Not everybody is a leader. But almost all of us have some leadership skills.

Leadership Lancaster's role in the community is to uncover leadership abilities, foster them and help others to make the most of them.

"A leader is someone who sees potential in either another person or they see potential in an idea," said Sarah Kemble, program director for Leadership Lancaster. "They kind of bring everyone together to achieve goals. It's never about themselves. They are people who put their egos aside."

A community nonprofit located at 115 E. King St., Lancaster, Leadership Lancaster accomplishes its mission through training, exchanges of ideas, connection and collaboration and four key programs - college core class, core class, executive class and encore class. That range of classes allows Leadership Lancaster to bring out the best in individuals, regardless of their experience or their standings in the community.

"One of the things we ask our participants is 'When did you first consider yourself a leader?'" said Kemble. "What it boils down to is that leadership is about caring about people you're working with in the community, realizing your own unique set of skills and wanting to contribute to something bigger than yourself. At the end of the day, it's about being your best self and achieving something great with people.

"We're always looking to develop our programs," Kemble continued. "We're looking to get more involved with the community. We're looking to work with nonprofits. We want people to feel more connected to communities. Leadership is a continuous process. We're all works in progress."

Last year, Leadership Lancaster worked with more than 130 individuals seeking to hone their leadership skills. Those participants ranged in age from 19 to 70 - college students, working professionals and retirees - a great majority of whom either lived or worked in Lancaster County.

Leadership Lancaster operates under the tagline "Connect. Educate. Inspire."

There are costs involved with learning in Leadership Lancaster classes.

"The people who are coming to us are your neighbors," said Kemble, a resident of the Manheim area. "We're trying to have different walks of life. They are people who have moved to the United States. We're trying to make sure we have people representing different pockets of the community. We just want to be good stewards of our community."

Overseen by a 15-member board, Leadership Lancaster employs Kemble, executive director Jennifer Diaz and program coordinator Sage Rivera. In addition to tuition fees - some of which amount to employers covering the costs of employees' professional development - Leadership Lancaster is funded through grants from local foundations.

"We have some really wonderful, amazing people in our community doing great things," said Kemble. "We get to know these individuals personally. Lancaster is full of amazing people. Lancaster is such a strong place for collaboration. We are really good at working together and working toward a larger goal."

In 1983, Leadership Lancaster was born out of a two-year initiative on volunteerism by the Junior League of Lancaster and the support of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce. Since then, the program's more than 3,000 graduates have impacted the Lancaster County community in a variety of meaningful ways.

For additional information, go to http://www.leadershiplancaster.org.