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By Aila Boyd
aboyd@mainstreetnewspapers.com
Dr. John Rainone presented at the Botetourt County Chamber of Commerce’s October Lunch & Learn at Tizzone UnWined last Thursday. His presentation focused on transitioning into management.
Rainone became the fourth president of Dabney S. Lancaster Community College on July 8, 2013. He has over 29 years of experience as a teacher, administrator, and chief executive officer.
“The number one skill is preparation,” he said of what is needed in order to transition into management.
He then asked those present to consider the attributes of ideal and less than ideal managers. The responses included quality communication, good organizational skills, a propensity for being proactive, and possessing a guiding vision.
“For teachers, they always say you teach the way you were taught. That’s also the case for managers,” he said.
Rainone said that he had a hard time delegating work after going from having to do everything himself to having an actual staff. It wasn’t until one of his employees spoke up by during a meeting and told him that he had a staff for a reason that he realized that he needed to “let go.”
“You’re really afraid to let go,” he said of most new managers.
The three routes to being a manager, Rainone said, are external hires, internal appointments, and promotions.
As a first-generation college student and the first member of his family to earn an advanced degree, Rainone graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Communications and a Master of Science in Business Education. He earned a doctoral degree in Higher Education Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. He is also a graduate of the League for Innovation Executive Institute and completed the Harvard University Seminar for First-Year Presidents.
A native of Providence, R.I., he has served in business and education as the training and education administrator, Assistant Dean for New Hampshire Technical College at Manchester, and helped build York County Community College in Maine where he served the college for 18 years as Assistant Dean of Continuing Education, Dean of Professional Development and Business Services, Interim Dean of Advancement/Executive Director of the College’s Foundation.
Rainone’s teaching experience includes 28 years as an adjunct faculty member at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the areas of business research methods, teaching at the college level, nonprofit management, organizational behavior and leadership and fundraising and development.
Photo by Aila Boyd