Nexus: A Proven Experience in Leadership

The need to encourage and equip the next generation of community leaders in Memphis is obvious to those who know our city best. To meet this demand, our young leaders need a place where they can learn proven leadership skills in a mutually challenging environment from top-flight coaches and mentors. Such a place is now available in Memphis. It is called NEXUS: A Proven Experience in Leadership.

Second Presbyterian Church and MPACT Memphis jointly developed NEXUS in 2003 as a vehicle for the development and improvement of leadership skills, as well as a means for participants to make valuable connections with leaders in the Memphis community. Relationship is the key component of the NEXUS experience. NEXUS is unique in that it seeks to duplicate the experienced leader and develop the young, emerging leader through mentorship and relationship.

“We are looking for protégés who are emerging leaders who have not emerged in their organization. We are looking for mentors who are making a difference in Memphis and we would like to replicate their leadership skills,” says Pastor Sandy Willson.

This initiative creates a forum for interaction across religious, racial, and gender lines based on the common interests of leadership development and community improvement. NEXUS was extraordinarily successful in accomplishing these goals in its inaugural year as confirmed by the many positive comments and countless requests for participation from both mentors and protégés.

Now preparing for its fourth year, NEXUS has broadened from its initial year that exposed more than 90 mentors and protégés to proven leadership skills through a 10-month curriculum led by Bobb Biehl, President of the MasterPlanning Group in Orlando and author of several books on the subject.

Presently eight sessions led by speakers from within the community, along with a detailed curriculum, bring the experience and expertise of local leaders to the podium along with Bobb Biehl who leads two sessions. Each month mentors and protégés attend a dinner/teaching session together on a series of leadership topics as well as commit to one-on-one monthly meetings. The University of Memphis accredits the program and scholarships are available through the Wilson Foundation Scholarship Fund.

Keys to NEXUS:

  • A mentor-driven program, whereby the mentors commit to participate in the monthly sessions, to be trained in leadership alongside their protégé and to meet with their protégé once per month informally outside of the monthly sessions, arranged at the convenience of both.
  • Protégé recruitment occurs through pre-existing mentor relationships or through MPACT Memphis. Both mentor and protégé attend an opening retreat and are required to attend at least seven of the nine monthly sessions.
  • Attend the opening retreat which focuses on "Your Leadership Strengths." The opening retreat is said to be a highlight of the program and gives participants an opportunity to meet and connect.
  • Nine monthly interactive teaching sessions led by several exceptional leaders from within the Memphis community and national executive mentor Bobb Biehl, founder of Masterplanning International.
  • A reasonable cost, subsidized by corporate sponsors and private donations. The program fee is $500 for mentors and protégés, and includes an opening retreat, curriculum materials and monthly dinner sessions. Scholarships are available through the Wilson Foundation Scholarship Fund.
  • A proven curriculum, accredited through the University of Memphis and Christian Brothers University, covers the key elements every leader must master: Asking, Building, Communicating, Dreaming, Ethical Decision Making, Focusing, Funding, Growing, Leading Through Change, Mentoring, Motivating and Planning.