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Breakout Session 1: Informal Leaders - The Courage to Lead Without Titles
by Student Leadership Programs (UNG)
Back to Student Conference on Leadership
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Details
On a managerial level, recognizing who the informal leaders are among the ranks can help you tremendously. A skilled manager can use informal leaders to help solve disputes between employees, boost morale within the organization, increase work efficiency, and more. This break out session will help student attendees identify how to use informal leaders that they manage to increase their organization's efficiency.
If we can learn how to be a strong informal leader, as well as how to use the informal leaders underneath us, we will see incredible positive results in the function of our organizations. It is important to understand that leadership does not require a title, and a title does not make someone a leader. This break out session will address the ins and outs of informal leadership and how to leverage it to better yourself and your organization.
Speakers
Michael Ricks
Michael Ricks is a University of North Georgia criminal justice alumnus (Class of 2016). During his time at UNG, Ricks held leadership positions in The Corps of Cadets and served as the Vice President of The Men’s Rugby Club. Outside of UNG, Ricks served in the Army Reserve, where he spent multiple years as a squad leader. Upon graduating from UNG, Ricks began a career at Gwinnett County Police Department and earned a master’s degree in emergency management and homeland security from Arizona State University. Ricks quickly earned a position on The Gwinnett County Police Gang Unit. During his time on The Gang Unit, Ricks has established himself as a passionate and driven investigator. With Ricks at the forefront, The GCPD Gang Unit prosecuted almost 20% of all gang act violations in the State of Georgia in 2021. Ricks’ expertise and leadership in the field have led to him speaking at multiple professional conferences, testifying as an expert witness in court on multiple occasions, earning a position on the FBI Atlanta Safe Streets Gang Task Force, and developing gang training for Gwinnett County Police and other agencies across the state. While Ricks continues to lead his career at GCPD, he teaches criminal justice courses part time at Kennesaw State University and Arizona State University. Ricks has a beautiful wife, Cynthia, and an adorable daughter, Katherine.