Leadership in conversation…
Mr. Assadi, CEO National Life GroupMr. Berran, CEO iPipeline LLC. (pending)Mr. Borkar, Founder, illuma LabsMs. Collins, PoliticianMr. David Dini, Headmaster, St. MarksMrs. Doi, CFO, ToyotaGovernor Douglas, VermontMrs. Flink, CEO, The Family PlaceMr. Igoe, Head Upper School, St. MarksDr. Stephanie Knight, Dean, SMUMr. Pecararo, SMUMr. Pryor, CEO, NTT DataChief Judge RhoadesMr. Venkat, CIO, PepsiMr. Wallace, Former CEO, iPipeline Mr. Sean Woodroffe, CPO, TIAAMr. Mehran Assadi
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, National Life Group.
“Getting to know people… humans have been put on the earth to connect with each other and as a leader you have to learn to connect with all people and encourage them to participate.”
“putting people in boxes makes no sense, as human beings we are learning, growing and evolving and so by putting them in boxes you are taking their potential for granted.”
Mr. Bob Pryor
CEO, NTT Data
“I grew up with the mindset of treating people the way you want to be treated and have adapted it to treating people the way they want to be treated.”
“generally the smartest person in the room is the person saying the least so I am actively probing on what they think”
Governor Jim Douglas
Governor of Vermont (2002-2011)
“essence of a free society, a democracy is that we need to welcome and respect different opinions.”
“as a child I was shy, but later got my energy from the people of Vermont as I heard their hopes, dreams, concerns and I became more extroverted.”
Mr. Sean Woodroffe
Chief People Officer, TIAA
“I compliment you, Zubin, for exploring the juxtaposition of introversion and extroversion and recognizing that in many instances it requires special effort on the part of introverts to adopt traits of extroversion to cope with situations.”
“I am an introvert that masquerades as an extrovert.”
Chief Judge Brenda Rhoades
Chief Judge, United States Bankruptcy Judge, the Eastern District of Texas.
“there is a line of thinking while picking the jury, of who is going to be the leader when the lawyers are gone”
“Since we are talking about the scientific context, here diversity of thought means getting the opinions and thoughts from all the voices in the room, not just the loudest voice in the room, the extroverts, but also the introverts so you can understand the issue better.”
Mr. David Dini
Headmaster, St. Marks School Of Texas, Dallas
“self awareness is difficult for all dispositions and so getting guidance, candid feedback from others with different perspectives, is important for personal and professional growth.”
“Our mission is to teach you how to think, not what to think and be able to defend your opinions in an inclusive way.”
Mr. Colin Igoe
Head of Upper School, St. Marks School Of Texas, Dallas.
“you need to model what civil discourse looks like and foster diversity of thought and critical thinking.”
“create conditions that force students to become critical thinkers, to question their own beliefs and convictions and be openminded.”
Mr. Timothy Wallace
Former Chief Executive Officer , iPipeline Inc.
“diversity of thought is EXTREMELY important to profitability because you are enrolling in the process & the outcome.”
“by nature I’m an extrovert but I have trained myself to be introvert when needed and both have served me very well.”
Ms. Genevieve Collins
State Director, Americans for Prosperity
“introverts have made great leaders, many of our forefathers are classically introverts.”
“you want to follow someone that you feel represents you and invites you to the journey on the political spectrum.”
Mr. Shyam Venkat
Chief Information Officer, PepsiCo Foods, North America.
“PepsiCo has a concept called responsive working with an objective to give all members a seat at the table.”
“there is a lot of focus on racial, gender diversity which are important but I feel that the objective of thought diversity has taken a back seat.”
Dr. Stephanie Knight
Dean, Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Southern Methodist University, Dallas
“Academia to-date, has favored extroverts, the person who talks the most often gets noticed but not necessarily has the best idea.”
“We can teach strategies where context dictates whether you should be extroverted or introverted to both the presenting and to those listening.”
Mrs. Tracey Doi
Chief Financial Officer, Toyota Motor, USA
“At Toyota we follow a concept called, Medomi, a Japanese term that means treating people like family.”
Dr. Milind Borkar
Founder and CEO of Illuma Labs. He has been recognized as a top innovator by D CEO and Dallas Innovates.
"I see familiarity bias can reduce risk, however, you could be inadvertently trying to fit a square peg in a round hole."
Mrs. Paige Flink
CEO, The Family Place
“although we have hierarchies in the workplace - at TFP we try to say speak your mind, speak your truth, share your story… every idea is very important.”
“sometimes people feel that they have to behave based on the pecking order…. we tell them it doesn’t matter.”
Mr. Luigi Pecoraro
Managing Director, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
“thought diversity means we get to live our freedom of thought and speech in America.”
“giving people time to reflect and respond in classrooms makes a great learning environment.”