Leading Imperfectly: The Value of Being Authentic for Student Leaders and Human Beings

Oh boy, another speech on leadership. Instead of waiting for the same cliché leadership lessons, it’s time to be different. Let’s talk about who you are personally as a leader. As humans, we can’t learn things from people who are perfect, we can only learn things from people who are imperfect. So, it is time to own who you are so you can be real to others and lead through your faults. This deep but hysterical keynote will leave you feeling introspective about the person you show to others. It will show you how being more authentic actually inspires open communication, forms tighter bonds, and causes members to be more engaged. We need to talk about you before we can talk about us, so let’s discuss where you struggle and succeed to make you a more efficient and effective authentic leader for your organization.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Learn the definition and application of “Authentic Leadership.”
• Discover the importance of being a leader who is purposeful, empowering, real and moral.
• Recognize the power of your own story in your leadership style.
• Differentiate between being a hero and a role model (role models make and learn from mistakes instead of trying to be seen as flawless heroes).

More Action, Less Title: Empowering Leaders to Do More

Congratulations on getting a leadership position, high-5s all around! Being a leader in your organization, however, is an action, not just a title. If you’re a newly appointed chair who wants to attack your new role or a seasoned brother or sister who wants to leave a meaningful legacy, this session is for you! This session will breathe new life into the act of empowering members by challenging them to do better through a three-part strategy: challenging, motivating and appreciating your peers. Attendees will leave this session with a new strategic plan for how to positively impact members of their organizations by boosting morale and increasing retention. Attendees will also giggle.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Learn how appreciation leads to increased productivity and retention.
• Learn how to implement PHEAM (Posture, Handshake, Energy, and Attitude, will make you Memorable) to better motivate new members.
• Discover importance of challenging members to give them ownership over the success and/or failure of the group.

Shaking Hands and Kissing Babies: Network Like a Boss

All students are hearing nowadays is it’s more about who you know than what you know when it comes to job searching. While this is very true, we never actually talk about how to engage in networking conversations & miss out on opportunities that are right before our eyes. People are getting jobs today because they know somebody who knows somebody. The art of small talk is dying because of social media, but decision makers in your future jobs didn’t have that growing up, so they still value good old fashion conversations. Come to this session to learn how to get the most out of your networks.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Learn best practices for initiating meaningful conversations to promote memorability
• Recognize the importance of having refined social skills to make conversations less awkward and more productive
• Contrast the difference between introverts and extroverts and how that effects networking

Will They Make Fun of My Sheets?

Stepping on campus as a new student is an emotion-packed time. Am I going to fit in here? Are people going to make fun of my sheets? Is anyone going to date me? How do I study again? Am I the only one who is going to miss my parents? When students are faced with anxiety, they have two options: they can channel that energy towards fear or towards excitement. In this engaging talk, first-year students will be challenged to create their own college experience. As a student who was miserable and homesick during my first year of college, I later got involved on campus, fell in love with my school and went on to become a prominent student leader. In this keynote, I will share the stories of my freshman year, normalizing many of the emotions first-year students have. I will encourage new students to get involved on campus and challenge them to choose their own path in college.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Realize that feelings of homesickness, feeling alone, and being mentally lost are normal for first-year college students.
• Learn the importance of getting involved quickly at college to increase a sense of ownership and belonging.
• Learn verbal and non-verbal conversation techniques to have more productive first interactions, so that connections can be made more quickly.

Men: Work in Progress

Men, the past few years have been illuminating and important years for us. In your past when you were challenged what was your response? Did you get defensive? Did you make excuses? Did you try to shift blame? Did you listen? Did you seek to understand? It’s time to be reflective and not just reactive. Men we have a choice to make: are we going to be cool or are we going to be great? In this program we will laugh at ourselves while analyzing deep topics such as fear, coping mechanisms, and love. Specifically we will discuss how our new member processes and our brotherhood are helping and hurting our progress. We are not where we need to be yet, men. Do you have courage to join me in putting in the work?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Learn to evaluate how societal norms play a role in men’s ability to connect with each other men on a deeper level.
• Illustrate examples in their lives where men consciously and subconsciously choose to be cool instead of choosing to be great.
• Learn how to relate the issues above to men’s role, or lack thereof, in the overall treatment of women.

IMPROV Your Teamwork and Communication

Teamwork and communication are the backbone of any effective organization. These highly interactive workshop(s) focus on highlighting best practices and common pitfalls that teams exhibit in these areas. I will cater each workshop to your team’s specific needs and they can range in length from 1-4 hours. I will stretch your team’s comfort zone, breaking down the barriers that hold us back from authentic and supportive workplaces. At the same time I will create a safe place for people to laugh at themselves and process what they are experiencing.

I have been performing and teaching improv since 2003. I trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York and have been a faculty member at the Magnet Theater in New York and taught workshops all around the country.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Breakdown communication/teamwork issues in your current work environment in a safe and supportive manner.
• Learn best practices for sharing positive and negative feedback.
• Understand the benefits of being an active participant on a team vs. trying to do everything by yourself.
• Learn improv rules and how they correlate to communication in the workplace.