A Morden and District Chamber of Commerce (MDCC) lunch-time workshop was sold out on Saturday as John Maxwell-certified speaker, Al Ruttan, revealed the truth about leadership.

"Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less," said Ruttan during meeting at Homestead South, the new senior's apartment building north of highway three.

"You truly need to care about people," he said. Ruttan explained that people will trample a leader who tries to be everyone's friend, and resent a leader who's too dominant. Therefore, a good leader will prove they genuinely care about people; they will help their coworkers/employees, and demonstrate a trustworthy character.

"I fell into the category of a manager, and not a very good leader," said Ruttan about his previous leadership style. "I've been growing, and I wanted to impart that to

The MDCC luncheon was a sold-out event, as 40 people filled the room at Homestead South in Morden Friday afternoon.people. [I hope it] would pique their curiosity to examine their own leadership skills and grow those skills."

Regional manager central of Access Credit Union, Chris Hildebrand, attended the talk and said she learned that leadership is about building people up and working on their strengths.

"Working with those around you is extremely important," she said, "I think this [presentation] helped reinforce what I already believe."

Hildebrand says she has to remind herself sometimes that just because something is done a different way than how she envisioned it, doesn't mean it was done wrong. Going back to work after the event, Hildebrand said she wanted to be even more open to new ideas.

"If we can all take these ideas back to our respective businesses, how great would it be," said Hildebrand.

The leadership philosophy championed by John Maxwell is based on inspiring and influencing people to create passion in people and organizations. Maxwell and his company reach into 60 countries to spread this idea through local speakers like Ruttan.

Ruttan has been certified since May by the multi-national organization; he is also the manager of Co-op At Home in Winkler.