JCCC students are known for being high achieving and exceeding expectations. At the recent Global Collegiate Leadership Competition (CLC), team JCCC faced off against 36 colleges and universities and won first place – proving that Cavaliers continuously strive for greatness in and out of the classroom.
What is the Collegiate Leadership Competition?
The CLC is a full curriculum program that helps participants develop knowledge, build skills and learn with other like-minded teammates who are passionate about leadership. The program uses 10 leadership
principles that students memorize and implement in an activity to test their leadership-style.
“The competition is about self-awareness, emotional intelligence, leadership and engagement styles,” said Cassie Jordan, team coach and Manager of Student Activities.
This is JCCC’s third year competing in the CLC alongside other schools from across the U.S. and Canada. The JCCC Leadership Institute team was one of only two community colleges competing this year.
How the JCCC team set themselves apart
The JCCC team began practicing in February as Carson Couch, JCCC’s first-ever student-coach, helped prepare them for competition.
“Each week I coached a lesson from the CLC competition curriculum,” he said. “In the beginning, I would create the lessons with Cassie. By the end, I was able to interpret and coach the material on my own.”
Focusing on effective communication and listening skills, the team had to quickly get to know each other since most were strangers at the first meeting. Forming close bonds helped strengthen the team’s ability to work together and excel in the competition. In fact, JCCC was the only team to receive full points on the first activity and the only team to break 500 points at the event.
“Even when times were stressful, team members chose to lift each other up and go above and beyond,” said Jordan. “They fought hard to not disengage from the activity and sought to find the learning in every situation.”
Lifelong benefits of the leadership program
The leadership skills developed by each student will benefit them at JCCC at beyond. Couch said that this experience has helped him build stronger bonds with co-workers and navigate difficult situations.
Through the program curriculum, students also explore ideas behind creative problem solving, how to influence others, navigate difficult conversations, conflict resolution, ethical decision making, stressors and effective teamwork.
Endless ways to get involved at JCCC
With programs like the Collegiate Leadership Competition, JCCC students can prepare for the professional world and strengthen their personal skills while also having fun and meeting new people. Learn more about student life at JCCC.
