GLS 2026. Wichita Showed Up. Wichita Showed Out.

Thank You Wichita! GLS 2026 is in the books, and I'm still catching my breath.

Lead Wichita exists to inspire and connect leaders in Wichita to transform ourselves and our community. This past week, I watched all three of those words happen in real time - and I watched our five values come to life in really tangible ways. I’d like to share a few. 

Faith Inspired. Wednesday night's worship experience, Generations, was the clearest picture of it. Eighteen hundred people in one room. We were expecting several hundred and were amazed at the hunger of people to be together as one church in our city, under one banner. One demonstration of humility and unity was that the worship band of nine musicians was pulled from seven different churches - no logos, no competition, just one sound. Testimonies spanning three generations, each one saying some version of the same thing: faith is not peripheral to each of us and our city flourishing, it is essential to it. You could feel the room believe that together. There are many things that can divide us, Generations demonstrated that the biblical promise of declaring Gods mighty acts can unite one generation to the next. Watching older pray for younger and younger for older inspired many. In my kick off session I talked about the ripple effect of inside out transformation, I cannot wait to see the ripple effect of this night.

Big Goals. GLS 26 was our highest-attended Summit since before the pandemic. And numbers matter to an extent and are an indicator of success, however the hunger and passion and dreaming I heard in talking to many of you made me dream even bigger for our city. Each speaker blessed us with their stories and passion for two days of content that felt, honestly, like drinking from a firehose, in the best way. So many phenomenal speakers, so many leadership insights stacked on top of each other. The real skill isn't taking it all in; it's figuring out what fits in a cup you can actually drink from this week. For me, that was Andy Stanley's three questions: What is currently considered impossible? What would the next leader do? What would a great leader do? I've already used all three multiple times since Friday, and each time they've pulled me out of a status-quo mindset and into a bigger one. What was yours? A huge thank-you to the Global Leadership Network for cultivating a lineup this good, year after year.

Humble Actions. Walk into the Leadership Lobby and you'd see it instantly - more than 30 nonprofits, network leaders in action, doing the unglamorous, faithful work of inspiring, connecting, and transforming some of our city's toughest realities. The connection and curiosity blew me away.. Attendee after attendee leaning in, asking real questions, genuinely wanting to know how they could plug in. No pretense, no posturing, not just ‘business networking’ - just leaders quietly showing up for their city, seeking to serve. 

Joyful Networks. And yes, the fun mattered too. DJs, new swag, food trucks, friendships made over a meal between sessions. A network doesn't sustain this kind of work on obligation. It sustains it on joy. Watching old friends and brand-new ones laugh together between sessions was its own kind of leadership development.

Measure Progress. Here's where I need your help. Tell us what you thought…the survey link here is short, and every response helps us measure our progress and build a better GLS next year. If you were in the room, please take the two minutes.

One more thing. What's one small, humble action you can take this next week because of something you heard? Not a five-year plan. Not a strategy doc. Just one small, humble action. That's how transformation always starts around here …small, and together.

And if nothing's coming to mind yet, here's one: consider becoming a GLS Next Leader and bring the GLS content into your own network or workplace. You don't have to wait for next August to put what you learned to work - you can be the one who carries it forward, starting this week. Register Here

Wichita, you showed up. You showed out. Let's keep going.

For the city, Damon