Hancock Lumber welcomed 45 members of the Maine Development Foundation’s Leadership Maine Flagstaff class to their Casco Campus this October. Leaders from across Maine attending the program—hailing from multiple industries + companies—toured the Casco Mill and enjoyed a lunch combined with a Q+A session on leadership with Kevin Hancock (a Leadership Maine graduate himself). Leadership Maine is a powerful, nine-month, experiential cohort that takes a leader beyond their day-to-day experience and expands their capacity to shape our state’s future.
Participants first explored our Casco Sawmill with General Manager Mike Shane and additional guides. During this comprehensive tour, the group listened to several employees discuss the technological advancements that have been integrated into the mill over the years, as well as see first-hand the journey of taking logs and processing them into our world-class Eastern White Pine boards. Our Casco Mill produces and supplies eastern white pine products to our eleven lumberyards in Maine and New Hampshire.
Following the mill tour, the Flagstaff class journeyed across the street to the Home Office where the group joined Kevin Hancock, Managing Owner/Chairman of Hancock Lumber. Kevin gave a short presentation on the current state of the global workforce and how shared leadership helps foster employee engagement, combating modern-day workforce and organizational challenges—ultimately leading to record-producing business performance and results.
“Hancock Lumber always provides a great tour stop for MDF’s Leadership Maine classes—we’ve been fortunate enough to make this a stop many times over the years. There is so much to see and learn about mill operations. This year the tour was led by Hancock leaders and organized by Marketing Manager, Lyndsay Cullinan. Each guide was passionate about their work and about the human-centered culture Hancock Lumber prioritizes. Topping off the tour, Kevin Hancock shared his leadership short story and focus on employees. It begins with listening and ends with both a high-quality work experience for the employee and product for the customer. Many thanks to the Hancock team and to Kevin for encouraging us to turn old models upside down.”
– Jan Kearce, MDF
Leadership Maine has an impressive alumni list including our own Kevin Hancock (2004 Class) and CMO Erin Plummer (2015 Class).
More about Leadership Maine: The Leadership Maine curriculum is designed for leaders from all sectors and all regions of Maine to learn individually and as a cohort. Participants travel together to different regions of the state to learn from each other and from host businesses/communities in real-time through on-the-ground sessions. In the process, they also hone relationship, team building and collaboration skills. Each Leadership Maine class is given real-life challenges to address. Participants work in teams to address the assigned issue, connect with key stakeholders, organizations and groups, and develop a solution-oriented path with the goal of improving the economy. To learn more, visit MDF’s Leadership Maine web page: Click here.
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