Houston METRO, university partner on leadership development program

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas, (METRO) and the University of Houston’s C.T. Bauer College of Business will soon graduate a first class of 24 leaders under a program to provide management training at the area’s largest regional transportation authority.

The new, nine-month program between UH and METRO was designed to help the agency develop future management, said METRO President and Chief Executive Officer George Greanias in a prepared statement.

“The regimen helps participants to develop in key areas with lessons on strategic planning, building collaborative partnerships, organizational behavior and professional integrity,” he said.

Program graduates will be better prepared to advance in transit, and their careers, through courses in leadership and lessons in METRO’s organizational history and long-range planning.

“This is a great opportunity to educate, inspire and shape a great transit system for Houston,” said Leanne Atwater, chairwoman and professor of the Department of Management at Bauer College, who helped create the teaching modules including business acumen, team development and effective communications.