Ebonie Jackson, Controller, Backyard Products, LLC

BLI has been offering Leadership Academies around the country for years. One of the greatest rewards for our team is hearing the stories of graduates from years ago and celebrating their successes.

In 2009, Ebonie Jackson, CPA, attended a BLI Leadership Academy, and her career and confidence accelerated.

We use the proprietary i2a: Insights to Action process in the Leadership Academy, and we teach participants how to apply the i2a process at their jobs with their teams.

And that is exactly what Ebonie did after graduating from the Academy. In her role as Controller at a large building material company, Ebonie managed the warehouse team. Ebonie didn’t just align the vision of her department. She applied i2a in the strategic planning for the whole plant. Results ensued.

“The Leadership Academy taught me how to drive action – action that people are accountable for,” is how Ebonie reflected on her experience with Leadership Academy.

Much of this new ability came as a result of the tactical tools and techniques for collaboration and leadership the Leadership Academy teaches. Each of these techniques takes on new, powerful dimensions when leaders like Ebonie apply their own personality and unique skills to their execution.

Now a Controller at a large company with national product distribution, Ebonie says she continues to use skills she learned at the Leadership Academy. “I’ve always had good mentors, but Leadership Academy gave me more. It helped me understand how to get to the next position. I learned how to build information from others, synthesize it, and communicate in a way people can understand. … A lot of what I’ve learned has become organic to me now.” When we hear that the training we offer at Leadership Academy has become fully embedded in how someone leads, we are spurred on to keep going in our work.