Lakewood Connects establishes strategies and programs for supporting Faith, Government, Education and Business leaders because strong cities require strong leaders! Philosophies influencing our Lakewood Connects leadership health support efforts include: 

• The health of a community depends on the health of its leaders! 
• Mental, physical, social and spiritual health is learned, grown and nurtured through relationship. 
• You don’t become a healthier leader by reading a book! Leadership health comes from being mentored and challenged by healthy leaders! 

Relationship building is a key to what Lakewood Connects is all about, so it’s no surprise that a significant portion of each week is invested in this core effort. We encourage everyone to grow their relationship pool, because the person you don’t know right now may lead you to transformational insight, conviction or understanding!  Each week, Lakewood Connects executive director Reg Cox meets with someone he doesn’t know! Our community has experienced numerous strategic breakthroughs across the past eighteen years; nearly every one of them has begun at a coffee shop across from an unfamiliar face.

This year, a new opportunity for positive influence was facilitated by a new relationship! A key community and business leader in Lakewood is LaDawn Sperling.  Reg met her for coffee a couple of times in 2022, and at one meeting, LaDawn proposed her idea of a business leaders Bible Study. She envisioned an experience where she would feel comfortable learning, sharing and growing with others. 

The pandemic has broken down connections between us all, and LaDawn was interested in finding new relationships, knowledge and leadership health through this study. She resonated with the idea that we learn and grow best when we are sharpened by the thoughts, reflections and insight of other leaders! 

This past spring, Reg led the study at the Union Business Centre where local partner; Clarity Wealth Group Thrivent, offices. Thrivent has supported several community service programs; when leaders like this converge, transformational energy abounds! 

Leadership requires thriving through challenge. The eight week Bible study series studied the leadership challenges Moses faced. Topics such as the “danger of pride and impulsiveness”, the “strengths and weaknesses of humility”, the “crucible of staying the course through criticism”, “leaders advance through setbacks and struggles” and “convictions and non-negotiable principles” were processed by the group. Another philosophy held by Lakewood Connects is that leadership health is a “team sport.” This means that you become a healthy leader by surrounding yourself and learning from other leaders! 

Challenge: If you’re a leader, who can you connect to in order to improve your leadership strengths? What you learn from another leader is often unattainable from a book or podcast! Healthy leadership is usually built through establishing and nurturing relationship connections with healthy leaders! 

Lakewood Connects is invested in leadership development because we believe a strong community is forged from leader to leader relationships and connections! A healthy community is born out of the health of its leaders! You can’t lead and influence positive change in a community until you lead and influence positive growth in that community’s leaders! Thank you for investing in leaders with us.