TechLeaders, Atlanta, GA, Day 2

I am at Day Two of the TechLeaders workshop in Atlanta, GA, and it is going really extremely well. Denise Brosseau, who is today's facilitator, built on the VRE work developed by Frank Greene at the workshop yesterday. We all used the work book provided by Denise that allowed participants to develop a one page personal plan, a great tool for focusing on how to execute. Several of the academic participants took me aside and told me how excited they were because they could see how the plan could help them with work that was already in process at their university.

I always find that a real key for me at the leadership workshops is the chance to hear the speaker's stories. and today's speakers were extraordinary. Although the speakers very different in profession, what I was struck by was the similarities. Both talked about following their own internal vision of success, and did not always follow the common wisdom. Both talked about the importance of family, and discussed how they ensured that their children were part of their professional lives.

Duy Loan Le who is a senior fellow at TI held the audience captive as she articulated her own personal philosophy. She talked about her three C's of leadership

• Confidence to challenge those who don't agree
• Courage to make tough decisions
• Compassion to serve others

One of the her most inspirational discussions is about her triangle of life, where professional life, family and community service are the three sides of a triangle of her live, and each is extremely important.

Leah Jamieson is the Dean of Engineering at Purdue, and the past president of IEEE. She completely engaged the audience by her discussion of how she brought the three aspects of her life - research, education, and service - together in ways that has obviously worked.

Leah believes that her values are at her core

1. Balance - career, research, education, and service
2. Change - envision a different future, that builds on today
3. Big Picture
4. Excellence - inspired by anything that is done well
5. Community - personal community

This participants of this TechLeaders are a group of accomplished women, and to hear stories of their journey is humbling to me. I have learned so much from these smart women as they have grappled with strategies, objectives, vision and action plans present on the one page business plan. I can't wait to hear their results.