WithIt to host one-day Leadership Development Institute

Home Accents Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 15, 2012

GREENSBORO, N.C. — WithIt, an organization for women professionals in the home furnishings industry, will host a one-day Leadership Development Institute focused on leadership training for the industry's future executives on Thursday, May 17, at the Ashford Suites Hotel, High Point.

The educational program will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and registration is $325 per person and is open to male and female executives. To register, visit www.withit.org.

Sara N. King, principal of Optimum Insights Inc., a private firm focused on developing executive leadership skills and increasing executives' performance, will facilitate the WithIt Leadership Development Institute.

With more than 25 years experience in leadership training and development, including 23 years at the Center for Creative Leadership, King has worked with thousands of executives in Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations. Her book "Discovering the Leader in You" highlights the importance of a conscious decision to lead and offers a framework for developing leadership vision, values and skills.

The WithIt Leadership Development Institute will be divided into two parts. The first segment will help mid-level executives learn to maximize influence within their organization by assessing and evaluating style of influence. The second part will provide instruction for leading a department, division or organization through change.

"The goal of the one-day Institute is to produce stronger, more effective executives within the participating companies," said WithIt President Julia Rosien of SocialNorth.com. "But the long-term goal of the Institute concept is to elevate executive-level leadership training within the home furnishings industry and to begin to foster a community of inspired executive leaders who have the ability to take their companies to new heights."