Speaker urges Murray County businesses to lead with 'emotional intelligence' and 'human connection'

Apr. 20—CHATSWORTH — "This is the time, now, after the (COVID-19) pandemic, to get back to the fundamentals of human connection," Bill Marklein told his audience at the annual meeting of the Murray County Chamber of Commerce earlier this month. "You can't lead or inspire without human connection, and emotional intelligence leads to great culture."

"We need to get back to emotional intelligence — our 'human software' needs to be upgraded — (and) empathy is a core pillar," said Marklein, founder of Employ Humanity, a leadership development and culture design company. "Sympathy is feeling for someone, (while) empathy is feeling with someone, (which) is much more powerful, (and) what we need in every business and every community."

Marklein is less concerned with machines replacing workers than he is about "people becoming more like robots" due to reliance on technology.

Technology is like "an artificial flower — they have a purpose — but humans are real flowers," said Marklein, who focused on emotional intelligence and human connection in his graduate studies in corporate communication at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. "Machines can't lead or inspire, (but) your emotional connection inspires people toward a purpose."

"Being adaptable is a huge skill to have," as is self-awareness, said Marklein, who has authored three books on business leadership. "Know and be your authentic self."

"Self-awareness is the starting block to leadership," he said. "Can you easily articulate your life story? People with self-awareness and high emotional intelligence can."

Leaders also shouldn't be afraid to display authentic feelings, as even "negative emotions are healthy and good, because that is where we get resilience, and we need great resilience in the world," he said. "Negative emotions can illuminate positive emotions, (so) don't put on a mask, (because) being human is really important."

"I focus on skills development," he said. "Skills last a lifetime, and we need to build (them)."

Several individuals and organizations exemplifying the emotional skills Marklein discussed were recognized with awards at the chamber's meeting at The Grandview at Fort Mountain April 7.

Due to the pandemic, the past couple of years have been "challenging for businesses," especially local retailers, who suffered most "when the world came to a stop," said Rachel Ogle, community outreach manager for Hamilton Health Care System and a member of the chamber's new Young Professionals group. "It's great to see survivors, and one of those who worked through it with a vengeance" was J&W Sports Apparel, which took home the Retail of the Year award.

Nick Bartley was named Young Professional of the Year, Foss Floors was named Manufacturer of the Year, Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) was named Innovator of the Year, Hamilton Health Care System received the Chamber Impact of the Year award, Kimberly Jones Country Financial was named Small Business of the Year and Gina Linder took home the Chairman's Award.

"Thank you for giving us a voice as Young Professionals," Bartley said. "You don't know how much it means to us."

Young Professionals is one of nearly a dozen new programs launched in the past year by the chamber, and it now has more than 200 members, said Eli Falls, president and CEO of the chamber. "We aren't afraid to try new programs — if it works, great, and if it doesn't, at least we tried."

Murray Works, another new initiative, launched for the 2021-22 school year at no cost for Murray County Schools students in grades 6-12. The chamber and the county Industrial Development Authority created Murray Works, which provides students a program that seeks to prepare them for internships and/or careers in the county in order to meet local workforce needs and strengthen ties between industry and education.

The chamber is also making a $12,000 investment in eight Murray County students to attend a manufacturing employment academy for 10 days this summer at GNTC, said Falls, also president and CEO of the Industrial Development Authority. These students, who don't plan to attend a post-secondary school following high school, ought to be able to step right into a manufacturing job and help improve a local labor shortage.

"The program's goal is to equip graduates of Murray County high schools with no post-secondary plans with the knowledge and skills to fill entry-level manufacturing jobs that become high-quality, high-performing manufacturing careers," said GNTC Vice President of Economic Development Stephanie Scearce. "While individual companies have more specific trainings for new hires, this overview will expedite the initial process."

Among the chamber's most popular new initiatives is Food Truck Frenzy, with food truck vendors serving lunch in Murray County one Friday each month, Falls said.

"That will continue, with a new addition, (as) Chick-fil-A will have their food truck in Murray County every Tuesday and Friday."

"We're trying hard to live up to our new mission statement (of making) Murray County the best place to live, work, play and do business," Falls said.

The chamber has grown from 242 members a year ago to 350, Murray County was recently ranked the sixth-best county in the state for small business by SmartAsset — which publishes educational tools to help people make personal finance decisions — and "we're trying to make Murray County the envy of Georgia."