Happy birthday Jamie!!! Is that 23 or 32?
I caved! I did however not give in to the Bigger Dre Beats. These sound great. A little bassy, but that's what you expect. Overall A+!
This weekend i participated in the Ontario Engineering Competition where i competed for Innovative Design. Unfortunately we had some great competition and our Marketing Plan needs a little work. Regardless it was a great experience and made me a better entrepreneur. Here are some photos from the competition:
Hey all, We're having a few technical difficulties setting up the wave. We have recently found out that embedding a public wave does not make it visible to the rest of the web (d'uh). Rest assured we are looking into ways either exporting the contents once done waving. In the meantime Wave users can view the progress so far. ANNOUNCEMENT: If you would like a Wave invite leave a comment with your desired Gmail address or email contact_at_filipmares.com (remember to replace '_at_' with '@'). Enjoy! [wave id="googlewave.com!w+E_mMOEfZA"]
Module - 1: Program Launch - Themes in Leadership - Challenges and Issues
Module - 2: Communication and Influence - Leadership from Within
Module - 3: Leadership From Within
Module - 4: Balancing Personal and Work Demands
Module - 5: Team Facilitation
Module - 6: Leadership in Action
On Friday Jan. 15th we had our first session at Telfer. After a good lunch, we got started and covered leadership dimensions.
Self Awareness: Recognition of our personality our strengths and weakness and our likes and dislikes.
Engagement: Engagement happens when the values of an individual align with the work they are doing.
Results Orientation: A strong drive to set challenging objectives and achieve results by competing against high standards.
Communication: A process which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create shared understanding.
Relationship Building: Building effective working relationship, networks of contacts and partnership with individuals by acting with integrity, building trust, demonstrating respect, and valuing people.
Vision: A mental image of what an individual or organization would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future.
There were many disagreements when answering this question. In the end we believe what we want to believe. I am personally of the school of thought that some people are born with some skills and develop other through the many experiences in their lives. A leader can be born with with ambition and determination. With time and experience the person becomes a leader by dealing with conflicts, teamwork and you find your passion.
Julia Elvidge (ChipWorks): “Practice leadership skills. It’s not a natural process, but the difference is noticeable. Learn how to moderate your body language and constantly ask for feedback.”
Don Hewson (HBS Marketing): “Economy made use re-evaluate and adapt our vision. Dealing with inter-generational challenges is a part of a leader’s role. Technology has become a commoditizing profession. It’s a great time to hire talented people on the market. Companies can’t be just profitable, they have to become more transparent and great citizens. They should keep thinking about sustainability of culture. Remember the value of brand and that nothing is forever!”
Claude Haw (OCRI): “I’m a student of the Terry Matthews school of hard knocks. Vision is important when dealing with a multiple group organization. Communication is important. Try and communicate one-on-one goals and motivators. Need to figure out not only where you want to be, but what your values are. Public speaking is very important for an engineer to communicate well with his/her audience. Face-to-face meeting reinforces the importance of community.”
Larry Poirier (Nitro Microsystems Inc): “Try not to be somebody you’re not. Focus on what you do best rather than pleasing everyone. Hire people who compliment your best skills. Know yourself. What gives you value and makes you feel good? I am trying to learn the motivators for our new generation.”
Danny Osadca (Med-Eng Systems): “Look beyond growth and realize that you need to sustain it. When you’re small you can rely on institutional knowledge. When you grow beyond that, you realize that you need to grow a culture. Work hard at creating a vision and have a passionate drive for results. Build a team that is synergistic. You can’t all have the same skill sets since you need to complement each other. Strategy is directional because you can always change it. Go from liking doing and achieving results by moving others to like doing.”
Ed Ogonek (Bridgewater Systems): “Leadership + Strategy (2 of the most loaded roles). There is a confusion of leadership and who's in charge. You have to do everything in that house to get things done. Unfortunately, when dealing with a large team it is next to impossible to do so. Find the leaders in your team and communicate with them. Many leaders are not managers necessarily. Leaders earn trust and know how to get things done. “
What do you look for in new hires?
Do you see any new waves of businesses other than tech?
How do you manage collaboration and communication between generations?
How do you recognize opportunities in the industry?
What is your retention plan for keeping leader in Ottawa?
The session was very insightful and i enjoyed being part of a group considered to be the leaders of tomorrow. I look forward to the next session on Jan. 22.
So excited to crack open my Christmas calendar tomorrow.
All day Monday nov 16th
