Suzana Dobric Veiss (BA ’99, MA ’02), Ph.D., assistant professor of business and director of the LEAD program, co-presented two workshops at the 23rd International Leadership Association's Annual Global Conference held in person in Geneva, Switzerland, and live online on October 20-25, 2021. Over 1,200 attendees participated in over 400 presentations and workshops. Suzana co-presented with MaryJo Burchard (BA ’02, MA ’09), Ph.D., founder, chief consultant-researcher, Concord Solutions, LLC, and Elizabeth K. Hunt, Ph.D., associate professor & director of character in leadership, communication, University of Jamestown. Burchard is also a former FPU staff member.
The workshops were:
“Finding Your Feet: 10 Readiness Exercises in Overwhelming Change”
“Much of the biggest change leaders, organizations, and human beings face is unexpected, devastating, and imposed from the outside. To get through storms of this magnitude and thrive as human beings and organizations, we need an approach to building readiness that does not need the players to have control over the disruption. This hands-on workshop introduces 10 readiness tips through simple exercises that help leaders and teams reframe the way they engage with overwhelming disruption to empower an optimally constructive response. The workshop culminates by helping participants unpack their readiness plan for their identified disruption.”
“Sensegiving During Change: A Guided Process”
“Uncertainty accompanies most change, which can lead to team paralysis when a response is needed. Leaders who help their followers understand what is going on and translate that understanding into a meaningful response can significantly improve follower resilience in times of crisis. This workshop presents a schema to help leaders impart understanding and facilitate meaningful responses during major disruption. Participants will apply a new sensegiving model to a specific disruption scenario to create and present an actionable sensegiving strategy. Leaders can use the sensegiving approach from this workshop to create meaningful shared responses in real-life disruption.”