#2BFayetteville

Ryan Sheets Director of the Business Communication Lab at the Sam M. Walton College of Business Prior to Ryan's current position, he worked at the University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business after completing grad school at the University of Illinois. Prior to academia, he worked in the oil and gas industry for American Steel Pipe in Birmingham, AL. Much of his current role is making sure that students enter the workforce with stronger communication skills – whether that be through working with classes, creating curriculum and workshops, or making sure tutoring and other resources are available for students. As the editor-in-chief of Walton Insights and the publisher of their book imprint, Epic Books, Ryan also works to make sure the college is not only creating business knowledge through research but is disseminating it to stakeholders and interested parties in the state and region. " " Experience with Leadership Fayetteville I participated in the program because sev- eral colleagues at Walton recommended I do so and spoke highly in the program. I also was rel- atively new to Fayetteville and wanted to learn more about the city, what its needs were, vol- unteer opportunities, and so forth. While living in Iowa, I participated in the Leadership Iowa program and found it to be a very useful and enriching experience. Given that experience, I had high hopes for the Leadership Fayetteville program and was not disappointed at all! Project I recall the feeling of seeing that giving a little bit of your resources does so much more because it's multiplied by twenty or thirtyfold. Seeing the effect a few dozen generous people can have never ceases to surprise me! Benefits and Connections The main thing the program did was to show me the investment so many people have in this community. It's also been excellent becoming connected to many more profession- als in the area. These connections are useful because it's so easy for industry to live in its world and for the university to live in its. These connections productively blur those lines a bit and help me when I'm teaching or creating curriculum or mentoring students. It made me aware of the needs in the com- munity, how I can meet them, and which ones aligned with my interests/skills/vision for what I want the community to become or vision for what I think the community should be. I became more involved with the Single Parent Scholarship Fund as well as did a bit of one-off volunteering with other community groups. The SPSFNWA has been an excellent venue for me to use my professional training and skills to help single-parent students de- velop stronger communication skills and even more career ready. One member of my cohort, Josh Moody, taught at the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center and I volunteered a few times there with literacy efforts. Favorite program aspect My favorite aspect of the program was meeting a variety of people in the area who were equally committed to effecting a change in the community or to furthering the many excellent initiatives going on in the community. Recommendation I would, obviously, say "do it, and do it now." I think I have sold Leadership Fayetteville short by referring to it as an issues awareness program. Yes, effective leadership programs help you become more aware of the issues and challenges facing your community. But they also do much more than that; like any leadership program, they're an excellent way to help you shape your vision for the commu- nity you live in – they help you ask important questions: What do you want this community to be? What's would a more inclusive, dynamic, sustainable community look like? What's your vision for a community that better meets the needs for all its stakeholders? It's not just about issues awareness; it's about visualizing what you want your community to become and then finding ways to connect with or create initia- tives so you can bring that vision to life. Best things about Fayetteville It's a growing, changing place with which brings in a lot of dynamism and opportunities for people; at the same time, managing these changes smartly to ensure that many of our friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens aren't left behind. Even though prices are rising, it is still the cheapest place – and perhaps most gorgeous place – I've ever lived. 17 Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce

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