Business speaker Jim Rohn once said “work harder on yourself than you do on your career, and you will succeed” and Stephen Covey explains that the seventh habit of highly effective people is to spend time “sharpening the saw” to improve their effectiveness. Following their sage advice, last week I had the opportunity to participate in the best leadership training program that I have ever seen. Designed by Dr. Charles Nies (a pioneer in higher education leadership studies and Assistant Vice Chancellor of University of California at Merced), Elaine Palladino (President of Footprints Consulting, a management consulting organization that has worked with companies like Dow Chemical, Honda, Eli Lilly, PepsiCo, Kimberly Clark, Abbott Labs and General Mills), Richard Hester (longtime business investor and philanthropist), and a panel of other leadership experts, the Horizons program was an incredible experience. Made possible by generous donations from people like Bill George (former CEO of Medtronic and Harvard Business School professor) Keith Krach (Founder and former CEO of Ariba) and Jon Huntsman, Sr. (founder of Huntsman Chemical and self-made billionaire before founding the Huntsman Cancer Institute and becoming one of the world’s top three philanthropists), there have been almost 1,000 attendees of this program during the past ten years.

In a nutshell, the Horizons experience trains guides to mentor exemplary college students to become values-based leaders in their personal and professional lives. The program gives its participants the tools to better understand their own tendencies and behaviors in order to facilitate more effective communication with others. This cohesive communication leads to consistent action for the betterment of the entire community of stakeholders.

I am feeling completely refreshed and focused after returning from the Utah mountains, where Horizons is held. I’d encourage anybody to replace that next trade show or industry event with a personal development experience instead. Find a program that forces you out of the comfort zone of your chair. Find a program that makes you go out on a limb to stretch yourself. You can only work so hard at your job…at some point you have to take time to sharpen the saw to get better.