contacts to reach out to when you’re tackling an issue or situation in your own organization. Even if our agencies are structured differently, there are common threads, and the Leadership Academy gave me a whole new set of resources to channel when needed.

What do tolling and transportation agencies get back from their investment in the Academy, and in the staff members who attend?

LH: The Leadership Academy is an intensive opportunity to develop new skills and work side by side with professionals from other specialty areas within a tolling agency or organization. You get to see how all our roles are intertwined. Anyone who is interested in learning and comes into the experience with an open mind will take away a better ability to do their job and lead within their organization.

You can click here for a list of Leadership Academy alumni, and bookmark the page to learn more about the 2017 program.