Emerging Leaders Conference Sept. 26, 2023 Bothell, WA
BY REINE ALBITE, MASTER OF ACCOUNTANCY STUDENT
“The Emerging Leaders Conference theme was leadership in the workplace. However, a big lesson I took away is that leadership is not constrained to just the workplace. Leadership involves working with yourself to better understand your identity, skills, and your values. The four-part leadership workshop was presented by Nick Anderson who runs a business called CHOSEN LEADER. He teaches that leadership is a choice, a choice of the follower. Leaders need to be clear on their values and identity because it is those qualities that will inspire others. He covered topics about clean and clear agreement, the significance of clear communication in the workplace, and sacrifices that need to be made as a tradeoff for change. He also emphasized the skill of competence. He mentions “Competence does not mean knowing everything about the subject matter, it is about having the means of going after the knowledge and expertise to have a better understanding”. This was a very reassuring quote because as students, workplaces can seem intimidating in the way that students might be expected to know everything when entering the workforce. However, that is not reality and competence is a significant skill as an emerging leader. The other speaker we heard from was Pooja Sund, an engineering finance leader at Microsoft and noted in the Hall of Fame – Global Women in Tech 2023. She had a very inspiring presentation on navigating a multicultural environment for success. One of her lessons was that ‘leadership starts when they start believing in their capability.’ She stresses that diversity is a fact, it’s inherent and acquired. Where inclusion is an act, a demonstrated behavior. Both are important in the workplace to embrace inclusive leadership that respects all backgrounds and cultures.”
