How City Year leadership helps you grow and develop

City Year is more than a gap year; City Year is a growth year. During my year of service, I grew in many ways, and I am grateful that my team’s leadership, my Team Leader, Sydney, and my Impact Manager, Ebony, were there for me every step of the way, and helped me grow both personally and professionally.

My Impact Manager and Team Leader helped me navigate my year of service.

Every morning during my year of service, I could count on my Team Leader to be there early to welcome the team. This showed me that my Team Leader was dedicated to being there for us day in and day out. My Impact Manager helped me realize my full potential throughout service. One of my favorite quotes about leadership said by John Maxwell is, “The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them.”

This quote embodies the way City Year works with young adults and teaches them skills and gives them experiences to help them work with others.

My Impact Manager and Team Leader helped my teammates be the best version of ourselves. They worked together to understand everyone’s work style and implemented many tools to help us succeed. We had weekly check-ins where we reviewed the week and talked about what I wanted to do after my year of service. Another tool for success that my leadership used was the Performance Management Process (PMP).  In this process, my Impact Manager used goal setting and coaching to help me make steps towards my personal and professional growth.

In my experience, leaders at City Year are driven and motivated to help you improve and make an impact on your service.

Forming professional relationships are integral to develop in any career, and City Year gives young adults an opportunity to flex these muscles and grow as individuals in a team setting. I had the opportunity to be an individual while taking the skills I have, and building on them, to be a leader in my own right.

My leadership team at City Year have been nothing but amazing; the care and focus they show our team is like nothing I have ever experienced in a job. They have made a lasting impression on me and I won’t forget the help, encouragement and kindness they showed me throughout my service year of service.

One thing in this uncertain time is certain: City Year AmeriCorps members will be there, for our students and our schools. We hope you will consider applying to  serve with us for the 2020-2021 school year.

About the author: Johnny Bell proudly serves as a City Year Milwaukee AmeriCorps member on the Rockwell Automation Team at Rogers Street Academy.