Introducing 5-STAR College

by Sean Kelly

Recently, I had the great good fortune to meet with the new class of 5-STAR College. If you’re new to the program, as I am, 5-STAR College trains aspiring leaders from literally every corner of our organization. The program highlights the importance of connection, innovation, collaboration and stepping outside of one’s comfort zone in the interest of personal growth, demonstrating what’s possible for each of us AND the larger Front Porch community. It’s one of the gifts and tools we have as an organization to build leadership and to support the culture we hope to create at Front Porch.

We haven’t had a 5-STAR College program since the pandemic, and it was terrific to see people gather again to learn from one another and share their experiences. Just shy of 100 Front Porch team members recently completed their Train the Trainer workshops held throughout California: in the Los Angeles region, San Diego and the Bay Area. Now they’re getting ready to take what they learned back to their communities.

In early February, the “STARs” closest to LA spent a couple of days in our offices in Glendale, and I was able to catch up with them and even spent some time “in the classroom” where I was able to hear their reflections on the previous couple of days.

These STARs were and are an inspiration. In listening in, I was reminded that the most critical elements of leadership can often go unnoticed. Leadership isn’t about being in charge, or having the most experience. It’s about listening, being open to something new, being respectful of everyone, being curious, being compassionate, being humble while at the same time confident, being brave. I saw all of these attributes alive in the folks I was lucky to meet.

One of the awesome things about this is seeing our people and our communities and programs invest a couple of days in order to build our culture and our leadership. Ultimately, everyone in the Front Porch system will participate in Remix and Imagine workshops taught by their community’s STAR team. This is important in so many ways, but especially since it creates a common experience for all.

These folks in 5-STAR College are our current and future managers and directors, and our community at Front Porch is growing and growing stronger because of them. I’m so proud to be part of an organization that makes the effort to invest in its great people.