About Ed Brenegar (Print)

ED BRENEGAR - COMMUNITY OF LEADERSHIP Programs

Dr. Ed Brenegar
Speaker, Educator, Consultant - Community of Leadership

Consultation Projects
Compelling Visions Visioning Projects

Presentation/ Workshop Topics
If Aristotle Were Mayor: The New Soul of Governance
Lewis & Clark for 21st Century Leaders

Retreat Topics
Leadership Team Planning Retreats: Visioning, Networking and Collaborative Leadership

BIOGRAPHIC SKETCH

As a graduate of the American Studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ed Brenegar learned to identify the broad themes and connections that affect the lives of people. He received a ministerial degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts and did his doctoral work in leadership and ethics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Ed's academic background laid the foundation for a professional life of service through community organizations, in higher education institutions, and with congregations as an ordained Presbyterian minister. As an adjunct professor in leadership at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Ed taught his students that effective leadership is a product of personal initiative, clarity of vision and the quality of our relationships. As a former local opinion-editorial columnist for the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times, Ed's fresh, inspiring, and constructive voice helped to bring hope to divisive economic, social and political issues affecting people.

Ed Brenegar directs the Compelling Visions Visioning Processes through his leadership consulting firm, Community of Leadership, Inc. Ed focuses on enabling organizations to expand their leadership base through programs of leadership initiative and visionary planning. As a Fellow of the Morris Institute for Human Values, he brings an experienced understanding of the practical value that ancient wisdom has for individuals and their organizations.

Ed also conducts leadership workshops and gives talks that inspire leadership initiative in organizations and communities. His If Aristotle Were Mayor presentation/workshop is designed primarily for local government and community organizations. Participants gain new insight and confidence to develop collaborative relationships for meeting the challenges facing communities today. Ed's Lewis & Clark for 21st Century Leaders emerged from his research on these great American leaders for a family vacation journey along the Lewis & Clark trail. The presentation focuses on the reasons they were successful and how leaders today can practice the same disciplines for success.

THE EXPERTISE I BRING TO MY WORK WITH CLIENTS

I care about the organizations I serve. I want them to be successful. It is how I seek to strengthen my own community. The following describes some of the skills and values I bring to my work with clients.

Visualizing the Impact of an Organization
Helping groups visualize their values and principles in concrete, compelling ways is a key focus of my service to organizations.

Imagine your mission statement produced as a music video. What would be happening on screen to show the effects of your work? What music would accompany it? What are you celebrating?

This method can involve hundreds of people or just a few in creating a shared vision. This builds enthusiasm and fresh commitment for new endeavors. It means that a plan becomes a compelling vision from the day we begin. Here is where leaders can expand their Circle of Influence to involve increasingly more people in the process of crafting a vision that celebrates the future.

Learning to Think Strategically
As important as expanding the leadership base of an organization is, assisting leaders to develop their analytical skills in order to think strategically about the precise nature of their work and measures of long term effectiveness is a special part of the work I do.

To be the senior leader of an organization can be the loneliest position in the organization. It helps to have someone who understands, sees the big picture, can ask hard questions and clarify ones thoughts. We all need these kind of people in our lives.

Helping Organizations Build Community
Drawing upon the wealth of ancient wisdom assists leaders in seeing the "big picture." We see that our organizations are like cities, full of diverse people and enterprises. The best organizations are as Aristotle wrote of cities, "partnerships for living well." Whether the organization is a local government, a religious congregation, a community organization or a business, fostering an environment of collaboration between stakeholders is a key ingredient to future success.

Developing the human dimension of a leadership team or an organization is the one great untapped resource yet to be fulfilled. A team is not a collection of tasks or responsibilities. Teams function best when the relationships are healthy, collaborative, have honest, trustful communication and share in the successes and failures.

The processes I lead build a sense of community on boards, leadership teams, and within organizations that may have been lacking or undeveloped. It provides a foundation for action that is exciting because it makes sense and it touches the personal investment that each person makes through their contributions. This is not planning nor organizational development in the conventional sense. It is a fresh approach that recognizes that people support and act in favor of the things they value. These are the kinds of organizations and communities I hope emerge from my work with them.

RECENT CLIENT COMMENTS ON ED'S PROGRAMS

"Most people have never read Plato, Aristotle, or Socrates. They are missing keen insight that has lasted for thousands of years and numerous civilizations. Ed Brenegar's presentation brings these and other concepts to life."
--Lynn Underwood, Senior Plans Examiner, Town of Oro Valley, Arizona

"I've never been a part of an executive retreat where we went from abstract concepts to a clear action plan with such ease and so effectively. It was really exciting."
--John McKey, Key Communications, Lincolnton, North Carolina

"Your discussion of what makes for an experience of community is very insightful and should be useful for all of us working to encourage and frame social interaction in Asheville and Buncombe County."
--Joseph McGuire, Attorney and Community dialogue leader.

"In this age of cynicism, it is wonderful for someone to hold up a high ideal and challenge our community to make it a goal."
--Susan Ellen Jones, Leicester, North Carolina

"On behalf of our EPICS members, I thank you for your excellent motivational and informational presentation on Leadership Initiative. You touched upon the experiences most in the group are going through now with such empathy. I write this as a personal 'thank you,' also, for I found you on this occasion, as well as in the past, to be an inspiring motivator to get me moving!"
--Mary Raine Moore, North Carolina Employment Security Commission.

"Ed organized and facilitated ... our fraternity and sorority system in identifying their issues and developing action strategies that would help them achieve their reformulated goals. Many of our Greek community student leaders had to be cajoled to attend... However, the leaders found the experience to be exceptionally positive and re-invigorating and they left...motivated, hopeful and committed to working together to advance their community.... Unlike many facilitators who become the focus of the program and who present themselves as the solution, Ed made sure the participants realized they had the ability to find and implement the solutions to their issues."
--Jessica A Casey, Director of Student Activities, SUNY, Albany

Dr. Ed Brenegar / Community of Leadership Programs
210 Wood Dale Drive, Hendersonville NC 28791 - 828/693-0720 voice/fax - 828/275-1803 mobile - ed@edbrenegar.com