One hundred fifty-two members of PBL around the state of Nebraska, including 16 members from SCC, attended the PBL Fall Leadership Conference.

“Igniting Innovation” was the theme of the Conference in Union Center at the UNL East Campus on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012.

Twelve members and two advisors from SCC-Beatrice, two members from SCC-Milford, and several members and advisors from other college and university campuses around the state attended the conference this year where speakers introduced many ways innovations have affected career goals for the next generation of business leaders.

Registration started at 9 a.m. with the first speaker, Charles McClendon, opening the conference at 9:30. McClendon is the president of No Ceilings L.L.C., a company intent on removing barriers between employers and employees in the workplace.

McClendon stated, “Employers generally hit employees with satisfaction surveys in a “spray and pray” method. They “spray” employees with at least 150 questions relating to job satisfaction and “pray” that a pattern emerges that employers can then work with.”

McClendon then explained, “There are generally three types of employee satisfaction positions. The fully engaged employee, the not engaged employee and the actively disengaged employee.” He then went on to describe each position.

McClendon then provided a demonstration of how working from strengths allows any worker to grow, but managing weaknesses takes time away from developing strengths.

The conference then moved to separate meeting rooms in the Union Center to learn from two different workshops. The workshops were led by the state PBL Leadership team members and were titled “Innovation Tools” and “Leadership Dynamics.” There were games played that taught teamwork and idea sharing, then each workshop developed its own manner of imparting the information for that workshop.

The members then met back in the Great Plains room where a networking luncheon was provided. There were many business professionals joining the members at tables that were assigned according to majors.

Some of the businesses included Gallup (of the Gallup polls), Sandhills Publishing, Wells Fargo Bank, Koski Professional Group and included such business professionals as Charles McClendon and Jamal Jackson, a Master’s graduate from Creighton University and a motivational speaker.

After the luncheon, members again met in separate meeting rooms to learn from such workshops as “Talent Theory,” led by a speaker from Gallup, and “Job Interview 101” led by a speaker from Sandhills Publishing.

The “Talent Theory” workshop taught members how to leverage their skills, knowledge and talents into strengths for leadership. The “Job Interview 101” workshop provided members with resume tips, job interview skills, and “everything else” they need to know to land their job or internship.

For closing, the conference introduced Jamal Jackson to speak on “Passion for Leadership.” Mr. Jackson opened his speech with the poem, “Invictus,” by William Ernest Henley, which ends “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Mr. Jackson then explained how members could be “captains of their souls” and achieve or lose their dreams by internal and external motivations.

Peggy Schmidt, PBL-Beatrice member was heard saying, “Even though I attended all these workshops last year, I still learned new things this year. That makes attending worth it.”

Karen Emerson, PBL-Beatrice advisor said, “I learn something new at every conference I attend.”