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Schedule

Session Schedule At-a-Glance

All sessions are 60-minutes unless otherwise noted. All times Eastern (New York time). Topics, speakers and schedule may change without notice.

Please Note:

  1. Recordings are available one business day AFTER the live session has ended.
  2. To access the call-in details for the live session, click here.

Day 1 – August 4, 2011

Day 2 – August 11, 2011

Day 3 – August 18, 2011

All sessions are 60-minutes unless otherwise noted. All times EST (New York time). Topics, speakers and schedule may change without notice.

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Keynote: “5 Key Trends That Will Effect Your Career”
(Day 1, Session 1 – August 4, 2011 at 12:00 noon Eastern)

The economy, the generational differences, the government rules and regulations, client expectations…..all influence the trends that will effect your career in a Professional Service Firm.  Attend this session to learn the trends and strategies that will optimize your career planning.

In this session, you will:

– Understand 5 key trends affecting Professional Service Firms
– Explore choices you need to make to manager your career with these trends in mind
– Identify two practical steps you can take NOW.

Dr. Cheryl Leitschuh, Ed.D. is a leadership development consultant and specializes in personal and professional success. She assists companies in achieving their key business objectives by fully capitalizing on a single line of their balance sheet — their human resources potential. She uses powerful programming, assessments and technology to harness and maximize the untapped potential of a company’s human resources assets.

When working with individuals, her typical engagements include developing key leaders and managers, enhancing talent development, developing focus in vision and implementing this vision both personally and professionally. When working with an organization, Cheryl addresses the short-term and long-term business objectives by focusing on human talent development. These projects have focused on conflict resolution, trust management and enhancing team performance.

Cheryl is the author of Power Learning: Career Development Strategies That Work; A Structured Mentoring Process and Staying and Standing Women.

“Building Leadership Muscle!”
(Day 1, Session 2 – August 4, 2011 at 1:30 pm Eastern)

Kyle MacKenzie Nowell is a corporate coach and trainer specializing in the emerging field of NeuroLeadership – where profound discoveries are being made about how to best lead and build relationships with others. Drawing on the latest findings about the brain, Kyle brings a practical approach to maximizing engagement and performance by developing impactful leadership competencies.

In her engaging session, you will discover:

– Useful facts about how our brains work – on the job
– Key insights into why we each think differently
– A leadership approach for creating engagement and openness to change
– Ways of creating rapport and trust with colleagues and clients

Kyle MacKenzie Nowell is a coach, consultant and business owner. As principal of a 23-year business consulting firm, Kyle works with executive leaders, business owners and organizations to improve both business and personal leadership performance. As a coach and trainer, Kyle partners with business owners and executives to deliver high quality projects designed to enhance individual performance, their team’s contribution, and their company’s culture. Known for her expertise in brain-based coaching and leadership development, Kyle is regularly invited to speak on topics of workforce engagement, collaboration and influence, leadership performance and change adoption.

“Know More! Selling”
(Day 1, Session 3 – August 4, 2011 at 3:00 pm Eastern)

In business, there is a wealth of information available at your fingertips about your prospects, clients, and competitors… but do you know how to find it online? Deals are lost every day because the wrong sales strategy was used or the competition blindsided the sales person. You need sales intelligence to be competitive in today’s marketplace. You need to know the secret techniques that allow you to zero-in on the exact information you need for a competitive edge. If you believe knowledge is power, than this webinar is power times 10!

In this webinar, you’ll learn how to:

– Use Google search tips and tricks – many that the pros don’t even know
– Get access to expensive premium information resources for FREE — Access the “Invisible Web” – valuable websites that search engines miss
– Differentiate yourself based on better information

Sam Richter is an internationally recognized expert on sales and marketing. His experience includes building innovative technology, sales, and marketing programs for start-up companies and some of the world’s most famous brands. Sam’s top-selling book, “Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling” is now in multiple editions and has also won numerous awards.

Sam is the founder of the acclaimed Know More! business improvement program, taught to groups ranging from Fortune 500 Companies to major associations around the world. Sam serves as a board member at numerous technology companies, and he is a past finalist for Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

“The Road to Partner: Your Compass, Roadmap and Key Milestones on Your Leadership Journey”
(Day 2, Session 1 – August 11, 2011 at 12:00 noon Eastern)

The actual route you take to Partner will be as unique and personal as you are. But there are distinct and important transitions that you must make at every turn on your leadership path. What are those transitions? What are the leadership skills and abilities that you will need to master in order to successfully reach your desired destination?

During Mary’s presentation, you will learn:

– the critical qualities and attributes that act as your compass to guide your travels
– the leadership skills and behaviors you need to master along the way
– the key milestones you can look to as evidence of success on your journey
– the common potholes and roadblocks you need to watch for

Mary Werner is the founder of Werner Coaching & Consulting, Inc., and works with leaders and high potential professionals, including CPAs, attorneys, engineers and management consultants, to enhance leadership skills, confidence, competence and performance. Mary, a CPA and former firm Partner, certified coach and masters trained organization development consultant provides confidential executive coaching and leadership development consulting for executives, high potential leaders and executive teams.

How to be Special—The Key to Partnership in the 21st Century”
(Day 2, Session 2 – August 11, 2011 at 1:30 pm Eastern)

Every firm wants to add to their ownership ranks with professionals who are “special.” What does that mean, exactly? How do you become “special” and gain from the recognition of being “special?” Let’s discover that stardom you have and learn how to capitalize on it.

During this session, you will:

– Learn how to recognize the “special-ness” you have
– Identify top ways to help management realize your stardom
– Discover how to stay on top as time goes by

Judy Trepeck has had a varied and interesting career as a CPA. From staff accountant to partner to entrepreneur to COO to Judge, Judy has brought innovation and quality to her clients, companies and court. Judy has always believed in celebrating her unique talent for creative and strategic thinking. Being special is important for all those she serves and helps. That’s why they bring her in and why they extol her virtues.

 

“Creating Client Loyalty Through Empowered Staff”
(Day 2, Session 3 – August 11, 2011 at 3:00 pm Eastern)

Professional and administrative personnel will be better at delighting clients, if they have been delighted by the partners in the firm. You will learn what the research says about how client loyalty is generated, how the measurement stats dealing with delighted clients and delighted employees fluctuate together, what 3 things motivate knowledge workers, and the effect this has on the bottom line.

How do you create a high performing organization? How can you foster empowered employees who take initiative, use their creativity and want to continually improve?

After this session, you will:

– Understand current research on client loyalty, empowered engaged employees and motivation.
– Be able to define the difference between training and development and the kinds of processes that can be used to foster the growth of empowered individuals.
– Get started at being a great manager with three actions to use today.

Jeri Quinn, Driving IR, works with professional service firms and small businesses to improve profitability, client loyalty, and employee engagement. Results include bringing more money to the bottom line, clients who love the firm, employees who have a life and a lot more fun for everyone. Jeri has started, grown and sold small businesses for 35 years with experience in more than 25 industries. With her strong background in psychology and education she brings a deep level of understanding about many topics such as how people learn and change, communication, accountability, goal achievement, self-limiting behaviors and paradigm shifts. www.DrivingImprovedResults.com

“Advocacy Relationships: Your Career GPS”
(Day 3, Session 1 – August 18, 2011 at 12:00 noon Eastern)

Do you sometimes feel as if you are navigating through your career without a map? Hiking over mountain ranges and through streams that you were not expecting? Advocacy relationships are the GPS for your journey. Advocacy relationships are an essential element in the development of people and their talents. The session is important for individuals who are interested in increasing the effectiveness of their career journey.

This session will also present information helpful to organizations interested in strategies for the development of talent potential and successful succession planning.

From this session, participants will take away:

– An understanding of advocacy relationships and how these relationships support individual talent development
– Clarity regarding the differences between mentoring and advocacy relationships
– Strategies to identify the most effective advocates
– Suggestions for approaching potential advocates and developing relationships

For the past twenty five years, Mary Bennett has been a practicing client services consultant in the accounting profession. Mary has spent the majority of these years with a top ten global Firm. Mary served as a partner for ten years with the Firm where she led practice areas, office locations, and large engagements consulting with clients in internal audit, enterprise risk management and organizational development.

Mary is an expert in Women’s Leadership Initiatives, Inclusiveness Programs, Succession Planning and Leadership Development. Mary is the founder of MLBennett Consulting and now works full time as a consultant to organizations and a coach to individuals within professional services firms. Mary has won several awards for her work : Women of the Year, ASWA; Presidential Citation Award, AWSCPA; Torchbearers Award, Indiana Commission of Women; and more. Mary has worked with hundreds of Firms and thousands of leaders on mentoring, career/life integration, skill building, developmental coaching, executive development, emerging leader training, coaches training, women’s initiatives , diversity and much more.

“Ethical Leadership and Professionalism”
(Day 3, Session 2 – August 18, 2011 at 1:30 pm Eastern)

As we progress in firms or departments, we learn so much about the practice of our profession from those around us: mentors, peers, and subordinates. As we take on greater leadership responsibilities, many professionals struggle to learn the best ways to bring out the best in those around them. This session will present proven frameworks for leading in professional service environments, drawing on the contemporary ethical frameworks of professionalism and the classical ideas of purpose and ethical leadership.

Participants will learn:

– Six key factors for engaging professional employees
– Three communication strategies that solve problems and promote collaboration.
– The power of storytelling to motivate and inspire a team.

Charles A. (“Chad”) Weinstein is president of Ethical Leaders in Action (ELA), an organization that exists to empower ethical leaders to achieve extraordinary results. In that capacity, Weinstein works to develop outstanding leaders in fire service and law enforcement agencies, health care providers, and professional service firms. His work is based on the core idea that ethics is more than avoiding wrongdoing: ethical leaders pursue greatness. Weinstein has been a consultant for more than 20 years. He is an adjunct faculty member of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, and an instructor for the Minnesota Society for CPAs. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D.in ethics (philosophy) from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“How can a nice person like you survive in a place like this?
Thriving inside the politics of any organization and surviving the occasional sociopath.”
(Day 3, Session 3 – August 18, 2011 at 3:00 pm Eastern)

Any time you have two or more people working together you have one or more relationships in play. Relationship is synonymous with “politics” although most of us don’t realize that. This session is designed to help hard working; responsible, nice people better swim in crowded office waters that occasionally include a shark or two.

After this session, participants will:

– be able to recognize people who shouldn’t be trusted and understand why they shouldn’t be trusted.
– will understand what they need to do to more safely work with those untrustworthy people they must work.
– will understand their responsibilities in succeeding within an organization without having to despair over politics nor be the sacrificial lamb to politics.

Jim Earley is one of the pioneers in the personal/business coaching field having started his practice in 1991 as the answer to his question “what am I designed to do?”

He was among the first to be recognized as a Master Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation (ICF) when that credential was created, was a founding member of the Minnesota Coaches Association, once served as its president, and was the organization’s 2009 recipient of the Gaston Award for Lifetime Service.