Leaders Share Life Stories

It is graduation season, and leaders in all walks of life are commonly invited to share their life lessons at graduation ceremonies, inspiring future leaders of tomorrow. These leaders may include celebrities, entrepreneurs, political change-makers and more, all with stories and life lessons to share.

Here’s an article from Teen Vogue that collects some of the most famous, featuring:

  1. Steve Jobs: Standford, 2005
  2. Michelle Obama: Tuskagee University, 2015
  3. Natalie Portman: Harvard, 2015
  4. Amy Poehler: Harvard University, 2011
  5. Meryl Streep: Barnard College, 2010
  6. David Foster Wallace: Kenyon College, 2005
  7. Barack Obama: Howard University, 2016
  8. Kerry Washington, George Washington University, 2013
  9. Conan O’Brien: Dartmouth College, 2011
  10. J.K. Rowling, Harvard, 2008
  11. Oprah Winfrey: Harvard University, 2013
  12. Joss Whedon: Wesleyan University, 2013
  13. George Saunders: Syracuse University, 2013
  14. Nora Ephron: Wellesley College, 1996
  15. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Wellesley College, 2015
  16. Admiral William H. McRaven: University of Texas at Austin, 2014

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Take a page out of these leaders’ stories. Our Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program includes a diverse course curriculum that will enable you to evolve as a leader and make a difference. The program includes a core course “Develop Yourself and Others” but also covers other critical topics like “Coaching for Performance,” “Change Management,” “Supervision and Human Resource Functions,” “Interpersonal Communication,” “Helping Your Team Achieve Optimal Organizational Management,” along with a Capstone Course that integrates all the learning and knowledge. Now enrolling for the fall session, starting in August.

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SOURCE:
Teen Vogue, “16 Best Graduation Speeches That Leave a Lasting Impression, Kristi Kellogg and Noor Brara, April 17, 2020.

The Pandemic Litmus Test for Supply Chains

Supply chains were tested by COVD-19 in ways never before experienced. How companies creatively responded and improvised in the face of changing consumer behavior, intervention of health authorities and governments point to new lessons in supply chain management, including these approaches:

How Trucking and Transportation Can Act as a Buffer

Companies that have control over boosting or downgrading trucking capacity have an advantage over companies that do not. We may see this getting higher priority as things normalize post-pandemic.

How Companies Take a More Integrated Approach

Before COVID-19, companies didn’t give worse-case scenarios a lot of attention. Worse, they regarded supply chain, production planning and risk management as separate functions with different managers in charge of each. Now we know better. Companies will not only develop reality-based risk management plans, they may also entertain allocating investment into backup or insurance capabilities. They may also emphasize an expanded view of their key suppliers to better anticipate weaknesses in the chain.

How Companies Explore New Ways to Use Automation

The pandemic revealed the benefits of automation in an environment of disruption and shortage, and it’s likely companies will use automation in new ways going forward, including the very real prospect of driverless vehicles.

How Companies Used Their Local Communities

During the pandemic, companies discovered the value of using local supply chains. Local companies were often more trustworthy and reliable business partners. Local supply chains also make a difference to consumers, which makes this continuing emphasis a double benefit.

The pandemic taught us that a company’s success is decided by how effectively it manages, controls and adapts its supply chain to prevent or mitigate unforeseen interruptions.

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Business depends on supply chain management. Our Certificate in Supply Chain Management provides exposure to logistics, transportation, packaging, operations planning, inventory management and enterprise resource planning, among other functions. Learn how to develop supply chain solutions as you increase your knowledge of how to use supply chain networks to secure, produce and deliver products to a global marketplace. Now enrolling for the fall session, starting in August.

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RESOURCES:
Entrepreneur. “Emerging Supply Chain Trends Entrepreneurs Need to Know About.” Marco Ludwig, June 16, 2021.

Entrepreneur. “Consumer Trends Demand New Supply Chain Ideas.” Philip Stoten. May 2, 2021.

Changing Leadership in the New Now

2020 has been a crucible for leadership. The world faced a crisis, and workplaces and workforces were forced to adapt. Some leaders fared better than others, creating lessons for leadership in the “new now,” as we navigate a more hybrid future.

Needed skills have shifted in three crucial ways:

  1. The need for communication shifted to a need for empathy
  2. The need for emotional intelligence shifted to a need for emotional agility
  3. The need for time management shifted to a need for context management

Empathy

No one had answers in 2020, including leadership. That meant that in order for leaders to connect and check-in with employees that had to delve a little deeper and share more than updates. The important skill set was less about communication and more about listening.

Emotional Agility

Emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of and control your emotions. Emotional agility goes a little further. Agile people are not only aware of their feelings, they know how to navigate through them. As a leader, this means you are better able to affect the desired impact because you are self-aware and situation-aware.

Context Management

“Flipping” the workplace requires that leaders rethink how work gets done. In today’s more hybrid environment, leaders need to be more intentional. The work context has changed, so we collectively need to manage our time and design our days around how we work, based on what we’re working and with whom we’re working.

2021 and beyond will demand leaders who are more flexible, collaborative and creative to guide their people and companies through current – and future – challenging times.

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Our Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program includes a diverse course curriculum that will enable you to evolve as a leader and make a difference. The program includes a core course “Development Yourself and Others” but also covers other critical topics like “Coaching for Performance,” “Change Management,” “Supervision and Human Resource Functions,” “Interpersonal Communication,” “Helping Your Team Achieve Organizational Management,” along with a Capstone Course that integrates all the learning and knowledge. Now enrolling for the fall session, starting in August.

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RESOURCES:
Adobe. “New Year, New Leadership: 5 Skills Needed to Succeed in 2021. Melissa Williams. January 28, 2021.
Forbes. “Three Leadership Skill Shifts for 2021 and Beyond. Melissa Daimler. November 24, 2020.