Texas Executive Education

Yesterday I had the privilege to attend the Open House event at the Texas Executive Education center at the University of Austin. The event hosted two panel sessions and a reception. In the first panel session we heard from industry leaders who have been instrumental in helping their company grow in the difficult economic times of today.

John Hanks, VP of Industrial and Embedded Product Lines at National Instruments discussed how success of customers, suppliers, shareholders and employees all played a part of their success. He referred to Lego Mind Storm kits as one of the items they were involved with in the marketplace. He also talked about how the social media world and one's ability to collaborate will impact the future. Tiffany Davila-Dunne came from the banking industry. She talked about building a strong company culture and the importance of collaboration. John Berra, Chairman Emerson Process Management, spoke about growth strategies and developing leaders in their organization. In between the two sessions we went outside for a delightful reception.

After a time, the staff helped all visiting to work their way back inside to attend the second panel session held in the amphitheater. In this session we heard from faculty members, John N. Doggett, Raji Srinivasan, and James A. Nolen. They shared their thoughts on the topics presented by the industry leaders from the first session and spent over an hour addressing questions from the participants. Gaylen D. Paulson, Associate Dean and Director of Texas Executive Education facilitated the entire event.

This experience jogged our minds and made us think. This morning. Dr. Rants called a meeting to discuss what we learned and to begin thinking about how we might apply to our organization. The time spent in both efforts was both empowering and purposeful.