Gwendolyn Morrison, District

jennifer blalock, edd

Jennifer has spent over two decades leading teams in post-secondary education and municipal government. As the CEO of InJenuity Solutions, Jennifer develops, facilitates and evaluates workforce, economic and organizational development programs.

ian fitzpatrick Award-winning journalist and co-founder of World Footprints, Ian has written about diversity issues and moderated panels nationwide. Based in Silver Spring, Md., he is a licensed attorney in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

terri marshall An award-winning writer and editor, Terri’s work has been published in numerous print and online outlets including AARP.org, CHILLED magazine, Girl Camper and TravelingMom. com, where she is the editor for the traveling grandparents content. heide brandes Based in Oklahoma City, Heide is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post, among others. She is also a historic re-enactor and an avid hiker.

rick gosselin

A longtime sports reporter and columnist for The Dallas Morning News, Rick has covered the NFL for 50 years. He was enshrined in the writers’ wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in 2004. He is the featured columnist for The Lens.

james ndone, phd James is an organizational and leadership communications scholar who specializes in crisis communication. Originally from Kenya, he has worked domestically and abroad in both education and industry. He has a PhD from the University of Missouri. dwan bryant, phd

As a subject matter expert in TCC’s Corporate Solutions & Economic Development department, Dwan bridges gaps between corporate America and higher education. She has a doctorate in industrial organizational psychology.

shika hershel, phd

Shika has published articles in various commercial and educational journals. She is also the former team photographer for the Texas Rangers. Shika currently works in risk management at Charles Schwab & Co.

vanessa orr Based in Pittsburgh, Pa., Vanessa has been a freelance writer and editor for more than 25 years. Her work has appeared in hundreds of regional and national publications including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Alaska Business Monthly. tom delamater

Tom is an Ohio-based writer and editor, and longtime communications consultant to corporations, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. He is the former chief communications officer at Collin College.

tyler hicks

Tyler is a freelance writer from Austin, Texas. He is a frequent contributor to a host of local media including the Dallas Observer, D magazine and Local Profile. His work has also appeared in American Way and Island Soul magazines.

wendy m. weinhold, phd Wendy is an associate professor of journalism and a faculty fellow at the Center for Inclusive Excellence at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C. Her research focuses on the intersection of journalism, gender and democracy.

When you advertise in The Lens, you’ll reach an audience of influential leaders not just in Tarrant County, but throughout the North Texas region. What’s more, Fort Worth is the 12th largest city in the country, in part because like-minded business leaders are discovering what many locals have known for a while: This is one of the best places in the United States to strike the perfect work/life balance.

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Oklahoma City-based engineering, architecture and consulting services company Guernsey has a problem that many businesses are facing post-pandemic: too it’s just more amplified for the success of any industry. In fact, according to a CNBC article, problem-solving is among the top three skills that recruiters and employers look few qualified professionals to fill open positions. for. COVID-19 promoted problem-solving skills from important But Guernsey’s President and CEO Jared Stigge is no stranger to center stage because communication and collaboration to tackling major problems. Recognizing and adapting to were fragmented. challenges is the only way a company like Guernsey remains in business more than 90 years after its founding, he says, Embracing Problems adding that problem-solving skills are vital in adapting to Guernsey may be one of the region’s oldest and largest new or challenging situations. engineering, consulting and architecture firms, but it also

“Problem-solving is critical for many reasons, an important faces many of the same problems that other large and small one being the professional satisfaction and personal reward that businesses do. When a crisis strikes, Stigge says leaders must comes from finding elegant answers to complex challenges,” remain calm, be candid with all stakeholders about the situation Stigge says. “To me, it’s the human element of embracing and not be afraid to ask for help. a challenge that is most essential.”

The year 2020 forced businesses and leaders to evolve and adapt rapidly to face challenges on the macro, mezzo and micro levels, and many had to completely revamp existing business models to stay afloat. But to be fair, even before a global pandemic fundamentally changed workplaces globally, the world was already complex and fast-moving. Pointing to the pandemic for all business ailments is somewhat of a copout. The ability to adapt quickly, discover the root of complicated issues and solve those issues was always a leadership necessity; post-pandemic,

“I believe surrounding yourself with people who complete gaps in your skill set, who are unafraid to deliver constructive criticism and who are united around a common vision is one of the best ways to level up leadership effectiveness,” Stigge says. “The individual capacity required from a leader is a disposition of humility, mindfulness and openness to receiving insights from others who challenge your own thinking. That being said, not all people in leadership positions are leaders and will likely struggle no matter what.”

When Karen Wicker, founder and CEO of Candor, a fully integrated public relations, marketing and communications agency based in Oklahoma City, is faced with a problem, she doesn’t go at it alone either. With clients ranging from retail giant Walmart and other Fortune 500 companies to smaller boutique businesses, Candor has steadily grown in both size and success in its 10 years of existence.

Growth, however, didn’t come without growing pains and problems. “Problem-solving is par for the course when you run any business or organization, especially a public relations firm,” Wicker says. “Not only do we have to handle our own internal issues, we are hired guns to solve other people’s problems as well.”

As a leader, Wicker learned that problem-solving typically involves elements of innovation, compassion and sheer will. During the pandemic, if a client reduced their marketing budget by 50 percent, Wicker had to debate whether to cut expenses, terminate employees or fire the client.

“Ouch! Each option inflicts some initial pain; however, making tough choices can also lead to new and unexpected opportunities,” she says. “As a person, I used to look at problems as suffering because there’s always pain involved. It was probably year two or three in my business that I had to do a mind shift as a business owner to try to be as innovative as I could with how I solve the problem. And it’s not always the first thing that comes to mind.”

So how can leaders develop the integral skill of problem-solving?

“I feel this is somewhat a chicken-and-egg proposition,” Stigge says. “An important element of leadership is understanding which problems should be addressed and when. Sometimes there can be value in allowing a problem to develop in order to allow time to study and understand not just the problem, but potential less-obvious underlying drivers.”

Embracing problems instead of dreading them is actually one of the steps in developing a strong problem-solving mindset, Wicker affirms. She uses a team approach to working through challenges because trying to problem-solve in isolation simply doesn’t work for her. “The more people you have bringing ideas to the table, the better the ideas tend to be,” she says. “Sometimes I may not initially agree with that perspective, but I do try to listen. I ask myself some additional questions like, ‘If I make this choice, what are the ramifications of that decision?’ and ‘Can I live with that? How would I communicate that?’ It’s not just solving the problem—it’s how you communicate the problem and how do you go about sharing the answer.”

Most executive leaders have learned to leave their comfort zone when trying to solve a problem, and even those who doubt their own problem-solving ability can work with others to improve their approach.

“After identifying material drivers of the problem, question which of those factors can be most easily or most effectively influenced and focus on those first,” Stigge suggests. “After a potential solution is identified—preferably with team input— questioning must continue: The suitability of the solution must be confirmed by checking to make sure it adequately addresses the situation.”

by terri marshall

As we continue to navigate a constantly changing work environment, leaders are tasked with adapting their management styles to be more collaborative and less dictatorial. According to a recent report by Cushman & Wakefield, the majority of global office employees prefer a hybrid working arrangement. This new normal requires adjustments from everyone, especially leaders.

“To compete for and retain talent in the current environment, I and other leaders will need to create an office environment that inspires employees and draws them to the office,” says Eric Wagner, senior vice president and global head of digital marketing for Cushman & Wakefield in Chicago, adding that employees thrive more when they feel they’re empowered to lead.

“An important component of fostering innovation is avoiding micromanagement,” says Daniel Paul, chief operating officer at Tom Stringer Design Partners in Chicago. “This generation expects to be mentored more than in the past. It’s a kinder work environment where authenticity matters.”

Chip Tuttle, partner at the Boston marketing agency CTP, sums it up well. “No one wants to work for an ogre looking over their shoulder, second-guessing or micromanaging. You have to empower your management team with some guidance and as much knowledge as possible, and then trust them to do the right thing.”

While it remains true that leaders need to set the stage, their team members bring the show to life. “Creating an inclusive and flexible workplace environment is critical,” Wagner says.

“While I set the vision and tone for projects, I teach my team to manage up the best they can. Questions are encouraged if they’re unsure about any aspect of the vision.”

Clearly, things don’t always go as planned when tasks are delegated, but a leader’s reaction is key. Mistakes will happen along the way. How leaders react to them is what’s important. As long as everyone knows both the ultimate business goals and that the company operates on principles of fairness and integrity for all stakeholders—customers, shareholders, employees, service providers and suppliers—then success will present itself over time.

Micromanaging traits in leaders don’t disappear on their own. It takes work, a clear focus and the right team members to change direction. “As I work with different clients, I’ve noticed

“This generation expects to be the ones that tend to delegate less or micromanage do so because they haven’t hired the right team players, or they mentored more than in the past. are not clear about their expectations,” says San Diegobased Jerry Swain, partner at CEO Coaching International. “Competent, hardworking people want to perform for the It’s a kinder work environment team, but to do so, they must know what is expected of them and there must be a scorecard to help them keep where authenticity matters.” track of their progress.” Communication is key in developing a high-functioning team. “As a manager, it’s important to take the time to have regular check-ins with all team members to keep everyone in the loop on what’s going on and discuss their work so I can offer any guidance they need,” explains Wagner. Founders of small businesses face additional challenges. Real estate developer Dawn Aprile launched a new endeavor that changed focus as the pandemic took root. As the owner of the NaturLuxe & Stars glamping resort in Watkins Glen, New York, she found herself in uncharted territory. “Entering the hospitality industry during a pandemic presented innumerable challenges. Yet, with spending time in nature being a focus worldwide, timing was good,” Aprile says. “But I quickly learned I couldn’t do everything and the people I hired have gifts I don’t have. Micromanaging works against you. It puts more on your plate; it doesn’t show that you put trust in your employees, and it doesn’t help that person grow.”

In order to keep C-suite employees, many companies offer extra perks such as cars, club memberships and robust stock options. But even with these types of incentives, C-suite burnout is a real issue.

According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an executive outplacement and coaching firm that tracks CEO changes, the number of departing CEOs during fourth quarter 2021 was up 16 percent on a year-over-year basis. Other top-level executives are also jumping ship, whether for better pay, to establish more of a work/life balance or to recover from what has been a harrowing couple of years.

So what can be done to help retain a company’s top-tier talent?

“Right now, everyone is stretched in a lot of different directions, and a company that recognizes that their employees have another life are going to be valued by those employees,” says Judith Bernhard, president and CEO of Advance Sourcing Concepts (ASC), a talent solutions company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “C-suite employees are high achievers, but it’s important to recognize that they are still just people, and nobody can do it all by themselves. They need to know that ownership is behind them.”

Feedback is key, not only to maintaining transparency but to creating an atmosphere of trust. “People thrive on feedback, but that doesn’t mean stopping by and saying, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’” she notes. “There should be high-quality check-ins to find out what they need to achieve their goals.”

Job flexibility is also important, which may include giving employees an occasional work-from-home day or hybrid option. Other factors that can help keep C-suite employees happy include retention bonuses based on longevity; added vacation time

to reduce burnout; competitive salaries; and peer salary reviews when a company can afford it.

According to Sherry Stevens, owner of Human Resource Consulting Services of West Virginia and recruitment manager for ASC, it’s important that employees feel they are making a difference in their roles.

“People need to feel that they are making a contribution, and they also need to feel like they can grow and that there is a defined career path,” Stevens says.

The healthcare field has been especially hard hit by C-suite loss, with dozens of hospital CEOs resigning in 2022. Over 500 CEOs left their posts between January and April, the highest total since Challenger, Gray & Christmas began tracking CEO trends.

“The last two years were unprecedented, and much of our staff is showing signs of fatigue and exhaustion,” says Margie Vargas, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Florida. “Our charge has been to figure out how to continue to provide the level of support that our leaders need to be able to cascade that level of support to the frontline staff.” Starting last October, Memorial’s president, Aurelio M. Fernandez III, conducted listening sessions across the entire south Florida healthcare system to find out how to help employees. Solutions have ranged from organic, grassroots efforts such as offering mindfulness training and prayer circles, to partnering with a national “C-suite employees healthcare provider so employees could access online behavioral health offerings. are high achievers, Memorial has also invested more than $180 million in the but it’s important to last fiscal year to increase compensation, including offering recognize that they retention bonuses and revamping its pay-for-performance program from 1, 2, and 3 percent salary are still just people, adjustment increases to 3, 4, and 5 percent increases. The system and nobody can do it has also increased its minimum wage from $13 to $15 per hour and introduced employee and all by themselves. dependent scholarships. “Compensation, benefits, career They need to know and culture all feed into what our employee value proposition that ownership is looks like,” says Vargas. “What we had in place back in early 2020 is not what is going to sustain us behind them.” as executives, leaders and line staff going forward.”

Judith Bernhard

PRESIDENT AND CEO OF ADVANCE SOURCING CONCEPTS

Margie Vargas

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER AT MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Sherry Stevens

OWNER OF HUMAN RESOURCE CONSULTING SERVICES OF WEST VIRGINIA AND RECRUITMENT MANAGER FOR ASC

Every great leader was at one point an inexperienced newcomer who wasn’t quite sure what was expected of them in their new role. Ask anyone who’s moved from independent contribution into management. Peers That’s a common reason for promotion. In fact, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a majority of people who received promotions during the 15-year longitudinal study attributed excellent performance in their previous role as become direct reports, bosses become peers, and it can be a the main reason for their promotions. challenge to become a leader in reality even if you’ve been But Keane points out that being great at your previous role made one on paper. isn’t going to automatically make you a great leader. Making

“I felt stress when transitioning,” says Michael Keane. He was promoted to regional head for business resilience at what was then WarnerMedia (now Warner Brothers Discovery) after spending time as an independent contributor-level business resilience professional. Keane, based in New York City, says the very nature of his previous role allowed him to step up and prove that he was a leader.

“Being able to hone skills that help me manage accountability and provide a sense of initiative and leadership during crises was invaluable to my experience before taking on my present role,” he says. “I came to view my job change as a sort-of formal recognition of the informal management role I’d been acting in for some time before I took my new responsibilities.”

Michael Keane

REGIONAL HEAD FOR BUSINESS RESILIENCE FOR WARNER BROTHERS DISCOVERY

excellent, accountable decisions when things are difficult is a key way managers become true leaders. Moreover, springing into action when there’s a crisis demonstrates leadership perhaps better than anything. “When an emergency occurs, we need to be able to hold ourselves and others accountable,” Keane says, “And oftentimes, that means accountability during times of personal and professional duress.”

Many leaders find themselves in management positions or performing management duties out of necessity, particularly in the country’s current work climate. Battlefield promotions have become less of a contingency and more of a reality. The Society for Human Resource Management, a national association of HR professionals, reported that approximately 4 million people left their jobs each month in 2021, and the total included many managers and organization leaders. That mass exodus has created opportunities for aspiring leaders.

Coupled with a turn toward working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many new managers had to jump right in to help their teams make the transition to remote work on top of learning a new role. “During COVID, I found myself managing programs and projects that touched many parts of the company, and also quickly found myself making higher level decisions than I had previously made,” Keane says.

Once he was promoted, Keane says he took the time to make sure that his team was comfortable with him in his new role, a key step for a new manager. He scheduled one-on-one meetings with all direct reports and became a presence—but not a micromanager—among the other personnel in virtual meetings. “Building a sense of unity in a remote team was probably more of a challenge for me than it might have been in person,” he says. And he worked hard to bridge that gap.

Keane says it was important to create purposeful time to get to know his direct reports on a human level. “Carving out dedicated time during our weekly catch-up calls, for example, to talk about anything except work has been helpful in building connections between us all, and in helping us have some sense of normalcy.”

And that’s what Keane says he’d pass along to anyone looking to become a leader in practice or who’s recently been promoted but doesn’t feel quite like they’re a battle-tested leader quite yet. “Listen to your people. Build trust and a sense of camaraderie in the team starting from day one,” he says. That combination of your proven performance, willingness to step up in times of duress, and proven care for the team is what makes a great manager great.

by wendy m. weinhold, phd

Acombination of natural abilities and learned behaviors are the building blocks for leadership, but today’s leaders need something extra if they want to reach the top. Leadership experts agree the best leaders are those who lead by example.

Fort Worth Metro Black Chamber of Commerce Director of Communications Bob Ray Sanders says he learned leadership on the job as a journalist. A civil rights activist, Sanders worked in radio, television and newspapers for more than four decades. He says leadership is about serving people. “I tell young people all the time: They have to have empathy, passion and compassion,” he says.

Considering that he made a career out of making news that shaped and served his community, it should not be surprising that Sanders believes leaders should be good listeners. He says it all starts with hearing people and asking questions. “A good leader is one who doesn’t just talk but listens,” Sanders says. “That’s one of the first things I learned. I am that person who is willing to listen.”

Leaders have to listen, agreed award-winning commercial Realtor Mike Carlson. Carlson serves as executive managing director and principal of the St. Louis office of global real estate company Newmark Zimmer. He says leadership is a full-circle process.

“Leadership is not just an outward voice from the leader; a lot of times it’s about the leader listening,” Carlson says. “It’s knowing that a collective voice is more important than your single voice.”

According to leadership expert Peter Northouse, leadership acumen can be nailed down to five defining traits: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability. Most leaders possess many of these traits, and the good news is anyone can learn these skills.

Sanders says some of the traits Northouse identifies are selfevident, such as intelligence, because “obviously, you would hope that leaders would be intelligent and know the subject or area they’re leading.” He says intelligence alone will not make someone a leader.

A combination of grit, mentoring and training helped propel Sanders and Carlson to the top of their organizations. Sanders says his first leadership opportunity came because a mentor recognized his leadership potential, then he learned management skills on the job and through leadership programs at Harvard Business School and the University of North Carolina. Sanders says good leaders often have natural abilities, and it also pays to have leadership training because “nobody knows how to be a leader until they do it.”

Carlson described himself as a “fish out of water” when he started in commercial real estate, and he credits his success to a combination of mentoring, leadership coaching and his family. He says it takes hard work to be a leader, and the stability of a “solid family life behind the scenes” makes it all worthwhile.

Face-to-face interaction in the workplace remains critical but has become more of a challenge recently due to the COVID pandemic and changes in communication styles and technology. Carlson says despite today’s challenges, leadership requires methodical, data-driven and intentional approaches that take time and depend on teamwork. The best leaders, he says, are those who have full lives inside and outside of the office and lead by example through giving back to their communities.

“If you want to be a community leader, you need to get involved with the community,” Carlson says. “Spread your wings and work to understand other people. Helping people is the most important thing.”

Bob Ray Sanders

FORT WORTH METRO BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Mike Carlson

EXECUTIVE MANAGING DIRECTOR AND PRINCIPAL OF NEWMARK ZIMMER, ST. LOUIS

Criticism is rarely easy for anyone to hear, but the way in which it’s provided can make a huge difference in how feedback is received. What’s more, to the person open to hearing how their leadership style is received by the organization, feedback can help that person evolve as a leader. Recognition plays a key role in engaging and retaining employees and is an essential component of any strong organizational culture. In a robust feedback culture, employees receive regular, helpful and constructive feedback from direct supervisors, and they are empowered to provide meaningful feedback to co-workers and leadership. When there is a rich feedback routine, this feedback promotes innovative behaviors.

“Within a healthy culture of feedback, individual performance improves because feedback is delivered well,” says psychologist Dr. Sarah Porter, the founder of a workplace training and consulting practice.

Research shows that if feedback is poorly delivered, it can hurt individual performance, whereas if it’s well-delivered, it

Dr. Sarah Porter

PSYCHOLOGIST

can enhance individual performance. The same holds true when considering feedback for leaders. A misconception is that the leader knows everything. While the leader is expected to be a wealth of knowledge, a truly well-rounded leader can accept constructive feedback.

“One of the most powerful drivers of leadership effectiveness is the willingness on the part of the leader to not only request feedback, but also to act upon it,” Porter says. According to an article by Jack Zenger, managers who regularly request feedback have a much higher leadership effectiveness score, averaging 90 percent. On the other hand, managers who don’t regularly ask for feedback from their team receive only a 12 percent leadership effectiveness score. Empirically, learning how to both give and receive feedback produces measurable, scientific results. One unaccounted-for variable is pride. Feedback can hurt a leader’s pride and make them lose their empathy.

Empathy correlates to how we connect with others including our colleagues and clients, and how we see the world through their eyes. The empathetic leader, realizing that their employees have a desire to grow and learn, offers constructive feedback. Tellingly, the leader who wants to grow and learn solicits the same feedback.

“One of the most effective strategies for leaders looking to build empathy is to do check-ins on your team meetings,” Porter says. “I like to do a temperature check on Zoom calls. I ask ‘How are you feeling today?’ and have everyone give me a thumbs-up, thumbs-down, or somewhere in between. I’ll ask one or two folks why they landed where they did. This strategy is a good way to start to build the empathy muscle within your team and quickly ‘take the temperature’ of the room.” Porter will then ask if there’s anything she can do to help their day-to-day, thereby opening herself up to public feedback. That allows her team to see engagement and empathy in action.

The second operating principle relates to trust. Trust-building is essential and is a mediator between supervisory feedback and the benefits of engagement and commitment. Without trust, the improvement of behaviors and team cohesion will be obsolete. If there’s not trust, feedback tends to stay superficial on the part of the giver and on the part of the receiver. In order to help build trust among your team, setting up standard team norms and then checking in to make sure those norms have been implemented is essential.

Imperfection is the third operating principle, as it relates to giving feedback. One of the best ways to really create a high culture of feedback is for leaders to acknowledge their own imperfections and to invite constructive feedback from their reports. “As a leader, we tend to focus on the highlight reel of our successes, and we downplay or minimize our struggles or failures,” Porter says. “One of the best things you can do as a leader is acknowledge your own missteps, encourage your team to take appropriate risks, and know that may mean they make mistakes.” Leaders may not feel confident enough to own their imperfections, which creates a barrier between leaders and teams. “Without the freedom to make a mistake, people tend to stay in their box, and don’t feel like they can offer up innovative ideas that could be transformative for the organization.”

Porter outlines a key strategy to support this operating principle, which is to hold after-action reviews much like those in the

military. An action meeting is held to talk about objectives and key results (OKRs) that haven’t been reached as intended. Action or retrospective meetings provide an opportunity for the team to talk through certain pain points and ask open-ended questions, such as; “What did we learn from this particular project?” or “What should we adjust moving forward?” The idea of these meetings is to foster a healthy feedback culture, because nobody gets it right every time.

The last operating principle is growth, which should be encouraged and rewarded. Constructive criticism is more accepted when the feedback is centered on growth rather than punishment. In leadership, it’s best to provide the feedback framed around career goals, as it will be more effective. Similarly, if an employee’s career goals can be advanced by encouraging a 360-degree review with management, that can help foster trust. “When you’re giving constructive criticism, consider how it would feel to be on the receiving end,” Porter says. “You would want the focus to be on behavior, not character.” Framing feedback with a future focus goes a longer way than amplifying the past. Research shows when feedback is delivered with this approach, the recipient will be more perceptive in changing the behavior.

Porter notes that the best way to provide constructive feedback is to open with the critical feedback first and follow it up with three pieces of praise. “By providing multiple pieces of praise after the critique, we are more likely to remember the praise and change our behavior based on the critique,” Porter says. Studies show that this feedback sequence allows the recipient to hold on to the positive alongside the negative and is the best combination to elicit performance improvement while maintaining a collegial relationship. After all, the idea is to have a dialogue about improvements within the organization and within one’s self. Feedback is the magic beans of growth.

Since our first campus opened in 1967, TCC has conferred more than 130,000 degrees and certificates upon people who, mostly, have established themselves in this same region.

5 transferable associate degrees 68 Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees 132 Certificates of Completion 18 Occupational Skills Awards Community Education & Engagement (CEE) programs at more than 10 locations in Tarrant County College for Kids Early College High Schools Senior Education Adult Basic Education Developmental Education Corporate Workforce Training

- County resident tuition: $64/credit hour = $960 for a 15-hour semester Serving nearly 100,000 students annually Ranked the top online college in Texas 348 instructors with doctoral degrees Average pass rate of 90 percent for our 29 state licensure programs

Six campuses 350 courses offered online through TCC Connect Weekend College Eight-Week Courses Monthly Starts Maymester and Wintermester Free public transportation

by tyler hicks | illustration by lisa bair

The youngest of 10 kids, Rosa Navejar jokes with her siblings that “it took Mom and Dad 10 times to get it right.” All jokes aside, the founder of a successful engineering consultancy says she learned many invaluable leadership lessons from her father. “He always thought there was a way to come to a solution as a group,” she says. That wisdom has served Navejar well throughout her career. When she worked in banking, she saw an executive yell at a new teller for not recognizing who he was and asking for ID. “I talked to him in an even tone and told him she was just doing what she was hired to do to protect him as a customer,” she says. “He ended up apologizing to the teller.” It taught Navejar a couple of lessons: First, keep your tone calm. Second, team morale is paramount, even if it means standing up to an angry executive. “When we’re working as a team, all of us are going to roll up our sleeves,” she says. “Including and especially me.” Recently, she rolled up her sleeves to remain competitive in a tight labor market. “We have to look at how we lead today and tomorrow, not how we led in the past. As leaders, we need to understand what the trends are and what people need and want from their jobs.” COMPANY: The Rios Group TITLE: President

WHAT SHE DOES: Navejar is responsible for her company’s strategic development and day-to-day operations. FAST FACT: She serves on many boards of directors in the area, including the boards of Visit Fort Worth and Texas Wesleyan University.

COMPANY: Hillwood TITLE: President WHAT HE DOES: Berry leads all business functions for the legendary real estate group, including the development of communities like AllianceTexas. FAST FACT: Berry has four daughters, and he was inducted into the North Texas Commercial Real Estate Hall of Fame in 2013.

Mike Berry is a real estate legend. He’s also humble, a key trait for any effective leader. His mantra has been “Always leave it better than you found it.” In other words, leadership isn’t about your individual success; it’s about contributing to something bigger than yourself. He learned this selfless approach from his father (whom he calls “my first and longest-running mentor”), and it’s served him well in real estate. “We're in the building business, so leaving it better than you found it is a foundation of our business,” he says.” We put extra care into everything we build.” Berry also learned plenty from former Fort Worth Mayor Bob Bolen. “[Bob] had a very unique way of pulling people together and getting people with divergent points of view to work together for the greater good.” These two key mentors taught Berry what it takes to lead in tumultuous times. It’s vital to execute business practices in a manner that is both professional and ethical, he says, and to always model those behaviors for the younger generation who will one day lead themselves. “You should never stop learning,” Berry adds. “Even right now, I’m still learning everything I can about design and the markets. Constantly educating yourself is key in real estate, but I’d say it’s important in just about any business.”

Every industry has been through the ringer during this pandemic, but few leaders have been forced to contend with as many challenges as Ben Coogan. As the leader of a 348-bed hospital, Coogan’s schedule brims with everything from operations and logistics meetings to strategy calls about staff recruitment. When faced with that harried, hectic schedule, it might be tempting for some leaders to take it upon themselves to make all the big decisions for the sake of moving things along. But that’s not Coogan’s style. “A C-suite leader shouldn’t be making all the decisions for an organization; that's the opposite of how I choose to lead my team,” he says. “For a team to function at the highest level, you have to be in harmony.” Coogan adds that “harmony” has been even more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. While hospitals face shortages for key positions such as nurses, Coogan has cultivated a culture where all employees feel welcome to bring their ideas to the table and problem-solve with their colleagues. It’s how he’s always operated. “A long time ago, I was in my first leadership position, and a member of my nursing staff said, ‘You know, you’re still a real guy,’” Coogan recalls. “That was probably the best compliment I’ve ever gotten, because I believe authentic leadership drives trust, and trust drives success.” COMPANY: Medical City Fort Worth

TITLE: CEO WHAT HE DOES: Since 2021, Coogan has overseen operations, patient care, the employee experience and more for the revered hospital. FAST FACT: In a previous role, Coogan was responsible for leading the successful opening of a new $60 million hospital.

COMPANY: Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce TITLE: President and CEO

WHAT SHE DOES: Green-Ford oversees all aspects of the chamber’s operation, thereby playing a vital role in the local and regional economy. FAST FACT: A business veteran who owned her own training and consulting company for 18 years, Green-Ford is the first woman to lead the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce.

Michelle Green-Ford is a glass-half-full person. Even when facing cumbersome challenges like, say, a pandemic, the veteran business leader maintains her poise. The Lens asked her what she would tell herself if she could go back in time to February 2020, and after a laugh, Green-Ford got right to the point: "I would say, ‘Remain calm, manage the things you have control over, and don't sweat the things you don't,’” she says. “‘No one has a game plan, but you can do this.’” Green-Ford is still maintaining that calm even as she contends with a host of workforce issues. “I think it’s a fallacy that business leaders have to have the next 20 years mapped out,” she says. In her view, the “Great Resignation” and fierce competition for talent prevents any forecasting of that length. Instead, she’s taking things a bit slower, while fostering a work environment where people learn to savor connections and collaborations unlike ever before. Under Green-Ford, even meetings and seemingly mundane tasks have taken on a more positive hue. “The pandemic has created a sense of urgency,” she says. “There was an assumption we had all this time, but deaths put that into perspective. So, make the time count. I move with a lot more urgency on things than before, and I've found that serves me well from a leadership perspective.”

To Anette Landeros, “leadership is a team sport.” Leaders may be the captains of their team, but they can’t attain the success they seek without collaboration from their team. That’s why Landeros defines herself as a collaborator. “I like to cultivate strong relationships in our community,” she says. “There's just so much opportunity in DFW right now, especially in Fort Worth. It behooves us all to work together, refer folks to each other, and include as many partners as possible.” That mindset makes her the perfect person to lead a chamber of commerce. Landeros’ organization is one of three chambers in Tarrant County, and she believes all three must work together as part of “Team Fort Worth'' to help the community truly thrive. “I see all our efforts as a puzzle that fits together beautifully, and we all need each other,” she says. “In order to have a strong business community you need a strong workforce, for which you need a strong education system.” Amid distinct challenges such as the significant number of women leaders leaving the workforce, Landeros is hosting discussions on topics such as how to strengthen your pipeline of female employees and leaders. “These conversations can help smaller businesses prosper because they don't have robust HR teams,” she says. “Whatever support businesses need, in whatever state they’re in, that's what we're here to provide.” COMPANY: Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce TITLE: President and CEO

WHAT SHE DOES: Landeros leads a series of diverse teams responsible for program evaluation and implementation as well as transportation projects. FAST FACT: Landeros is an experienced fundraiser who served many years with the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas.

Hillwood is connecting companies with the workforce of tomorrow through collaboration with business professionals and high school students, where sharing insights and ideas about the future will leave a meaningful impact on the growth to come right here in

The Lens received the 2022 Award of Excellence in the category of “Corporate Identity – Print Collateral” and the Award of Distinction in the category of “Public Relations/Communications” during the 28th Annual Communicator Awards competition, hosted by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts. The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts is an invitation-only member-based organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. The Award of Excellence is the Communicator Awards’ highest honor and past winners include Forbes, The Walt Disney Company Europe & Africa, Mattel, State Farm, Philips, T-Mobile and PepsiCo.

by tom delamater

TCC CORPORATE SOLUTIONS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | 33

What he did next was not only unusual, it was daring. Instead of lecturing his team about sales goals, profit margins, costcutting measures and other standard management topics, Watson surprised them by asking what they expected of him.

After listening to their feedback, he discussed the importance of everyone pulling together to move in the same direction and help establish a new corporate culture. As he did, he laid the groundwork for what became a set of company values.

That meeting more than a century ago is detailed on the corporate blog of the company Watson and his team helped build: IBM. And the story of that meeting, and the culture it spawned, is a classic example of the importance of values in the success of a company or organization.

The practice of establishing a collaborative and proactive corporate culture, based on a shared mission and a set of clearly defined principles, is the foundation of what’s known as “value-based leadership.” It’s a recognition that employee are motivated by a set of values that are modeled by management and practiced by everyone.

“Value-based leadership is really about putting people first, and the main responsibility of a leader is to help other people grow and achieve,” says Kate Volman, CEO of Floyd Consulting, a Florida-based firm that specializes in business coaching and corporate training. “As a leader, you’re a coach and you grow your people by creating a coaching culture. Only by helping others grow will you actually grow your organization.” According to Volman, if people are truly going to follow leaders, they need to have a clear vision of where they’re going. “People need to know what the mission of the organization is,” she says. “How am I contributing to that mission? How is what I am doing making a difference?” In 1982, Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. published the classic business book In Search of Excellence. Rather than zero in on organizational problems and how to solve them, Peters and Waterman chose to focus on what some of the most successful American companies were doing right. One of their most important discoveries was that the most successful companies didn’t just give lip service to the concept of employee satisfaction. They truly cared about their employees, invested time and money in their development, and created a people-oriented work environment.

“The fact is, if you're in business and you really want to drive profit, you're going to be making people's lives better,” says Stephanie Stuckey, CEO of Stuckey’s Corporation. “That's what customers care about, and it’s what employees care about.”

At one time, more than 350 Stuckey’s stores dotted the American landscape, familiar to travelers in 40 states who were eagerly packing up their cars and exploring the country’s burgeoning interstate highway system. The stores featured Stuckey’s signature pecan candies, plus snacks, novelty items, and eventually gas pumps and dine-in restaurants.

Stephanie’s grandfather, W.S. Stuckey, Sr., began the company in 1937 with a roadside pecan stand that soon turned into a retail store, which in turn grew to become one of the country’s most recognizable brands.

“My grandfather had created a great system and culture,” she says. “We just had a blip for several decades when it wasn't that way, and I had the chance to change that.”

By the dawn of a new century, Stuckey’s had become a shadow of its former self. Decades of corporate ownership and hands-off management had left the organization deeply in debt and teetering on the brink of extinction. Stephanie Stuckey bought the company in 2019 and began restoring its once-sterling reputation—not only with the public, but with her staff.

“The company had been around since 1937, so we didn't come in with guns a-blazing, just telling them, ‘We're the Stuckeys and we're taking over,’” she recalls. “We tried to understand their culture and meet them where they were.”

Stuckey soon restructured staff compensation plans, added medical benefits and established training programs to enable employees at the company’s production facility to advance in their careers and be rewarded for hard work and innovation. "Now we have people cross-trained in various roles,” she says. “The more people

Kate Volman, CEO of Floyd Consulting, advises companies to follow these guidelines:

• Make culture a priority

• Mission is king; nothing trumps mission

• Overcommunicate the plan; connect it to your organization’s unchanging principle

• Hire with rigorous discipline in order to attract, grow, nurture and retain talent

• Let people know what you expect, and seek to understand their expectations

• The best leaders grow their people by creating a coaching culture

we have cross-trained, the better we're going to do, and the better we do, the more we’ll be able to pay them. It’s a pathway to prosperity, for them and for us.”

Today, Stuckey’s focuses primarily on manufacturing pecan candies and products that are carried in convenience stores and other retail outlets. As evidence of how times have changed, Stephanie Stuckey occasionally rolls up her sleeves and lends a hand on the production line, working side by side with her employees. “I've worked in every room in the candy plant,” she says. “Sometimes when I show up, I'll just get on the line and work with

them for half an hour or so. It lets them know we’re all a part of the same team.”

That idea of the CEO being willing to model what’s expected of others is a hallmark of value-based leadership. For Christopher Briller, that model inspires other workers to similarly work hard.

In 2009, Briller founded MerchantPro Express (MPX), providing credit card processing for clients nationwide. Over the next decade, MPX would become a multimillion-dollar leader in the merchant services industry before being acquired by Fiserv, a global financial services conglomerate, in 2020.

“We were a sales organization, so we set up our company to attract the best sales professionals possible,” he says. “We required a lot and had very high expectations, and people who rose to the challenge were rewarded generously.”

Briller knew he couldn’t expect anything of his sales team, or his support staff, that he wasn’t willing to demand of himself.

“You always have to lead by example,” he says. “At no time would I ever allow anyone to outwork me at my company. When people see that, they realize that it’s something you value, so they value it, too, and that’s how you really achieve the results you’re after.”

The values of an organization ultimately shape every aspect of how it functions: things like recruitment and retention of talent, customer service and satisfaction, community engagement, and long-term sustainability.

“An organization really needs to involve everybody in the process of establishing its values in order to get buy-in,” says Joel Rissinger, a corporate change consultant and president of Rissinger Resource Group in Newington, Connecticut. “It's important to have a dialogue that leads to a set of core values and that everybody has the chance to contribute. Not only does it provide direction, it creates accountability, which is so important. Everybody is involved, so everybody owns it.”

According to Volman, it’s a key component of a strong corporate culture. “Work/life balance is sort of the buzzword these days, especially coming out of the pandemic,” she says. “But we actually don’t crave balance as much as we crave satisfaction.”

Satisfaction, she says, comes from doing activities that are meaningful, and from working in a dynamic culture where everyone believes in the mission, the vision and the values of the organization.

“It’s really all about people’s dreams,” she says. “Because when we’re working toward our dreams, both personally and professionally, we have a lot more satisfaction.”

BREAKFAST SERIES from 8:30 am - 10:00 am - Continental breakfast is included. Cost $25

July 13th

Discuss when it is necessary to conduct a thorough pulse check with your employees and how to navigate through the results. October 12th

In a panel discussion, learn best practices on how to implement DE&I into your organization, identify hidden biases, and facilitate meaningful conversations.

August 10th

Learn the undetected signs of burnout, how to address them, ways to prevent them, and steps to take in preserving your talent. November 9th

Discuss what boundary issues at work look like, how to counter and handle a toxic work environment, and how to effectively communicate boundaries to co-workers.

September 14th

Explore primary organizational skillsets that can help fill skill gaps and gain insight into other skillsets that share equal value to educational foundations. December 14th

Learn about what most effective organizations do to build a culture of talent, how to evaluate potential successors, and align leaders with organizational strategies.

LUNCH SERIES from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm - Lunch is included. Cost $50

August 16th

Learn conflict resolution techniques that will address unfavorable situations and how to repair work relationships because of conflict. November 15th

Discuss how to gain awareness cues and strategies for being fair and unbiased in the workplace, particularly for those in management roles.

For upcoming programs visit: https://corporate.tccd.edu/events/

by jennifer blalock, edd

rom billion-dollar Fortune 500 behemoths to small, locally run companies, the struggle to fill vacancies with top talent while retaining the highest performing team members is an acrossthe-board issue. Study after study reveals the significance that prospective and incumbent employees alike place on the type of organizational leadership they desire within their company.

A premium is placed on establishing a leadership framework built on the time-tested, employee-approved tenet that ultimately, employees are human beings first and should be supported with policies and practices that reflect humanity. Human-centric leadership appears to be that differentiating factor that companies can use to gain a key advantage in talent acquisition.

Now more than ever, employees are seeking career options with companies that offer a human-centered work culture and companion leadership model, organizations where employees believe they are individually valued, encouraged and prioritized as people, not just performers. Nearly a century ago, Dale Carnegie authored his oft-quoted advice, “Remember that a person’s name is to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Today’s talent pool echoes Carnegie’s recommendation, seeking to be recognized as individual contributors with unique skill sets, needs and interests, both personally and professionally. They want to be heard, to be engaged, and to be included in the organizational leadership as a qualitative benefit of working for a company.

While the idea of human-centric leadership might appear selfexplanatory, it merits a deeper understanding of the definition and best practices to help guide organizational planning and assessment of this preferred leadership methodology.

According to Josh Bersin, an analyst, author, educator and thought leader in the global talent space, “Human-centered leadership puts people first and makes success happen with people, not despite them.” Industrial Organizational Psychologist Dr. Dwan Bryant concurs. “When employers are intentional in taking an interest in growing their people, it shows a level of care that empowers employees to be resilient in tough times,” she says. “It centers focus and creates better human experiences.”

Building a leadership team, from frontline to C-suite, that is committed to prioritizing the growth, development and wellbeing of each employee doesn’t just happen.

“Training is key to supporting the transition of a transactional manager to a transformative leader who cares as much about people as they do about product and performance,” says Dr. Nat Glover, a Florida-based leadership training and development facilitator. Glover and Bryant both recommend a focus on continued coaching to help new and incumbent organizational leaders engage and contribute to the development of a human-centric leadership organization. “Organizations should be cautious of promoting individuals who are highly skilled individual performers but have not led people,” says Glover. The rationale is that new leaders might not appreciate the humanity of a direct report and might only focus on numbers.

What does a human-centric leadership model look like for a complex business structure? How can a company strategically implement and sustain one? The Lens compiled the six “L’s” of human-centric leadership principles to help your companies transition to a human-centric leadership organization. The impact on retaining current employees and attracting new ones in today’s competitive labor market will reflect a high ROI and ample evidence to support continued development of this transformational organizational leadership framework.

Look Inside: Dr. Melissa Furman, a leadership speaker, trainer and consultant, typically launches her leadership training by requiring the leader to focus on self-awareness. Through use of a variety of assessments, Furman works to help her clients uncover their own leadership needs and opportunities. “I explain to the participants that they cannot be effective leaders if they are not aware of themselves and others, and this includes feelings, emotions, intentions, biases, blind spots and more.” Dr. Shanita Williams, author of The Feedback Mentality, echoes Furman’s emphasis on the importance of self-reflection as a critical starting point in human-centric leadership. “When you know yourself, you are able to empathize with the human experience and keep the people at the core of your decisionmaking.”

Listen: Most leaders think they have this covered, scheduling the requisite one-on-ones with their employees, making certain to give the team member their time to talk. Then, there’s the weekly Zoom team check-ins where employees give shoutouts; the quarterly staff meetings with a scheduled open forum; and the annual planning sessions with ample time for shared brainstorming. But what happens to the sticky notes, the small group report-outs, and the table talks? Who is really listening and taking action from the feedback that employees are providing? How can they truly see the connection between employee ideas and organizational growth and development? Bryant emphasizes the importance of active listening, particularly in today’s complex hybrid work environment. A human-centric leader “should pay attention to tone, body language and shifts in expression” during face-to-face and online meetings and interactions to carefully monitor employee engagement and satisfaction, as well as understanding of duties, responsibilities and assignments. Learn: While there’s no single author of the universal book on leadership, there are countless books, podcasts, workshops, seminars, classes and even degrees focused on leadership, organizational psychology, emotional intelligence, human performance, and motivation, and other related topics that can help shape a leader’s journey toward human-centric leadership. Because the human subject is dynamic, evolving and constantly changing, research to support the best practices of human-centric leadership must also be continuous and inclusive. “Whether it’s a workshop, a seminar or a college class, leadership training is one of the best investments a human-centered leader can make. It can shape someone’s natural talent into a transformational spirit that creates a culture of achievement, excellence and high performance, because people want to work harder for leaders they believe in,” Glover says.

And yes, this also requires that human-centric leaders aid their employees in developing a professional learning plan. The days of decreasing the training budget during lean times are over, as such endeavors can mean the difference in employees staying with an organization or going to a new one. Having a clear path to continued professional growth through learning and training can be a key component of an employee’s decision to stay and grow or cut their losses and go to another organization. Consider this: The amount of money an organization spends for onboarding and training a new employee is decidedly more than if the same organization invested in and continued to educate a current employee.

Let Go: Phil Jackson, one of the NBA’s most celebrated and accomplished coaches, detailed how principles of Zen Buddhism helped guide his own successful leadership of several championship NBA basketball teams and ultimately brought

out the best in individual players—including those whose approach and behaviors were often challenging, like Michael Jordan. Jackson identified three essential components of his leadership style: giving up control, trusting in the moment and living with compassion. Explains Jackson, “You need to give individuals a lot of room to move.”

While most managers and leaders might naturally assume they should be in control, human-centric leadership affords the individual employee the space and support to achieve his/her full potential through freedom, autonomy and trust.

Leave the Door Open: Most leaders tout that they have an open-door policy. But the reality is, the proverbial invitation to come on in through that open door and chat freely doesn’t often come to fruition. Moreover, many employees question just how free a “speak freely” invitation is. Consider scheduling dedicated calendar time to support the open-door policy and inform and invite staff to drop in and talk. Drop the formality of having an agenda and encourage transparency and candor with your employees. And promise them that no retaliation will come to them for their opinions: Employees need to hear that from their leaders.

Link Up: Human-centered leaders appreciate that connection and engagement with employees calls for creativity and commitment. Quality time with employees can be hard to find in Zoom-filled Outlook calendars, particularly when leaders are focused on traditional norms, fueled by expectations of hard and fast scheduled meeting times and formality. But the ripple effect of the shift to hybrid work schedules and flex time affords leaders the ability to engage with their employees and work teams in different and unique ways. Consider 15-minute micro-meetings to assess the energy and office vibe. Meet off-site and often with diverse employees whose titles and responsibilities are different but whose contributions all keep the organization on-task. Building those cross-organizational bridges can help new synergies emerge and promote human connection and interactivity in both formal and informal settings for broader organizational engagement.

Live for a Living: Human-centered leaders appreciate that though employees likely spend more time working than they do with their own families, employees are all working to establish the quality of life we all dream about.

Human-centered leaders don’t mandate attendance for sick employees or deny time off for employees who have earned substantial vacation due to organizational longevity. Instead, they connect with their employees on a level that exposes them to their employees’ needs and interests. They challenge their employees to prioritize their own health, wellness and professional satisfaction in balance with job duties and requirements. Most importantly, they demand the same balance for themselves and model it in their own behaviors and actions.

Human-centric leadership practices are designed to provide organizations the competitive edge necessary to attract and retain the top talent while improving employees’ quality of life. In the midst of the Great Resignation and an all-out talent war, creating an organizational culture where the people who create and operate the company’s services are revered as the biggest asset will create a win-win for everyone, internally and externally. Putting people first by employing human-centric leadership is the game-changing transition that companies need to operate at full capacity. By celebrating and showcasing each team member’s individual potential and purpose for the overall good, appreciation reigns supreme.

by james ndone, phd

Agreat leader can transform his or her workplace into one that—first and foremost—encourages employee intellectual and salary growth, and that generates revenue for the company. Those are the twin hearts necessary to cement a great leader’s staying power. However, there comes a time when a great leader must move on or retire. How do such leaders formulate their succession plan? If done right, the transition is seamless.

In his book, Taking People with You: The Only Way to Make Big Things Happen, the former CEO and co-founder of YUM! Brands, David Novak, writes: “The first job of a successful leader is to have an idea of where you want to lead people.”

Succession plans do not exist in a vacuum. Usually, such programs are aligned with organizational goals, vision and objectives. The success of the next leader should be pegged on the organization’s mission.

Organizations know—or should know—the importance of succession planning. Research conducted by consultancy firm Deloitte notes that 86 percent of leaders agree that succession planning is urgent and an important priority. However, only 14 percent do it well. Another study from Russell Reynolds, a global leadership advisory firm, found that succession planning is undervalued in corporate America.

There is no easy pathway to leadership succession. Leadership succession is a strategic management function, but it can be a tall order to execute. However, it could lead to the actualization of organizational goals and reduce uncertainties brought forth by leadership change when executed well.

Consider this: Leadership succession incorporates a proactive and future-oriented approach aimed at finding the right person with the right abilities for the right role and at the right time. The successor needs to fill the leadership chasm left when one leader retires or decides to pursue other challenges, because a ship with no rudder is adrift.

1. The success of the next leader of an organization is an aspect of strategic succession planning that organizations undertake.

2. Failure to plan for succession could put an organization at a competitive disadvantage with its peers. On the other hand, proper planning can bear sweet fruits for an organization.

3. The board members and senior leaders may not understand the importance of succession planning, but they’ll come down on leadership if the transition is bumpy.

4. Data from Deloitte suggests that 86 percent of leaders understand the importance of succession planning.

5. Some organizations choose to promote from within, while others look for an outsider to bring new experiences to an organization. Both options should be considered when drafting a succession plan.

“Succession planning is an organizational function that requires a significant time commitment of many executives,” says Rob Britton, former managing director of corporate communication for American Airlines and the current principal of the consultancy Real World Leadership in Washington, D.C. “Many firms say they do this, but it’s clear that they don’t actually take the time to understand succession planning at senior levels. They lose sight of the fact that succession planning is basically ensuring the person who will take over after you retire is adequately prepared for the role.”

Organizations must have a clear line of sight into the future as this sends a powerful message to current and potential employees.

Successful leadership transition starts with planning. “Great leaders start planning for succession from the very beginning,” says Nancy Mwirotsi, the founder and executive director of Pursuit of Innovation (Pi515), a nonprofit organization that teaches technology skills to students from underprivileged families and underserved markets in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Staying in an organization for long without a succession plan is like opening doors for failure,” adds Mwirotsi, the 2022 Business Champion of the Year for the Iowa Small Business Administration (SBA).

Mwirotsi notes that one of the hardest challenges of tapping the proper successor is finding a person who has a familiarity with the innate workings of an organization’s vision while running it and working on a way to improve operations.

“It gives me jitters,” she says. “Every time I ask myself what would happen when I retire, I wonder if I have the right team that can withstand a new leader. Part of preparing involves being good at what you do so that when a new leader takes over, there are metrics to follow.” Coaching sessions, she adds, can come in handy in managing succession as well.

Britton confirms there is no perfect time to plan for succession: It depends on the person and his or her circumstances. “Ideally, succession planning should begin a year or two before you leave a position,” he says. “As a practical matter, this timeframe is usually much shorter.”

For a leader who is retiring, there are several steps that he or she can do to ensure a smooth transition. According to Britton there are three main agenda items that need to be addressed:

• Before you retire, you need to clearly define the job as you see it: objectives, key responsibilities and performance metrics.

• Having an actionable succession plan will help when recruiting a successor, as they will already have a road map and a place to start.

• A retiring leader needs to be part of the transition. This helps the incoming leader know what the organization is all about, introducing the leader to the people they will be working with, among other activities that help acclimatize the new organization.

Some organizations choose to promote leaders from within, which helps with a smooth transition.

“If the prospective CEO is internal, in an ideal and well-managed organization, they should have been part of senior-level discussions about their suitability to take the top job, including frank discussion of strengths and weaknesses,” Britton says, which was a model at American Airlines for decades and is still the model since the merger with US Airways in 2013. “This includes understanding the prospective leader’s emotional intelligence, which is now recognized as a key element of leadership success.” Nancy Mwirotsi

FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PURSUIT OF INNOVATION, DES MOINES, IOWA Rob Britton

PRINCIPAL OF THE CONSULTANCY REAL WORLD LEADERSHIP, WASHINGTON, D.C.

The best present an outgoing leader can give an incoming leader is a plan. The incoming leader can learn from their predecessors, including about succession planning for his/her own eventual exit, which will help the leader steer the organization in the right direction in perpetuity.

“Understand the factors that made the predecessor successful,” Britton says. “They need not imitate those qualities, but they should be aware of them. Get to know the entire organization. Spend time with middle managers, especially with frontline people.”

Mwirotsi agrees and adds that succession should be a core element in any organization. In fact, organizations should create a learning-oriented environment for incoming leaders whereby they learn what everyone does in each section of their company— regardless of whether the company is a small business in Iowa or the world’s largest airline.

“Leaders growing leaders is more important than hoarding talent,” she says. “The work environment should be able to identify and develop potential leaders.” It starts with the new boss being able to identify the different parts of the organization and understanding the wants and needs of the workforce.

Organizations with a succession plan should not treat it as a means to an end. Instead, organizations should review their succession planning regularly and make necessary adjustments, as times change and succession plans are not one-size-fits-all.

“Organizations’ leadership succession should not be a static undertaking,” Mwirotsi says. “Being flexible will improve the sustainability and resilience of the business as this allows to develop future leaders who will execute the business plan and the organizational goals. Without the succession plan, you’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’.”

A leadership change in an organization can make or break the organization. Having a succession plan that is not set in stone is key to leadership succession. Senior leadership should also give the new leader ample time to align with the organizational practices, culture, people and processes. Through training and coaching, an organization can create a pipeline of leaders who can step up and assume senior roles. It all boils down to planning the organizational change so that a leadership change does not catch employees and key stakeholders flat-footed.

Are you a leader facing the challenge of securing the right talent for your team? If you answered yes, this article is for you. Choosing talent that will represent your business simply identifies a different system or specific steps that will create expected and sustainable results. Hitting the wash, rinse and repeat button helps evaluate outdated leadership efforts— what’s working, what’s not—and invite a fresh methodology or brand, objectives and mission can be a bit of trial and error. While organizational system on how to rebuild teams and reinforce the it is true that people within our organizations are our greatest organizational mission. But this can’t be accomplished without assets, they don’t always stay for the long haul. In fact, just people. last year between April and July, a daunting 4 million people Every business will go through a cycle of challenges but can resigned from their jobs. The Great Resignation left a gaping survive with a strategic approach in remaining agile and creative. hole in the staffing pipeline, one that appeared impossible to Some businesses are fortunate to have teams that are durable mend when the need was immediate. and resilient, where others may have to continue to wash, rinse

Losing skilled workers during the busiest season, where and repeat until they discover the right combination of passion the company thrives and generates the bulk of its revenue, is and ambition to persevere. The question is: As leaders, what disheartening. According to Employee Benefit News, employers do we do? spend an average of 33 percent of a worker’s annual salary to We wash, rinse and repeat. replace just one employee. Quarterly training initiatives per employee can average anywhere from $1,200 to $1,700. While it is expensive to replace an employee, the long-term effects of working understaffed can cause a greater issue in the future. In the meantime leaders are temporarily using an all-hands-on-deck” ideology to cross-train other employees to fill the gap until another dedicated team member claims the role and responsibility of an empty place on the roster.

The good news is that employers are no longer hiring talent out of desperation. These days, employers are refining how to retain their workforce while preparing for incoming talent to build and complete their teams. The phrase “wash, rinse and repeat” is no stranger to business leaders; it is a mindset and process that

This part of the process can be difficult because it is easy for leaders to prolong the use of new ideas in exchange for proven systems that no longer work for the rebuilding of their team. Ideally, during this process, leaders will re-evaluate their organizational strategy and implement a renewed perspective on how to bring the best out of their employee, cut someone from the team or accept a resignation. For example, a leader may have to replace a team member who has resigned. During that transition, the leader will need to determine what could have been done differently to secure that talent or what behavior is unacceptable to the business culture.

The rinse cycle is better known as the trial period: It’s lengthier and requires more attention to detail. Leaders should gain insight on how to best build or restructure a more collaborative and higher performing team in this cycle. There will be a rinse of behaviors, ideas, positions and/or leadership and learning how to combine it all to align with business objectives. Be aware that the rinse cycle also spins out toxic waste, which could translate to behaviors that disrupt the team or force out people who weren’t willing to commit to the work (or who weren’t accountable for their actions).

If you made it to this stage, you found a customized process or strategy that is sustainable for your workforce. This is the stage where you can celebrate because it is a new proven method that not only improves your workforce but saves your business. Remember, at some point you will need to revise or replace parts of this process so you will continue to grow.

Tarrant Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides management and technical assistance to local small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs throughout Tarrant County. The consulting services provided are at no cost and training services are at a nominal fee.

Business consulting services are customized, one on one face-to-face or virtual at no cost. Consulting services provided are business plan development, capital acquisition, marketing, regulatory compliance and more. The Tarrant SBDC provides services to a diverse population, including special emphasis groups; women, minorities and veterans who are seeking to start or grow their business.

The Tarrant SBDC is hosted by Tarrant County College and is one of twelve field centers of the North Texas SBDC Network. Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA’s funding is not an endorsement of any products, opinions or services.

Access to Capital Accounting & Bookkeeping Business Planning Cash Flow Models COVID-19 Support Disaster Services Financial Planning Government Contracting Legal Structures Licensing & Permits Market Research Startup Cost Target Marketing

Special arrangements for the disabled will be made when requested in advance. Advising services are offered by the Tarrant Small Business Development center without regard to race, color, age, national origin, religion, sex or disability. Special provisions will be made for limited-English speaking individuals.

For accommodations, please contact the Tarrant SBDC at 817-515-2600.

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DEI. DEIA. DEAI. These acronyms—regardless of the spelling or order of the letters—have come to stand for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility. DEIA is one of the most important yet misunderstood topics in corporate and organizational behavior today, having gained traction in the wake of America’s great racial reckoning following the killing of George Floyd and other African Americans in 2020.

“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace requires buy-in from all stakeholders: It must be a part of the fiber of the company, institution or organization,” says Dr. Teresa Leary Handy, a DEI consultant and assistant professor of educational leadership with the University of Arizona Global Campus. “Work in this arena is not ‘in addition to’ a task force or a subcommittee. This work needs to be a part of every discussion from the bottom to the top of your office, which means the person responsible for these goals needs to report to the president or CEO.”

Handy defines diversity as embracing differences and not placing value on one over the other. She says the key is to approach DEI work as human work, thereby allowing employees across the company to see how these initiatives, when implemented properly and embedded in the workplace culture, allow organizations to meet their strategic goals and objectives.

“DEI is not only the right thing to do, but it also makes good business sense,” says Susan Carin, marketing manager for Drsono, a maker of wireless ultrasound medical scanners. “A diverse workforce brings with it a variety of perspectives and skills that can help organizations be more innovative and adaptive. To successfully implement DEI initiatives, organizations need to view them through a business lens and ensure that they are properly integrated into the company’s core values, culture and operations.” Essentially, DEI should be a part of the organization’s mission statement, not a footnote of day-to-day operations.

For C-suite leaders, DEI works best when the top leadership in an organization makes it a priority. “The perfect way to embrace diversity in the workplace is to be vocal about it,” says Adam Garcia, CEO of Orlando-based The Stock Dork, an online investment content hub. “Business leaders need to establish certain norms from the get-go.”

“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion bias can experience greater cohesion among its employees. “Unconscious bias is one of the in the workplace requires buy-in biggest barriers to inclusion, so it’s important for leaders to provide training on this topic,” from all stakeholders: It must be says Gergo Vari, the founder and CEO of Lensa, an online HR and talent acquisition platform. “This will help employees to be more aware a part of the fiber of the company, of their own biases and how they can impact others.” institution or organization.” Perhaps no industry has a larger impact on the world and its ability to confront implicit bias than travel, tourism and hospitality. Travel, by its nature, breaks down barriers and

A primary aim of DEI initiatives is to confront implicit bias broadens horizons, notes Elizabeth Harryman Lasley, president of among employees. Simply put, implicit bias occurs because the the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), one of the major society in which we live not only shapes our perceptions but our organizations representing travel journalism. “SATW believes that prejudices of people. “Most of those biases are unconscious— diverse perspectives are critical to the success of the Society, they don’t even realize they have them—and not all of them and that having members from underrepresented communities are necessarily bad,” says Dragos Badea, CEO of Yarooms, a on our board and as committee chairs enables us to best meet global solutions provider that helps companies manage flexible the needs of all our members.” workspaces. “Formalized DEI initiatives are that much more By focusing on professional development, diversity among staff important because they counterbalance those unconscious biases.” and board, and an active DEI committee, the North American

Organizations that provide training on implicit or unconscious Travel Journalists Association (NATJA) seeks to promote diversity

among travel journalists and destination marketing organizations that comprise its membership. “I am especially proud that we have an all-Latino staff run by a female and a diverse advisory board,” says Helen Hernandez, the CEO of NATJA.

“Employers must prioritize DEI in both recruiting and talent acquisition in today’s business climate,” adds Cindy Corpis, CEO of SearchPeopleFree, a people lookup website. “Businesses must incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion since it demonstrates to customers and workers that you are not afraid to offer everyone a chance.”

It’s OK for leaders to hyper-focus on individual letters of the DEIA alphabet soup, such as the “E” in equity. Emma Gordon, founder of USSalvageYards, an online marketplace for salvaging and recycling cars, says that when she lets equity thrive in her company, she notices that individuals come with a free, unfettered mind, allowing for diversity in thoughts and leadership decisions. “These individuals help me to push my company forward without so much effort.”

Leaders who pay attention to equity will sooner or later have to confront whether bias exists in the pay and compensation structures of their organizations. One way to ensure that an organization is meeting its DEI objectives is by promoting pay equity. “Leaders level out the playing field by providing equal pay to each employee in similar roles,” believes Erin Neumann, the CEO of St. Louis-based Be Aligned Web Design. “This leads to fair opportunities for every employee.“

“One of the most important things that leaders can do to support DEI is to have difficult conversations about race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and other hot-button topics,” says Trevor Larson, CEO and Founder of Nectar, an HR software company focusing on employee recognition. “These conversations can be uncomfortable, but they’re necessary in order to create an inclusive environment.”

A real advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion does not turn away someone who sincerely wants to promote change because they look different, says David Reid, sales director at VEM Tooling, a global tool manufacturer. “Change can only occur when we can captivate the minds, emotions and behaviors of individuals who do not look like us or share our life experiences.”

For leaders and employees alike, DEI offers an opportunity to create a “big tent” to bring together allies for change within their organizations. If an organization does not make all feel welcome in the big tent, then look to history to provide plenty of opportunities to see how the media responds to a myopic, tone-deaf company.

themselves up by their bootstraps. by rick gosselin | illustration by samantha ozeale tucker

Jason Witten was finished with the NFL after the 2020 season.

But pro football was not finished with the NFL’s fourthall-time leading receiver. Nor was the college game.

A third-round draft pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2003 after having started only 18 college games at the position, Witten proved work ethic can pave a path to the Hall of Fame. He wasn’t the fastest or the strongest, but his desire to be the best allowed him to catch 1,228 career passes for 13,046 yards. Only Jerry Rice, Larry Fitzgerald and Tony Gonzalez caught more balls in NFL history.

Witten set a league record for games played by a tight end (271) and went to the Pro Bowl in 11 of his 17 seasons. He was as fundamentally sound as any tight end who has ever played the game, which made him an ideal candidate to continue in football as a coach. In fact, that’s the reason Witten left the Cowboys in 2019 to join the Las Vegas Raiders.

“I signed on with [Jon] Gruden to get a master’s class in coaching,” Witten told The Lens. “I knew I was going to coach at that level. It’s kind of in my blood.”

So Witten talked to NFL teams that offseason. College programs also came knocking. But he already had an offer— sort of—in his back pocket.

His four kids were attending Liberty Christian, a private school north of Fort Worth in Argyle. Coincidentally, the football coach resigned following a 2-7 season in 2020.

“They asked my wife, ‘What’s Jason’s pulse on this?’” Witten recalls. “I think my wife knew I wasn’t going to do it. But after every conversation I had with an NFL or college team, my mind always drifted back to the high school game.”

For good reason. Witten played high school football for his grandfather, Dave Rider, one of the winningest coaches in Tennessee high school history. And his older brother Shawn has since won two state titles coaching at that same school. So Jason answered his high school calling.

“My grandfather’s the greatest man I ever knew,” Witten says, “and high school football is the purest form of the game. What an opportunity to give back. I hoped to help with some scheme and all that, but I’d really be missing the boat if I’m not impacting lives. That’s what I’ve experienced in the last 12 months.”

What a ride that first season was. Liberty Christian scored a 75-yard touchdown on its first play from scrimmage and romped to a 55-13 victory over Legacy Christian in the opener.

“I thought, `How easy is this?’” Witten says. “But I knew we had a lot of work to do. Watching the film, I knew it was going to be an uphill battle. But for a moment there, everyone in the stands—the principal, the athletic director, the moms and dads—there was hope. Tom Landry just came back.”

That hope was short-lived. The Warriors lost their next eight games, marking the first time Witten had ever experienced eight consecutive losses at any level of his football life.

“It’s gut-wrenching. It hurts. It’s hard. You hate it for the kids when they pour everything they have out for you. You want them to enjoy a little bit of success.”

Liberty Christian won its finale to finish 2-8. But for Witten, the season was a success. His grandfather taught him how to love the game of football. This was his chance to pass it on.

“They reminded me why I love the game of football,” Witten says. “They gave every ounce that was inside of them. It reminded me why I played the game the way I did and why the game meant so much to me. They taught me that it doesn’t matter how much you know—it’s how much you care. They were going to trust me because I knew football. But they were going to run through a wall for me because of what I invested in them.

“I can say with a 1,000 percent conviction that I’m a better coach after experiencing these last 12 months.”

In “The Workforce Lens” podcast, moderated by TCC Executive Vice President for Corporate Solutions & Economic Development Shannon Bryant, MEd, CWDP, LSSGB, we connect with business leaders in Tarrant County and North Texas on the evolution of their workforce needs, focusing on how they will continue to grow and thrive today and beyond. Listen to the podcast at corporate.tccd.edu and check back regularly for new episodes.

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