[Draft] Report of the 2007 BYU Management Society Annual Leadership Conference
Posted on October 16, 2007
Filed Under Uncategorized
Tags: Annual Leadership Conference, around, BYU, BYU management Society, ethical, leadership, Marriott School, moral, National Advisory Council, world
On October 4-5, 2007, the Thursday and Friday before LDS General Conference (click on any blue font – hypertext link – in this article for more info), 82 members of the BYU Management Society representing 12 different countries attended the organization’s “Annual Leadership Conference” in Provo, Utah. The BYU Management Society was formed by then Marriott School Dean Merrill Bateman in 1977 and has grown to over 9,000 members in 62 chapters from 17 countries. The Society’s vision is “growing moral and ethical leadership around the world.” Membership is not limited to BYU alumni or members of the LDS faith; they simply must share in the vision of the Society and be committed to spreading that vision in their personal and professional lives.
The BYU Management Society strives to foster its vision principally through local chapter events that include breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, special events and service projects in the local communities where they serve. The Society has developed seven specific “Cultural Beliefs“: Focus Efforts, Meet Purposefully, Grow People, Act Professionally, Think Globally, Align with BYU in the Marriott School and Live the Vision. The Society actively seeks out business professionals who share its vision. Seeking to fulfill its global mission, the Society recently opened new Chapters in Monterrey, Mexico and Seoul, South Korea and held its first-ever Regional Conference on June 2, 2007 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which was attended by leaders of the Chile, Brazil and Argentina chapters. A second Regional Conference was announced for the Asia Region in the spring of 2008.
The Conference began on Thursday afternoon in the Emerald Lodge at Aspen Grove (just above the Sundance Resort) with a report from Dean Ned Hill on the “State of the Marriott School.” Dean Hill Reported that in his recent annual devotional speech, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley applauded BYU for its 10th consecutive first-place ranking in category of “stone cold sober” schools in the Princeton Review. President Hinckley also acknowledged that the Marriott School recently received numerous accalodes from the national and international business community, including a first-place ranking for regional (smaller) MBA schools in the United States and second in ethics by the Wall Street Journal.
Alan J. Folkman, Chair of the Marriott School National Advisory Council and former CIO of Columbia Management Company was awarded the Lowell L. Bennion Lifetime Service Award and delivered the Keynote Address at the Thursday luncheon of the Conference. He shared a memorable experience at a conference he attended when a zookeeper stood on one end of a large room with an eagle perched on a post on the other end of the room. The eagle exemplified its vision by flying across the room to its trainer just above the heads of the audience. Brother Folkman spoke on “Vision,” and remarked that the eagle’s eyesight is eight times as powerful as a human’s. He shared an experience he had two weeks earlier at Edwards Air Force Base where Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier, Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient and one of the most decorated pilots in World War II, at age 84, perhaps for one last time, got in an F-18 jet and again broke the sound barrier. Mr. Yager attributed his success as a fighter pilot before the existence of radar to his gift of exceptional vision.
Developing his theme of “vision,” Brother Folkman quoted President Spencer W. Kimball as saying, “The poorest man is not the one who doesn’t have a cent, but the one who doesn’t have a dream” and “Make no small plans for in them there is no magic to stir the hearts of man.” He suggested 5 ways we, as leaders of the BYU Management Society, can enhance our vision, as follows:
1. Become a better listener.
2. Increase your power of observation.
3. Associate with and learn from people who have vision and have had successes.
4. Read good books, magazines, and keep up with current affairs—local and national; and
5. Be a student of history.
Sonny Morris, Steering Committee Member for the Southeast Region of the United States, gave a presentation on “Defining Success.” This presentation emphasized the fact that it is not the number of people who attend an event that determines whether it is successful, the critical factor is whether the event is promoting the vision of “growing moral and ethical leadership around the world” and the cultural beliefs that undergird that vision. An example of this was shared when a few years ago his own chapter organized an event where they invited BYU football coach Lavelle Edwards and the University of Virginia football coach to join in a fireside before the big game between the two schools. This event fostered the cultural belief “Act Professionally” by promoting good relations between two schools competing in a very important athletic competition. In another example, the Silicon Valley Chapter partners with its local LDS Employment Resource Services and local colleges and employers in the area to match graduates with jobs. The chapter has existing relationships with a long list of major corporate employers and has been instrumental in job placement for many individuals. The Portland Oregon Chapter recently had its first networking lunch and 45 people attended and were very excited about the event. They have planned a second networking luncheon for November. The Virginia Blue Ridge Chapter has a 24 month calendar of events, including an annual “Dean’s Seminar,” where a faculty member from the Marriott School will fly out at no charge to the local chapter and give a presentation on cutting edge business topics. Rixa Oman, Executive Directorof the BYU Management Society, is in charge of providing support from the Marriott School to chapters worldwide and Sonny Morris commented that the support given by Rixa and her BYU staff is so outstanding that “if you are not having success, you are starving in the Garden of Eden.”
Chris Feinauer, Steering Committee Member Representative from the BYU Alumni Association, led a discussion on, “How to Strengthen Your Chapter by Working with Constituent Groups” such as the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, BYU Alumni Association and Cougar Club. These three organizations have similar but slightly different approaches to the same overall goal. For example, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society affirms the “strength brought to the law by a lawyer’s personal religious convictions.” The BYU Alumni Association Mission Statement is to “To Cultivate the Spirit of the Y.” The Law Society does a particularly good job of recruiting new members through graduates of the law school. For example, every graduating student is automatically enrolled in the Law Society and they actively recruit LDS law students at other law schools throughout the country and currently have 1500 student members. Many of the BYU Management Society Chapters coordinate activities with the constituent groups, especially activities such as golf tournaments. One exceptional example is the Seattle chapter, which coordinates extremely well with the other groups. Their annual golf tournament raised $150,000 in scholarship funds in 2007 which were awarded to 81 college students or prospective college students who would attend either an LDS Church school or local universities in the area. The Washington, DC chapter holds only one event annually and does not charge dues. However, they regularly have over 1000 people in attendance at their annual dinner, including members of Congress, the House of Representatives as well as various Embassies.
LDS Employment is perhaps one of the most important constituent groups because they can help us in one of our most important functions of helping people find jobs. The Silicon Valley Chapter has an 18 member board that links all organizations. In total, the constituent groups in this area have held 56 events so far this year and by the end of the year will have put on 70 events with about 3000 participants. Chet Harmer, Chapter President of the Silicon Valley Chapter, attributes much of their success to treating their chapter like a business. They have four product lines and a person in charge of each of those product lines. They have a 1000 person e-mail address database which is kept current. Their primary product in the past was a luncheon but has been changed to a breakfast because of scheduling demands. This chapter does joint-venture employment workshops with LDS Employment that have been very successful. They have a W.O.M.E.N.’s organization that meets regularly for breakfast to discuss women’s issues in business.
Dave Guzy, Steering Committee Member over the Utah/Idaho Region, spoke on the topic of, “Growing Chapters with Well-Organized Boards.” The board is the foundation of the chapter and “as the board goes, so goes the chapter”. Newer, developing boards can recruit for their chapters by recruiting and increasing the size of their board. Mature boards can stay strong by applying the “two deep” concept and having two people involved in board positions to both recruit and provide succession planning. Dave invited Jeff Secrest, President of the Greater Teton Chapter, to share some examples. Jeff had been involved in the Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter and was constantly confronted the question of, “Why BYU?” Many of the prospective chapter members were graduates of SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, etc. Jeff explained that when you have personal communication about the vision you will have success in answering these questions. It does not matter which school you went to but it is sharing the vision that is key.
Ron Malouf, Chairman of the National Advisory Council (“NAC”) Management Society Committee, gave a presentation on, “Growing Your Chapter Network.” The NAC is a valuable resource to the BYU Management Society Chapters. The NAC members have each distinguished themselves nationally and internationally in their field of business and many of them are willing to speak to local chapters. Ron confirmed that we should not measure success by the number of people who attend our meetings. We should serve the people who come and “endure to the end,” and the people will come. Speaking to “business ethics,” he observed that Enron had a 132 page “Code of Ethics,” compared to the one page statement of ethics by Johnson & Johnson. It is easy to pay lip service to the concept of ethics and much harder to apply.
Ethics are in short supply in the business world today and we, as members of the BYU Management Society, should exemplify good ethics and be a “light unto the world.” The Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter holds a Career Fair in conjunction with LDS Employment were 600 people have attended with numerous large corporations on hand to interview candidates. The chapter invited Kim B. Clark, former Dean of the Harvard Business School and current President of BYU Idaho, to come speak to their chapter. However, they did not just have President Clark come and speak, they are arranged for him to meet with Board Members, Advisory Board Members and set up meetings with business leaders in the community. The Dallas Fort Worth chapter has created a flyer that has been approved to put on bulletin boards in every LDS Church building in the area. Everyone is involved in management, even those involved in the trades, and therefore, everyone is invited to participate in the chapter. Brother Malouf emphasized that the chapter is “affiliated” with the Marriott School at BYU but attending BYU is not a prerequisite to becoming a member. The chapter has recruited Priesthood leaders to be on the Advisory Board and Executive Board and therefore, a close association has been established with ecclesiastical channels. This allows the chapter to advertise its events by e-mail through Ward Representatives.
Joel Deceuster, former Silicon Valley Chapter chair and current Steering Committee Member and member of the NAC, who is also a professional business coach, gave a presentation on, “Growing Chapters with Great Marketing.” To a marketing person, “everything is a marketing problem.” He emphasized the vision and branding in our marketing. There must be a professional look and feel to everything we put out. We should focus on strategic alliances with the NAC, LDS Employment, the Alumni Association, Law Society, Cougar Club, and community business organizations. Member diversity should be a key goal of every chapter. The BYU Management Society website is a great asset in our marketing efforts. This can be used as a tool for dues reminders, online registration of both membership and for events, as well as resources such as an online brochure of the Society and an online calendar of events. A concept taken from the Rotary Club International has been used where the chapter has “Event Greeters” and “Staffers” at every event. Members are encouraged to bring a guest. Word-of-mouth through both Ward and state channels is vital. At the breakfasts, there are table introductions and a bulletin board where business cards can be placed.
Mark Dickson, Steering Committee Member for the Atlantic Region, spoke on, “Growing Chapters by Meeting Members Needs: Industry Specific Programs/Council/Committees.” Bob Higbee, Coordinator of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter Employment Council, explained that with Industry Specific Councils, industry leaders are selected for each of the 16 industry groups. The responsibilities of the industry leader is to write an annual Industry Outlook, participate in the annual fall Career Fair and attend the Industry Council roundtable, provide referrals or counsel to professional level candidates, after they are screened and referred by LDS Employment, share career progress suggestions and identify internship opportunities for college students. Although industry leaders are assigned to head up each Industry Specific Council, each member of the chapter is assigned to one of the councils and encouraged to share employer information, career advice, industry speakers, and participate in the yearly industry-specific roundtable networking event as part of the Annual Career Fair. Although the Industry Specific Councils are currently only operating as a pilot program in certain areas, there was much discussion about expanding this program to other areas.
The dinner program on Thursday evening included a presentation of the new DVD on the Marriott School’s building’s namesake, N. Eldon Tanner, known as “Mr. Integrity.” The keynote speaker was Bob Gay, NAC member, former Managing Director of Bain Capital, former Mission President of the Ghana, Accra Mission, Co-founder of Unitus, who spoke on “Growing Moral and Ethical Leadership.” Brother Gay shared experiences from his own business career, including an incident where a contract was written in such a way that it gave his company the legal right to an additional $25 million above that which had been negotiated. When it was discovered that the drafters of the written agreement had sought to gain an advantage for his company not specifically negotiated and not in accordance with the intent of the parties, he instructed a refund of the $25 million. He referred to the observation by Alexander Solzhenitsyn that “[W]e have placed too much hope in political and social reforms, only to find out that we were being deprived of our most precious possession: our spiritual life. In the East, it is destroyed by the dealings and machinations of the ruling party. In the West, commercial interests tend to suffocate it. This is the real crisis. The split in the world is less terrible than the similarity of the disease plaguing its main sections.”
The Friday sessions included an explanation by Associate Dean Michael Thompson of the Marriott School’s, “Diversity Initiative.” Brian Dixon, International Steering Committee Chair, and Chair of the Great Lakes Region, spoke on “Sharing the Vision,” which reviewed a history of the Management Society, its goals and accomplishments since its inception in 1977, when it was founded by then Marriott School Dean Merrill Bateman. A DVD presentation was then offered by Joel Deceuster, “Focus,” a photographic slide show/narration by National Geographic photographer, DeWitt Jones. A demonstration of the BYU Management Society website resources was given by Robert G. Gardner, Director of Alumni Relations for the Marriott School.
Jay Ripley, Employment Specialist with LDS Employment, and Scott Greenhalgh, Director of BYU Alumni Placement, led a session on “Employment – Networking.” There are 288 Employment Resource Centers nationwide. The Wall Street Journal reports that 80% of all available jobs are not posted and 60% of all respondents list networking as the best way to find a job. The LDS Church has just initiated a “LinkedIn Group” found at http://lds.org/emp/network, where individuals on the LinkedIn system can add their network to the LDS Connected Network.
Scott Greenhalgh introduced the new state-of-the-art online job matching program located at http://alumni.byu.edu/placement/. This service allows applicants to fill out an extensive questionnaire which employers use to match with job requirements for open positions within their company. Although the assessment takes one hour to complete, the program has been filling an average of more than 200 jobs per week since its inception.
A series of six workshops were held, three at a time, which addressed the Cultural Beliefs of the Society. Three were held before lunch and three after lunch. These included, “Focus Efforts,” “Meet Purposefully,” “Growing People,” and in the afternoon, “Act Professionally,” “Think Globally,” and “Align with BYU/Marriott School.”
On Friday, a joint luncheon between the BYU Alumni Association and the BYU Management Society was held at the Assembly Hall in the new Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni & Visitors Center with an International Employment Panel Discussion on job opportunities in the international sector. The luncheon was followed by a workshop specifically designed for international chapters outside of the United States which focused on the unique problems and opportunities of these chapters. At the same time, Chapters located inside the United States held a separate discussion regarding chapter finances, donations, fund raising, scholarship programs, political neutrality, etc.
The closing session, “Taking the Conference Back to Your Chapter,” included two minutes summaries of each of the six workshops on the Cultural Beliefs, a discussion on how to take back to the chapter what had been learned in the Leadership Conference. it was observed that there are three dramatic forces in the world today that create a compelling demand for the work of the BYU Management Society. First, there is an ethical crisis in business. Second, the “global economy” is accelerating at a rapid pace. Third, more than three-fourths of BYU students speak a language other than their native tongue and have a high commitment to moral and ethical values. Therefore, the BYU Management Society is uniquely qualified to fulfill its vision of “growing moral and ethical leadership around the world.” There was a general excitement as the conference closed and participants considered what they had learned and how to apply the training back in their local chapters. The Conference will reconvene on the Thursday and Friday before LDS General Conference in October 2008.
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Bill, this is a great report, very detailed!! I’m sure you spent a lot of time working on it. Does the magazine want a detailed report or a shorter version of the report?
Cynthia, this was my full report. I’m sure the Meridian Magazine wants a shorter version and I’m going to talk to them about the word limit. However, I would like to get comments from anyone that has a different recollection than mine. Thank you for reading and responding.
Bill,
I’ve read the whole thing and know that you’ve covered each presentation very well. I would focus on the two major conference talks from Alan Folkman and Bob Gay as for the article. (The Eagle Vision & Gen. Yeagar, and the East/West quote on our “spiritual life” have great interest.) Make sure that your concluding remarks of the “three dramatic forces” is included as our forward focus. The themes of the conference breakout sessions would be good to know but a hotlink to the BYUMS Blog for the full detail conference report above would better serve the article.
Bill:
Thank you for your attention to detail and for providing this wonderful summary of the conference. This synopsis will be beneficial to members of my region who were not able to attend the conference and who have asked about the content of the meetings.
You might include in my presentation summary “Growing Chapters with Well-Organized Boards” the fact that the board is the foundation of the chapter and “as the board goes, so goes the chapter”. Newer, developing boards can recruit for their chapters by recruiting and increasing the size of their board. Mature boards can stay strong by applying the “two deep” concept and having two people involved in board positions to both recruit and provide succession planning.
I agree with Sonny and appreciate the addition of the “three dramatic forces” in the conclusion of the draft.
On another topic, perhaps we can discuss doing presentations for the Marriot School students when we are at BYU for our conference (or other times throughout the year). Having worked in the past with the Undergraduate Advisory Board, I believe they have added to the curriculum a class on careers with presentations from people in all different fields of endeavor. Perhaps we can do an add-on talking about the Management Society and the vision of “growing moral and ethical leadership around the world”. If we can introduce these concepts at the student level, we are ahead of the game as they leave BYU and go out into the world.
Thanks again for what you have done and for your leadership…
Sonny:
Do you have the East/West quote on our “spiritual life?I would like to hand it but do not have it. Thanks.
Bill
Dave:
thank you for your comments. I have included the additions you suggested. Did you see my second draft which is a shorter version for possible inclusion in the Meridian Magazine?
I like your idea of making presentations to the Marriott School students. We are so pressed for time at our conference, I’m not sure how we would include that at that time but maybe there is a way. In the alternative, we could encourage Steering Committee members who are traveling through Provo and coordinate presentations at that time with the school, if possible.
Bill,
The quote I’m referring to is in Bob Gays abstract. It’s the quote by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It’s very insightful.
SWM
Did we ever get a copy of the talk? I remember getting Alan Folkman’s but not Bob Gay’s. If someone can get it to Rixa, maybe we can get it posted on the “Resources” section of the website.