A calm North Idaho lake at golden hour, seen from a rocky pine-shaded shoreline, with forested hills across the water.

NEXTGENCoeur d’Alene · Class of 2027

Understand how you lead.
Get to know the people you’re leading with.

Leadership gets personal when you start noticing how you respond, what you need from other people, and how your approach affects the group. This reflection and workshop support that conversation as part of the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber’s NEXTGEN program, with Mike Baker and Jeff Conroy. Participants and mentors both complete it before we meet.

Take the assessment

For NEXTGEN participants and mentors. About 15 to 20 minutes, 60 questions, and your personal report is ready the moment you finish. Have your code from the kickoff email ready, and keep your report handy for the meeting.

After the sessionClass of 2027

Your follow-up packet

Jeff and I are grateful for the time you gave us and for the questions you asked. Several of you told us the same thing afterward. The ideas were useful, and you wanted more worked examples and something practical to carry into a real conversation. This page is our answer. Everything here is free to download, and none of it contains anyone’s results.

Start with the guide and find the case that looks most like something happening in your work, your volunteer role, or your mentorship. Read the two pages, fill in the matching practice sheet, and try one adjustment. Then bring what happened back to your mentorship partner.

Mike Baker and Jeff Conroy smiling together in front of the windows before the NEXTGEN session, Jeff wearing his NEXT GEN name badge. — Jeff and me, a few minutes before we started. Thank you for the questions, the honesty, and the feedback that shaped this packet.

Start here · PDF, 23 pages Leadership Practice Guide The four approaches in practice, then six cases built to feel familiar: a missed commitment, taking over someone else’s work, objections after a meeting, questions under time pressure, an overcommitted teammate, and a mentor relationship that needs adjusting. Each case carries a complication, because the right words do not make every situation easy. It closes with a plan for your next 30 days. Practice tool · Fillable PDF, 8 pages Fillable Practice Sheets Eight sheets that walk you into a conversation and back out of it: what you observed, what you are assuming, what you own, your opening words, and what actually happened afterward. Download the file before you type into it, save a copy, and reopen it to check your entries. Print blank pages if you would rather write by hand. For mentor pairs · PDF, 3 pages Mentor Conversation Guide A short extract from the guide for the 30-day check-in: how to structure a 25-minute conversation, the questions worth making time for, and how to leave with an action and a follow-up. Both people bring an event of their own. Worked examples · PDF, 4 pages Completed Workbook Examples The original session workbook, filled in by a fictional participant, so you can see what a useful answer looks like before you write your own. Notice how each entry names a real moment and leaves the other person’s motives open. From the room · PDF slide deck Session Slides The 90-minute deck as we presented it, for anyone who wants to revisit an exercise or share it with a colleague who was not there. From the room · PDF Participant Workbook A clean copy of the workbook from the session, if yours is full or went missing. Reference · PDF Four Behaviors Reference The one-page reference for the four approaches, to keep beside your report while you decide what to practice. From the room · PDF Jeff’s “What would you do?” questions The scenarios Jeff put to the room. Worth a second pass with your mentorship partner, especially the ones where you were not sure of your answer. Everything · ZIP, 2 MB Download the full packet All of the above in one download, plus the session reading notes and room graphics, with a Start Here page that explains what each file is for.

Choose one behavior to try. Ask someone who experiences it for specific feedback. Then arrange a check-in with your mentorship partner within the next 30 days, so you have a chance to look at an actual attempt together instead of a plan. Mentors, this applies to you too. Pick an experience of your own and bring it.

Keep questioning your report where it does not fit. Its value is in helping you notice something worth examining and deciding what to do about it. You do not have to accept every description. Your notes are yours. Share only what supports the conversation.

The cases and completed examples in these materials are fictional. Your personal assessment report is separate and was never part of this packet.

Step one

Before we meet

Participants and mentors alike, complete the working-style and leadership-practice questions. Answer from your own experience, including the days when things feel harder. Your completed assessment gives you a personal report to read and reflect on. Bring it to the session on your device or as a printed copy.

Step two

During the 90-minute session

We’ll use your report as a starting point for conversation and practice. Jeff’s “What would you do?” questions belong in the meeting. You’ll compare approaches with other participants, work through a group exercise, and choose a specific behavior to try with support from your mentor.

The session questions are conversation starters and are not scored. You do not need to answer them before taking the assessment.

Four approaches to explore

TrailblazerYou may recognize a preference for moving toward a decision and taking ownership.

ConnectorYou may recognize a preference for bringing people into the conversation and building involvement.

AnchorYou may recognize a preference for dependable support and steady follow-through.

ArchitectYou may recognize a preference for understanding the details and preparing thoughtfully.

You’ll likely recognize parts of more than one approach. Use your report to examine what fits your experience and question what needs more context. This is an informal leadership reflection, not a licensed or validated DISC assessment.

Two open notebooks, a pen, and two mugs of coffee on a wooden table in morning light, ready for a conversation. — Bring your report and your questions. The session runs on conversation.

A Human First conversation

Mike Baker and Jeff Conroy lead the workshop together. Mike brings his Human First approach to leadership and his experience leading Heritage Health in North Idaho. The session makes room for honest reflection, different perspectives, and practice you’ll take back into your own work.

Explore Mike’s leadership work Explore Jeff’s leadership work

Your results and your choices

Your completed answers and reflection notes support your personal report. Mike manages access to the class results and uses them with Jeff to prepare printed profiles and plan the session. Other participants and mentors do not have access to your results. You decide what to share during the workshop. The assessment explains how your information is used, including AI-supported report interpretation, before you submit it.

Take the assessment

Participants and mentors both take it. Have your code from the kickoff email ready, complete both parts, then keep your report where you can find it on session day.

While you’re here