My first conference. Ever. I’m not the best at networking, and here I am standing in this long line of industry professionals. I texted my best friend, “OMG. I feel so out of place standing here with all these professionals talking about the latest business trends, and all I want to do is take a selfie.” I was excited to be here, but that feeling was overshadowed by the fact that I felt so insignificant among such great minds. As I searched for a seat, I noticed another gentleman taking a picture of himself with the stage as his background. My nerves began to settle. The energy of the room ramped up my excitement, and the MC, Ron Tite began to speak. He was funny, engaging, and referenced things I knew about. I thought “Ok. Maybe I do fit in a little, I mean, I’m laughing at all the puns everyone else is laughing at right?”
The Art Of Leadership is a conference that is part of “The Art Of” series of conferences. Five speakers were in attendance: Gretchen Rubin, author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Happiness Project; Captain Phillips, whose ship was overtaken by Somali pirates; Marshall Goldsmith, an American Leadership Coach; Dr. Liane Davey, Vice President of Lee Hecht Harrison Knightsbrige Leadership Solutions; and Colonel Chris Hadfield, famous Canadian Astronaut. Like Ron Tite, they were humorous and engaging, and each gave their own perspective on what leadership means. While I’m sure many attendees took away tips for managing and motivating their employees and coworkers, I took away much more than that. I took away things that would help me achieve my own goals and personal growth.
The most powerful thing I learned from Gretchen Rubin was that it is important to make milestones instead of finish lines. Many people create goals, work towards them, accomplish them, and then stop completely and eventually regress. The idea here is to go through the same process, but change it from one that is linear, to one that is continuous. For me, this made so much sense.
What I really enjoyed about Captain Phillips and Col. Chris Hadfield was that they easily made a personal connection with their audience as they shared their personal stories with us. Other than learning to never trust a pirate, Captain Phillips taught me that if I vow, I won’t quit. Coming from someone who survived such a horrific ordeal by vowing that he wouldn’t die without a fight, there is immeasurable merit that goes along with this. The key takeaway in a business and personal sense is that if you constantly drive towards an end point, you won’t stop until you get there. If you vow to increase worker motivation by 10% in a year, you won’t quit finding and trying new ways until you get that 10%. I think the word “vow” attaches a more powerful personal connection with your goal, much more than saying that you are “going to do whatever it takes.” It is a small adjustment to your thinking that may make a world of a difference. I was definitely left inspired, not only by his survival, but his ability to overcome the post traumatic effects he faced once he was rescued.
Similarly with Captain Phillips, I was absolutely captivated by Col. Chris Hadfield’s presentation; his ability to tell a story was immaculate as he combines knowledge with entertainment. After hearing him speak, I think I’m ready to be an astronaut! Just kidding. What I learned from him was something that I had always known: hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Col. Hadfield also mentioned that it is much better for a team to fail immediately rather than being successful because it reinforces success and therefore increases the chances for feeling defeated when the team fails. This gave me more perspective with my own tendencies. I always worry about getting things right the first time, but now I will be more comfortable with making mistakes and getting things wrong because I know that it will benefit me in the long run.
By the time I left, I was inspired and assured that I would reach my own goals utilizing what I had learned at this conference. My feelings of nervousness and intimidation were completely replaced by excitement. Excitement from the energy I felt just sitting in a massive room with such amazing individuals. But most importantly, excitement for what was to come in the future for me as a Beedie Ambassador.
Joy Marlinga is a 4th year student concentrating in Human Resource Management, Marketing and Management Information Systems. She considers herself a lover of knowledge as her interests span from all areas of business, to criminology, to culinary arts and back again. Conferences and workshops inspire her to step outside her comfort zone in order to achieve personal growth that will set her up for success in the future.