Applications are due on Thursday the 6th.
Scholarship applications are now on the website (see link below). If you know of someone at a small or medium sized firm that we be a great candidate, please let them know.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
ELP September 2012 Class
For the September ELP seminar, the class met at Sabine Hall on the Richland College Campus. The seminar focused on project leadership and featured panelists with backgrounds in both architecture and construction. Our invited guests were Patrick Glenn, a principal with Perkins + Will; Wade Andres, President and CEO of Andres Construction; and Stephen R. Miller, a project manager with Andres Construction.
Pete’s session began with a fun collaborative exercise that helped everyone recall and situate all the analytical models that we’ve studied throughout the year with regard to leadership development. By using the dashboard of an automobile as a metaphor, we broke into groups and related each of the concepts to the instruments and gauges we all utilize in driving our vehicles. The goal was to situate the various analytical models as if they were instruments on a dashboard---where would we place them? How would we use them? How are they connected and interdependent? The dashboard represents self-awareness of the automobile machine in real time; Pete used it as a metaphor because all of the analytical models are tools to better understand ourselves as developing leaders. Each group sketched their automobile dash on the dry erase board and presented their ideas to the class. One group applied the Johari Window model (Open, Hidden, Blind, and Unknown Self) to all components of the dash, while the other groups expanded upon the Farm Gate, Leadership Effectiveness Triangle, and the Dynamics of Competency Model.
Next, Pete presented the product realization model diagram and closed the session with a group discussion where we applied it to the practice of architecture, relating the workflows and processes conveyed in the diagram to the workflows and processes each of us keenly know as practicing architects. We looked at the diagram from the perspective of innovator, bridger and adaptor types to understand where each of these cognitive problem solving styles most naturally fit within the phases of the product realization model.
Nick Richardson
Sunday, September 16, 2012
ELP August 2012 Class
We kicked off Pete’s portion of the class with a group discussion “gut check” at each table about how we feel the ELP program is going so far this year and what we might do differently for next year’s group of budding ELP’ers. The current co-chairs took notes as we opened up the discussion as a class in an effort to keep pushing the ELP program to its ultimate potential of effectively teaching and coaching young professionals to become great leaders in their respective firms, communities, and homes. “Why should anyone take you seriously?” This is how Pete got our attention back on him and proceeded to give us a quick recap on previous lessons, from the Competency Model, to the Ability/Awareness/Commitment Triangle, and the Farm Gate Model, which shows how the middle managers of the world have the hardest positions. We touched on how to create an environment that enables people to advance their work and Andrew gave a great example of this that he has implemented at his firm with the help of a couple colleagues. They periodically hold a firm wide forum to learn from recent graduates on how to enhance the companies design capabilities. It’s a great opportunity to learn from young, energetic, “change the world” kind of individuals and keep the brainstorming and fresh ideas flowing through the company, which will keep the company relevant to new and ever-changing clients. We wrapped up the class by “giving back to the profession” as Pete called it, by having table talk about a series of questions the Univ. of Utah’s Design Center has come up with to better define the roll of a fully developed manager. This was no easy task and took some great contemplation and discussion between classmates to create each tables idealistic fully developed manager.
Chris Owens
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
ELP Class Project | Playground at CityWalk @ Akard
Our Emerging Leaders Class project involves designing and producing the construction documents for a future playground at CityWalk @ Akard. We are also fundraising for the playground and will be coordinating its construction.
CityWalk @ Akard (CityWalk), which opened in 2010, is a mixed-use building at 511 North Akard in downtown Dallas
Particularly since 142 of the 206 units in the building are small efficiency units, the CDCDC did not anticipate having many children as residents. However there are now 38 children, many of them quite young, living in the building with no public playground nearby. There is no open space onsite to locate a playground, but the CDCDC and CityWalk management would like for a play area to be located at the building’s old loading dock area, which currently does not have a programming function. The space is a long and narrow area, enclosed on three sides, which will need to be built up in platforms (with ADA access incorporated) due to the 4’ drop down from the door that leads out to the space. The awkward nature of the space has so far prohibited CityWalk from being able to receive donations from nonprofit organizations that provide more standardized playgrounds. The CDCDC and CityWalk Community Life Team, which is made up of staff and volunteers at CityWalk, is excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the AIA Dallas Emerging Leaders Program Class of 2012 for the design, fundraising, and construction of the new play area. They want the play area to be a unique space which will give the Community Life Team the chance to expand their support programs for the children residing at CityWalk.
As an adaptive reuse in downtown Dallas
Monday, July 16, 2012
ELP June 2012 Class
ELP June 2012 Class: Panel Discussion Topic: Political | Community Activism
Panelists:
Zaida Basora, FAIA, City of Dallas
Kevin Falconer, AIA, Brinker International/City of Carrollton City Council
Amy Wallace Cowen, Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce
June’s ELP Class took place at the Trinity River Audubon Center in South Dallas. With a diverse group of panelist, the class explored a wide range of ways in which to plug themselves into their community and then use that experience to help guide their career paths. Reintroduced was a theme heard throughout the year: just say ‘yes’ when asked to volunteer and the opportunities to engage will follow. Whether it be getting involved for your children’s sake or participating in individual task groups, small steps eventually evolve into leadership opportunities. Each panelist seemed to have sought out a means by which to support a cause in which they were passionate. The more involved and up to date they became, the more their network grew, facilitating their career trajectory. As is often the case when taking steps to engage ones time in extracurricular activities, work/life balance may be affected. The panelists stressed the importance of setting priorities and taking the time to periodically access and readjust. Finally, as a great transition to Pete’s upcoming discussion on team work, the panelists were asked how they have been successful in the past in getting people to work together. Each felt it was important to understand the problem and then find common ground among those involved. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty nor should you be afraid to fail.
Pete took the discussion of working together further by introducing the Model for Team Building. However, to first understand how to build a successful team, we needed to learn just what a team was. Unlike a Group [individuals who gather and witness something together] or an Association [individuals who voluntarily gather and witness something together], a Team is made up individuals which voluntarily gather and then act upon an event together. They rely on each other to perform a task in a specified amount of time.
To be successful, team members must first understand who they are and what expertise they bring to the table. Once this is established, the team member begins to recognize, accept, and then trust the other team members, recognizing the role they play. Without these first steps, there can be an atmosphere of fear and mistrust leading to apathy and competition amongst members.
The next step in team building is to discuss and understand its goal. By knowing each individual’s strengths, the team may productively begin to work together providing each other with spontaneous feedback. Ultimately, the successful team will operate by means of an interdependence relationship where each member is mutually dependent on others as opposed to a dependence relationship where some members are dependent and some are not.
As an interactive illustration of how to build a successful team, the group headed outside to work in teams of six. Each team designed a process by which to toss tennis balls in a set pattern. The goal was to increase capacity and thru-put. Each team crafted their own style which was then demonstrated for the entire class. Finally, the three teams combined, adjusted their systems to operate together, and ultimately succeeded in completing the task. The lesson learned was to communicate, offer feedback to members on what was needed, and continually assess the team’s progress.
by Karen M. Thrasher, t. howard + associates
Thursday, June 7, 2012
May ELP Meeting: Pete’s Class
May's ELP Class took place in the Sewell Boardroom at the Dallas Arboretum (currently showcasing the amazing Chihuly exhibit which we all were able to enjoy after class).
Pete continued his discussion on the Evergreen Project. We also discussed 16 ways an individual can crash and burn professionally. A few examples include conflict avoidance and over-competitiveness. He also reviewed an article by John Gardner (former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare) on leadership. This article is very timely in that this is an election year. Toward the end of the meeting, Pete asked that we start thinking about our own leadership theory, in regards to values, influence, etc. We will discuss more in depth during the June meeting.
Hilary Thomas-Herd, FKP
Thursday, May 3, 2012
April ELP Meeting: Pete's class
Before starting the Panel discussion on “State and National Advocacy”, the class took few minutes to discuss the strategies and goals of the City Walk Class project. The group decided to meet the community life team before meeting the resident groups.
Pete started by recapping the panel discussion and then took it further. We all experienced the fact that things taught at Architecture and other engineering-based schools are different than what we really need to know and use in our professional life. Now that we have been out of school for several years, it is time for us do some mentoring at the schools and try to bridge the gap between - “fresh graduate with software knowledge and experienced professionals with technical knowledge”. His word of caution on the topic:
“Work comes to excellent people until they submerged themselves in talking about oneself, instead of promoting oneself.”
We refreshed our memory on the Awareness-Influence-Commitment triangle and discussed how one can influence with or without authority. The old farm gate model of progressing within an organization was also brought up.
Pete discussed the Book, “Evergreen Project” on “what really works” is a compilation of study by academician on companies who has been profitable for more than last 20 years. What is their secret? The 4-2 formula.
Sticking to 4 primary Practices:
1. Strategies- Make your strategy clear and focused
2. Execution- Execute flawlessly
3. Culture- build a performance based culture
4. Organization- Make your organization fast and flat.
Paying attention to 4 Secondary practices:
1. Talent of employees- make talent stick around and develop more
2. Leadership & Governance- Make your leaders committed to your business
3. Innovation- Make industry-transforming innovations
4. Mergers & Partnership- Make growth happen with mergers and partnership
How are strategies are different from tactic? Strategies are long term plans which will bring the “most bang for your buck”. Steve Jobs’ Apple office layout was brought in as an example. When Steve took over the office, he relocated all the bathrooms to one central spot, next to the Agora of the building, which forced different isolated groups within the company to see each other and exchange ideas.
Paying attention is key, otherwise the company may end up getting boiled like the west Texan “Story of the Bullfrog”, which could not jump out of the pot on time as he was not paying attention to the water heating up slowly. Andy brought up the example of Blockbuster, struggling to survive.
Beware of the unaware. Kim brought up the example of Chili’s - how they needed to understand what their customer wanted before they tried to provide something for them.
When the topic of execution came by, Andy commented on how the design industry is taking advantage of the 3D modeling in fabrication. Ryan added how BIM is helping to resolve conflicts upfront and saving money.
Pete brought in the example of a 400-room hotel project where empowering the front line people eliminated the micromanagement problem and finally made the hotel profitable. Wal-mart is on the opposite end, constantly striving to minimize waste. Chris shared his experience of working with Wal-mart.
The culture of the firm should inspire each person to do their best. Provide feedback with positive and constructive comments. Andrew shared how his boss recognized his contribution publicly, which inspired him to do a better job every day. The management looks forward to feed back too.
Finally, promote transparency, exchange information across the whole company. Put the top performers in the frontline and eliminate unnecessary layers of management. Keep growing with partners who complements your experience and strength.
It was an ideal session for me as I dream of growing and sustaining the growth in my future. I am sure each of us was reminded of some things we know, and some strategies we do not think of on a day-to-day basis. Most of the members in the class are already holding frontline positions in their firms. This session will help them grow into key role players in their organizations hopefully within just a few years.
Mahbuba Khan
MnK Architects
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
ELP March 2012: Pete's Class
The March 9th lecture continued with Pete delving deeper in to the theme of mentors and protégés. First we must understand that when we approach a potential mentor, they may not know how to form the mentor - protégée relationship or may not feel that they have anything to offer. When approaching a potential mentor it is best to be honest and up front with expectations. Mentors can be found in many types of relationships, there is peer-to-peer, career or life orientated. As a general rule, your boss cannot be an adequate mentor as the boss is sometimes (usually) the problem, however, you might be lucky enough to find a boss who is genuinely interested in you.
Further discussion tied previous class dialog to today's session, "awareness" about people, self, or situation allows us to receive honest feedback from someone else about our "blind-self", however this person must have a genuine interest in you and you in them as self-interest kills any relationship. A good mentor must have an unconditional positive regard for you, in other words, the mentor can tell you that you screwed up, be honest with you, and be a reliable source that you can trust. The relationship with your mentor should be authentic one, not one for gain of position or power but one of honesty, empowerment, and of cross-fertilization; your mentor will learn as much from you as you will from them.
"When the student is ready the teacher will appear" Chinese Proverb.
Next we dove into responsibility and position as it refers to two types of achievers. The first achiever climbs the ladder one rung at a time, never venturing out of their responsibilities or position's definition. Self-interest fuels this tunnel vision achiever and they do eventually climb that ladder to more power and better positions.
The second type of achiever climbs the ladder via a game of chutes and ladders (mostly the big ladders). They tend to take on responsibility outside of their position and act without authority to solve problems to get their initial job done. Volunteering to take on more and solving greater problems will gain the attention of superiors, and soon the energy and capability to take on more accountability promotes this achiever to the next rung or sometime up several rungs. This achiever continues to take on more problems and more responsibility, and will overtake the first type of achiever as they put more on the line but receive a bigger return. Some of the traits of this achiever are energy, awareness, and altruism; however the continued taking on of responsibility carries the danger of burning out. As in anything, balance is the key to success.
"Leap and the net will appear." Zen Saying
Further discussion tied previous class dialog to today's session, "awareness" about people, self, or situation allows us to receive honest feedback from someone else about our "blind-self", however this person must have a genuine interest in you and you in them as self-interest kills any relationship. A good mentor must have an unconditional positive regard for you, in other words, the mentor can tell you that you screwed up, be honest with you, and be a reliable source that you can trust. The relationship with your mentor should be authentic one, not one for gain of position or power but one of honesty, empowerment, and of cross-fertilization; your mentor will learn as much from you as you will from them.
"When the student is ready the teacher will appear" Chinese Proverb.
Next we dove into responsibility and position as it refers to two types of achievers. The first achiever climbs the ladder one rung at a time, never venturing out of their responsibilities or position's definition. Self-interest fuels this tunnel vision achiever and they do eventually climb that ladder to more power and better positions.
The second type of achiever climbs the ladder via a game of chutes and ladders (mostly the big ladders). They tend to take on responsibility outside of their position and act without authority to solve problems to get their initial job done. Volunteering to take on more and solving greater problems will gain the attention of superiors, and soon the energy and capability to take on more accountability promotes this achiever to the next rung or sometime up several rungs. This achiever continues to take on more problems and more responsibility, and will overtake the first type of achiever as they put more on the line but receive a bigger return. Some of the traits of this achiever are energy, awareness, and altruism; however the continued taking on of responsibility carries the danger of burning out. As in anything, balance is the key to success.
"Leap and the net will appear." Zen Saying
Amy King
SHWGROUP
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
ELP March 2012 Class: Panel Discussion Topic: Mentors & Protégés
Panelists:
Mr. Clyde Porter, FAIA; Associate Vice Chancellor of Facilities Management and Planning/ District Architect for the Dallas County Community College District
Ms. Marcel Quimby, FAIA; Principal and Founding Partner of Quimby McCoy Preservation Architecture
Mr. Robert Richardson: President and Founder of Regent Communities
Mr. Robert Richardson: President and Founder of Regent Communities
The topic du jour for our March gathering revolved around mentors – how to find one, how to be a good one and perhaps most importantly, how to get the most out of the experience. As one would likely imply by the class name ‘Emerging Leaders,’ most of us find ourselves more on the protégé side, although a few of us have had opportunities to advise interns in our respective firms. Representing the opposite side of the coin – the mentors – was a panel of guests bringing different perspectives in regards to mentorship. I had a few “a-ha moments” (to quote Oprah) in listening to their thoughts and opinions. The first one came from Mr. Porter, who encouraged us to first spend some time setting a life plan for ourselves – asking ourselves where we want to go and how we want to get there. This plan can be career-centric or more holistic depending on what is best for you. Once this plan takes form, it becomes easier to seek out people who can help you realize your goals, in whole or in part. Moreover, it may not be one person that can help you fulfill all of your aspirations – it is possible and maybe even preferable to establish these kinds of relationships with several people regardless of their profession. As Mr. Richardson added, “a wise person can help you whether they are in the field of architecture or not.”
It was apparent from the questions my fellow classmates posed to the panel that many were unsure of how to go about finding a mentor. A lucky few of us (me included) are in the fortunate position of having a boss that takes the time to be a mentor and truly cares about our professional development. Others that do not consider their bosses to be willing and able mentors are forced to look beyond their studio or even beyond their firm for that support. It can be a daunting task to approach someone and ask them to make an emotional as well as a time commitment to your growth as an architect or as a person. My second light bulb moment came when Mr. Richardson explained that many professionals who truly have a lot to offer in the way of mentorship often don’t realize this. They don’t think of themselves as being in a position to help navigate someone else’s career path. This can be especially true when there is a substantial generation gap and technology becomes a factor. It can be hard for the architects who are part of the pencil and mayline generation to relate to the younger computer whizzes rising through the ranks today. This perspective would have never occurred to me, but now that I think about it, it seems so obvious. They are just as scared of us as we are of them….who knew?
My final takeaway from this discussion was that communication is key. Effective communication was cited by all three panelists across the board as the single most important skill to develop, no matter where your career path takes you. It transcends technology and bridges the generation gap between the student and the teacher. You may not be able to find a single person that embodies everything you are looking for in a mentor, but if you can find someone who can communicate well, you stand to learn a great deal.
Ellen Mitchell, HKS
Sunday, February 26, 2012
ELP February 2012 Class: Community Leadership and Regionalism
The panel speaker for the February class was Walter Humann, a successful businessman as well as a leader in public service. Walt’s presentation on Regionalism + Leadership takes place inside a small dark theater of the MAC, the McKinney Avenue Contemporary. Walt begins the class with a brief review of current activities in the Jubilee Park neighborhood in southeast Dallas and some background information on his life experiences. He quotes a well known Robert Frost’s poem saying, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference”. He then poses the question/challenge to the group of defining local vs. global influence.
Walt defines Regionalism as voluntary cooperation involving multiple government or non-profit organizations attacking major problems and improving local conditions for everyone involved. Then, the discussion takes a whimsical turn where Walt gives examples of local regionalism projects while the class responds with either 1, 2, or 3 points, thumbs up (jump ball), or thumbs down (air ball). 3 points would be a great example of regionalism while thumbs down would not be a good example at all. Examples include projects like the Dallas North Toll way, DFW airport, DART, local colleges/universities, and the local water quality. During this exploration Walt explains his connection to these efforts and how or why they are good or bad examples of regionalism.
Next, the discussion moves to leadership and the group is asked to offer up the one word that personifies a leader to them. The list that was offered up from the group is as follows: trust, listener, mentoring, accountability, integrity, motivational, personable, strength, inspirational, balanced, decisive, selfless, charismatic, humility, visionary, influential, open-minded, awareness, and bridging. Walt agreed that these are all great characteristics of a leader and provided his three categories of a leader as follows:
1. Those who are born with it.
2. One who emerges or rises up out of an event.
3. Those who have the potential and can be trained.
Walt defined a leader as someone who makes things happen, changes attitudes, and rights wrongs. This was followed by a brief discussion of John Adams as a born leader and rolled into the three main Army leadership qualities: Know, Do, and Be. Know = do your homework + knowledge, Do = actions, and Be = integrity.
Walt described himself as a leader falling in the second category by telling the story of a family friend disappearing in a plane, and the effort that they mounted to assist in coordinating the search efforts between several states. He adds to this that an additional boost to a solid leadership strategy is to stay strong in the face of adversity. To do this he suggests three more points: define the enemy, create a plan, and narrow down options. Walt says that his approach is to think of these three questions:
1. “always think of the enemy”
2. “if not you, then who”
3. “you can lose the battle, but not the war”
He wrapped up by telling the story of Sir Winston Churchill being saved by another boy from drowning, and his family setting up an anonymous education fund for the young man. Later in life this same man is found to be Dr. Flemming who created penicillin and suggested Churchill take it as an experimental drug to save his life yet again. Following the presentation and short break, Pete mentioned to us to remember who we saw today because although he was very humble and consequently much understated in his influence and impact on the community, he is a true American Statesman.
Pete begins his portion of the class by asking us to gather around the table and participate in a board game on Situational Leadership. The game required us to gauge how we would choose to respond to team based issues and challenges. Afterwards, we all started understanding that the action to take towards a problem is not a one size fits all. The game was effective in demonstrating that it is important for a leader to be able to understand more than just how they would choose to solve a problem, but they must also understand the people working under them… where they are in their development and what they need.
Pete then drew two diagrams. The first spoke to relational behavior vs task-oriented behaviors and relating responses. The diagram provided four different leadership styles (listed below) that people will trend towards depending on things such as experience and personality.
S-1: High Task oriented individual with a Low Relationship Behavior
S-2: High Task oriented individual with a High Relationship Behavior
S-3: Low Task oriented individual with a High Relationship Behavior
S-4: Low Task oriented individual with a Low Relationship Behavior
The second diagram illustrated the 4 stages a person goes through in their profession. See below.
D1 – Novice
D2 – Apprentice
D3 – Journeyman
D4 – Master
Pete explains the Leadership styles by relating to a typical business situation. A new intern would represent a “novice” in the architectural industry . They would fall directly into the category of S-1. The firm will focus a large amount of their time training him in the tools and the tasks of an architect and much less time in the relational areas of the business. The next step would to become licensed or begins to manage/direct his or her own projects. They are now at the apprentice stage and require an S-2 response. The firm he works for might begin to place him in front of clients and ask for his contributions on the marketing front to increase. The development is in full gear now. As he progresses in his career, he would fall into what could be termed as the Journeyman level of leadership. Seldom is input needed at this level, as he already has a sound foundation to work from. His understanding of the relational aspects of the business is to a point where the firm can trust him on his own, and he is constantly being exposed to that side of the business. Eventually he gets to a point of Master, or in the architectural community this is often referred to as Principal. His task-oriented duties have become very small, as he is spending all of his time being informed on the structure and the efficiency of the company.
Pete’s discussion led us all to a place of personal contemplation. At this point, we could take this information and see where we fit into our own firms. His last analogy was something that we could all relate to in one way or another. Fran, an up and coming individual at her firm, was trusted to manage a CAD/BIM transition at her office. Those S-4 individuals that steer her company saw some wonderful qualities that would suit her well in the new managing position. Unfortunately, the situation was overwhelming and the directors were unable to see the troubles that she was facing or offer her the necessary direction and feedback she needed in order to be successful. As future leaders, we need to understand that there is a developmental process that all people take, and we should be willing and able to facilitate that development in others just as much as we hope it is facilitated in us.
Ryan D. Martin, HKS
David Shively, PageSoutherlandPage
Michelle Northington, PageSoutherlandPage
Monday, January 30, 2012
ELP 2012 Retreat - January 21st, 2012
Our 2012 AIA Dallas Emerging Leaders Class held its retreat on January 21st at the Turtle Creek Pump House. The venue for the retreat, which was once the pumping station that supplied water to
We spent the morning learning from Dr. Pete DeLisle about the leadership strategies that make leaders effective. Part of the discussion involved the explanation of the intriguing diagrams that were included in our class binders. Through clear visual representation, these diagrams helped to give us a better understanding of a number of complex concepts. One such diagram portrayed the four main aspects of one’s ‘self’ – the open self, the hidden self, the blind self, and the unknown self. The open self, which is that known to ourselves and to others, can be expanded through our actions and communication. Each of us can choose to reveal more of the hidden self through revealing aspects to others, which would then make those aspects part of the open self. Each of us has a blind self that includes aspects which are only known to others, but a leader can become more effective by choosing to ask others about the blind self and then learning how to improve upon revealed weaknesses. The unknown self, at its best, might include an inner heroism that only reveals itself in an extreme situation where that heroism is needed for the well-being of others.
Throughout the retreat, each of us was thoroughly engaged. Dr. DeLisle interspersed examples of real-world scenarios throughout the discussions of the diagrams and other leadership strategies, then the discussions were interspersed with interactive activities. One of these activities began with a simple request: choose a partner, then decide which partner will be the communicator and which partner will be the receiver. Next came the tricky part – the communicator could not speak, and the receiver had to close his or her eyes. For a few seconds, we were stumped. Then came the development of an alternate communication method, which for most of us, ended of being a Morse code of sorts – one tap for yes, and two taps for no (or vice versa). Those who had been ’20 Questions’ champions during long car trips while growing up were at an advantage. After (hopefully) successfully communicating our messages, we switched roles. After the exercise, we discussed the importance of effective communication and how we can become better leaders by continuously making efforts to improve upon our communication skills.
Our lunch was a tasty combination of tacos and sides prepared by Street Fooder. After lunch, we delved further into understanding different cognitive problem solving styles and how these styles shape how people communicate with each other, work together, and relate to one another. Each of us filled out a questionnaire, then we added up our scores to three sub-scores and finally a total score of where each of us fell on the scale of ‘Innovator’ to ‘Adaptor’. We all fell somewhere in between the score extremes, but those within a certain middle range fell under the ‘Bridger’ category. We learned that all three groups – Innovators, Adaptors, and Bridgers – were essential to the success of an effective organization. Dr. DeLisle stressed how important it was for each of us to be aware of our problem solving style differences and how the most effective organizations allow each member to thrive in his or her style rather than being expected to perform in a long-term role that does not fit that member’s style of problem solving. We also learned that Bridgers are handy to have around when it looks like an Innovator vs. Adaptor disagreement might turn into a brawl.
Throughout the day, which seemed to fly by, we learned more about ourselves and took in an extremely valuable (both in quality and quantity) collection of information and lessons for learning how to become more effective leaders. Photos of the retreat, taken by Michelle Northington, can be found on our group’s Flickr account at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aiadallasemergingleaders/sets/72157629042294359/
Christine Robbins
5G Studio Collaborative
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Introducing The AIA Dallas Emerging Leaders Class of 2012
The AIA Dallas Leadership Committee is proud to announce the 2012 class of participants in the Emerging Leaders Program.
Andrew Adkinson - Good Fulton & Farrell
Brent Alfred, Assoc. AIA, NOMA - DIKITA
Andy Bell, AIA - Corgan Associates, Inc
Chris Butler, AIA - JHP Architecture
Omar Cantu, AIA - Perkins+Will
Kim Cundiff, Assoc. AIA - Brinker International
Mark Godfrey, Assoc. AIA - Beck Group
Hilari Jones - HKS, Inc.
Mahbuba Khan, AIA - MnK Architects
Amy King, AIA - SHW Group
Ryan Martin, AIA - HKS Inc
Ellen Mitchell, AIA - HKS Inc.
Matthew Montgomery, AIA - Beck Group
Michelle Northington - Page Southerland Page
Chris Owens - RHA
Nick Richardson, Assoc. AIA - Gensler
Christine Robbins, AIA - 5GStudio Collaborative
David Sandoval - Merriman Assoc. Archi.
David Shively - Page Southerland Page
Hilary Thomas-Herd - FKP Architects
Karen Thrasher, AIA - t. Howard + Assoc.
The program is Co-Chaired by: Charles E. Brant, AIA of Perkins+Will, Hilary Bales-Morales, AIA of Page Southerland Page, Ashlee Paar, AIA of Gensler and Zach Wideman, AIA of Perkins+Will. The program is instructed by Dr. Pete DeLisle of The Posey Leadership Institute at Austin College.
The Emerging Leaders Program is open to participation from all Dallas area architectural firms through an application process to the AIA Dallas Leadership Committee. Information describing nomination details for the 2013 class will be posted on the AIA Dallas website this fall.
Special thanks to Marc Blackson of Blackson Brick for sponsoring tuition scholarships for this year’s class
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