Elevate’s own Erin Hlivia Riddle and Matthew Breen recently participated in a new executive training program for the next generation of agency leadership. Called LEAP, this initiative from the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame was born to cultivate the advancement of future leaders in the industry. It provides growth in the areas of advancing skillsets, challenging paradigms and patterns, managing polarities and paradoxes, and potentializing people. The participants were challenged to think differently and learn the art of decision making under (simulated) real-world pressure.

Frank X. Powers, Elevate cofounder and Managing Partner, applauded the program. “I wanted to give Erin and Matt the opportunity to be the first to go through that training,” he says. “I think it’s critical that we have continuing education for our emerging leaders. It shows that we want them to get better and improve on their craft, and to be the best versions of themselves that they can be within our organization.”

Held last November, the LEAP program included 15 members from 10 different agencies. Participants studied around 80 pages of prep work prior to starting, joining one of three groups once they arrived at the event. Each group, made up of diverse roles and departments, collaborated on a simulation that advanced them one year per day, showing the group’s progress as agency managing directors over three years.

Matthew Breen, controller, shared his experience, “As one of two leaders involved in agency finance, it was eye-opening to get the perspective of other roles in our industry and to see a different thought process about the same exact issues.”

Each group competed against the other, as teammates asked questions and aligned on budgets, financial issues, relationships with clients and staff (including salaries and bonuses), business pitches, and less straightforward decisions like whether the agency would pay for an employee’s car. Teams were evaluated on both financial and non-financial factors, including people, product, partners, profile, and performance.

Erin Hlivia Riddle, VP, client delivery, found the program riveting, attention-grabbing, and sustaining: “To be able to leave the real world for a couple days and fully immerse myself in this was invaluable. There wasn’t a moment where I didn’t want to see what was next.”

The response to the program was overwhelmingly positive, and the MAHF plans on running the training program again this year with the hopes of growing the number of participants. After going through the three-day program, Frank echoed the value he heard from our participants. “At the end of the day when we debriefed on it—there was real value, because it was time well spent.”

The 2024 participants of the inaugural program were honored at the MAHF annual awards dinner on Thursday, February 6.