If you didn’t attend the Second Annual MassWIT Leadership Conference on March 16, 2004, please mark it on your calendar for next year. The conference, put on by MassWIT volunteers at Babson College, was a wonderful representation of the leadership and talent in action in the MassWIT ranks. First, Babson College is a beautiful location. The speakers and the sessions were informative, diverse and interesting. The evidence of volunteers and the immense amounts of work were everywhere and in every detail. The conference was extremely well run, from the signs directing one to the buildings and parking lots as well as those directing folks to the individual rooms, down to the beautiful thematic flowers throughout the buildings and on the tables. The many friendly volunteers and speakers, obvious by their badges with ribbons, ushered one from building to building, to sessions, to lunch and to keynote speeches.
Leading the way with content were three session tracks: Change Management, Innovation and Technology and Intuitive Leadership. Sessions included a range of topics from Winning Management Styles to Bringing Technology Products to Market to Emotional Intelligence as it Relates to Intuitive Leadership. Some workshops involved case studies, panel presentations or individual presenters. This author attended Igniting and Leading Change, moderated by Vicki Donlan, publisher and founder of Women’s Business Boston. The panel included Kathy Elliot, author of “The Old Girls’ Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man’s World”, Bonnie Carson DiMatteo, a consultant who trains, facilitates and coaches companies in the midst of change, and Ruby Chandy, President of Thermo Bioscience Technologies, one of the several places where she initiated and led massive change efforts. One of the main messages from these articulate women was to be clear about what you are trying to accomplish, communicate it over and over, and don’t be afraid to make decisions. Ruby Chandy spoke of helping your staff understand the need for change in order to “get folks to lose sleep with you”.
Honoring your Truth in the Workplace was a workshop where the audience interacted with speaker, Jill Kanter, to uncover where they had or hadn’t honored their personal truths and values in the workplace and how small tweaks can honor your truth versus having a black and white paradigm.
Finally, The Future of Women by two futurists, Amy Oberg and Michele Bowman, was a fascinating eye opener about the potential of women’s work, loves, and lives in the future.
People attended the conference for various reasons. Some had been alumni at Babson and felt a kinship to the Leadership School, another spoke of “navigating to find her ideal job” with the conference presenting fertile ideas and networking possibilities, others quoted business development, inspiration, networking and socializing, as well as genuine interest in the topic of the conference.
Even the late season snowstorm didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of conference attendees, volunteers and vendors. The MassWIT Leadership Conference provided hands on evidence of real leadership and creativity in action, as well as the opportunity for attendees to learn and think about leadership as it applies to work and life.
Terry Wilson-Malam is a coach, consultant and facilitator who coaches leaders and teams who are ready to express outrageous, courageous leadership. She has a background in managing large software development projects, executive coaching and team facilitation. 978-456-9902, Terry@wilsonmalam.com, http://www.wilsonmalam.com
