When Vincent Cambrea was named Director of the Florida School of Massage in 2014, he had already been an instructor there for 12 years and had opened his own gym. However, tasked with taking the school to a level of success that it hadn’t experienced before, he quickly realized that this was an entirely new situation.
“I’d never played that leadership role in this company, and I realized that I didn’t know much about how it operated,” Cambrea said. “I had great excitement, but I didn’t really know what I was getting into until I was here.”
Several months later, Cambrea learned about and joined the inaugural 2016 class of Lead North Central Florida (LeadNCF) – a one-year business leadership training program for new executives or those being groomed for such positions. Offered by James Moore & Company and Velocity Advisory Group, LeadNCF teaches participants the leadership, financial, strategic and risk management skills needed to manage their organizations.
Katie Davis, a CPA with James Moore, helped develop LeadNCF after seeing the need for local, business-oriented leadership training. “Many future or new executives have significant knowledge of their trade or industry, but they haven’t been exposed to all aspects involved in running a business,” said Davis, who facilitates the sessions along with Dave Fechtman, CEO of Velocity, and others from both firms. “Our program gives them insight not only on working in their business, but on their business as well.”
LeadNCF participants possess varying levels of experience representing a wide range of industries and company sizes. Instructors offer a cross-section of perspectives to the class, with well-rounded content that is relevant to all participants. The class meets six times throughout the year to learn about leadership, process excellence, finance, value, risk management and strategy, with each session building upon the prior one to tie the content together.
Cambrea credits LeadNCF with easing his transition to company leader. “Being part of this class was a game changer for me,” he said. “It provided the much-needed tools, contacts and resources to more effectively manage and understand the effect my decisions have on the health of my company and my employees. The classes were engaging, informative and, most importantly, practical.”
Davis is excited about the 2017 class and some new features of the program, including opportunities for participants to collaborate more. “We loved our inaugural year and are very appreciative of that first class and the feedback they provided,” said Davis. “We can see that 2017 is going to be another great year.”
