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Momentum Leadership Team attends TEDx Austin
Inspiring is the only way we can describe the first ever TEDx event in Austin.
Sunni Brown, a Momentum Infographic Consultant, served as an event producer and created the opportunity for participants to record their impressions and spark conversations by employing customized wall-charts. Beautiful work Sunni!
There was quite a buzz regarding who was chosen for TEDx and who was not. What I found out in my investigative work at the event is that the majority of the people selected to attend had a very robust roster of community and non-profit work, in combination with their job function. There were over 1000 applicants for 230 seats (as 70 were given away to volunteers, VIP’s etc.).
Want to attend TEDx next year?
Go to http://www.tedxaustin.com/speak
Continue your work in the community and apply. What will be gained from attending? Below are brief summaries regarding our favorite presenters:
Tolerating the Unknown to Become Knowing
#1-Steven Tomlinson
Why was he our favorite? Steven has such a humble, humorous and easy interaction style with his audience; it is as if he is sitting at our dining room table chatting with us.
Steven spoke of not discarding interests and potential career paths but holding the complexity (and ambiguity) in the “AND” and the “BOTH”. He told stories about trying to resolve his three distinctly divergent (or so it seemed) interests. How could he have a career that involves writing AND performing AND teaching? Steven received wise counsel and learned one does not need to amputate a vocational love because it does not easily fit into a conditioned belief about career. His suggestions for those struggling with career choice are:
-Be patient with yourself-simple roles will not suffice
-Be tolerant of your lack of knowing
-Take 30 minutes each day to journal about your career interests
(Without censoring)
-While you struggle to find clarity-avoid resenting others success
Truth in Advertising: At Momentum Leadership we refer our clients to Margaret Keys www.margaretkeys.com to become more influential in their communication approach. Steven is one of two consultants who work with Margaret (Nancy Graves is equally wonderful). Our clients rave about the impact of their work!
Not Re-inventing the SeaWall
#2-Bob Merrell
The Texas A&M University at Galveston Professor, spoke convincingly for Texas coastline protection from hurricane storm surge.
Merrell proposes building a 60 -mile wall along the Texas coast to withstand Level 5 Hurricane storm surge. Named the “Ike Dike”, this 17 foot high wall will be comprised of 100 foot wide floodgates-open for maritime traffic in good weather and shutting close during bad weather. Merrell is on a pragmatic mission to protect commercial, residential and agricultural property from floods. What we liked most about Merrell is his no nonsense approach. Merrell did not re-invent the wheel (or in this case the seawall) he based his design on existing and proven floodgate designs that are being used in the Netherlands, London and soon in St Petersburg Russia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike_Dike
Walking the Nobel Talk
#3 Christie and Turk Pipkin
Christie and Turk are longtime Austinites and founders of the Nobility Project. The project is about noble people doing the right thing. www.nobelity.org. These filmmakers and non-profit leaders have created two films urging each of us to do more. The film Nobelity is comprised of interviews with Nobel Laureates who describe the most pressing problems facing humanity. The recently released follow-up film- One Peace at A Time chronicles individuals who are solving these global problems. More impressive than filmmaking is this couples contagious attitude. Each day we are confronted with choices-what we sign up for and what we decline. Christie and Turk whose cup was full if not overflowing, recently raised funds to build the Magila High School (www.turkpipkin.com) and Rainwater Court enabling more children to attend school (instead of spending school hours walking miles to collect water). The couple is filling the library with books, educating young people and increasing sustainable agricultural practices. Their story telling and personal dedication subtly challenged each of us to step up, do more, and chip away at complex problems.
Warm Regards,
Kerry
Momentum Expands to the Mile High City!
Nineteen years ago the first Momentum Leadership office opened in Austin, TX. We’ve learned a lot since then and collaborated with some really amazing business people. We believe the Denver business community can benefit from our company’s unique brand of executive development, cost saving strategies, and change management. We have decided to open a satellite office in Denver, CO. Look for us on the 16th street mall downtown.
Map Your Career to Avoid Pitfalls
Kerry Anne Ridley knows something about workplace angst. As an organizational expert and the president of Momentum Leadership in Austin, Texas, she spends her days helping individuals and companies identify their strengths and then align with them to increase their performance.
She’s seen more than her fair share of women trying to figure out how to add value in their organization, or wondering what their next level of contribution might be. Ridley says, “First, women need to figure out what really motivates them and what their personal values are.” If you haven’t done some serious soul-searching, it pays to invest in a career counselor or a self-assessment tool such as Mapp (http://www.assessment.com/), or to take the time to do this if offered through the workplace, because a clear understanding of yourself is foundational to career fulfillment.
“Too often, we unintentionally get carried down a river that is our career. At some point, the rapids get intense and we’re thrown to the shore and we wonder how we got there.” She advises, “Don’t just float. Be more intentional.”
For women interested specifically in being on an executive track, Ridley points to research that shows they need to become a manager within three years of entering a company. To accomplish this, Ridley suggests that rather than solely relying on formal mechanisms for advancement, like career training and mentoring programs, women need to also plug into more of the informal and social networks where they can become better known and noticed
Ridley says. “My advice to women, if they have their eye on an executive role, is to get into management as quickly as possible, sending the signal that they are as credible and competent as the men.” They need to have the same amount of management experience as their male peers when a promotion comes up.
Momentum Leadership, in Austin, Texas, helps companies sustain business growth by fostering an engaged and satisfied workforce.
Published by the Forté Foundation. Forté Foundation is a consortium of major corporations and top business schools that has become a powerful change agent in educating and directing talented women toward leadership roles in business.
http://www.fortefoundation.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cc_feature_hatemyjob
