Leading the future

By Kevin Manne

BUFFALO, N.Y. — More than 200 leaders from the business, nonprofit and academic worlds gathered virtually on June 3 to learn about the workplace of tomorrow at this year’s annual conference hosted by the University at Buffalo School of Management’s Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (CLOE).

Industry and UB experts and delivered presentations across a variety of leadership topics via Zoom.

Nate Yohannes, product and strategy leader to the chief technology officer at Microsoft and former senior advisor to the Obama administration, opened the conference with a discussion about the societal responsibilities technology providers must take when employing AI technology.

Daniel Pink, human motivation researcher and No. 1 New York Times bestselling author, capped off the day with a keynote address broadcast from Seneca One in Buffalo on the science of timing—how to use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule, why and how to take breaks, taking advantage of fresh starts, when to quit a job, switch careers and more. 

“Dan Pink and all the speakers shared timely insights and thought-provoking content on the future of leadership,” says Sudha Bommidi, executive director of clinical operations at Roswell Park, who attended the conference. “The virtual platform was seamless and provided many opportunities for networking and getting to know the attendees.”

Experts and their topics were:

• Are Leadership and Teamwork Mutually Exclusive? by Ekaterina (Katia) Noyes, PhD, MPH, Director, Division of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health
• Being Authentic in an Inauthentic World by Neil Stroul, PhD, Co-Facilitator, CLOE Leadership Coaching Certification and President and Founder, SkillPoint Consulting
• COVID-19 and Magnified Health Disparities by Sarahmona Przybyla, PhD, MPH, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Public Health Programs and Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior
• Digital Leadership by Jeanne M. Myers, PhD, Adjunct Instructor
• Emotion in Teams: How it Works and What it Means for Leaders by Evangeline Yang, PhD Candidate in Organization and Human Resources
• Emotional Intelligence and Its Impact on Leadership by Marsha King, PhD, Co-Facilitator, CLOE Leadership Coaching Certification and President and Founder, SkillPoint Consulting
• Getting Ready for—and Taking Advantage of—Artificial Intelligence by Kate Bezrukova, PhD, Associate Professor of Organization and Human Resources
• How Leaders in Anchor Institutions Can Play Key Roles in Reducing Health Inequities by Heather Orom, PhD, Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Associate Professor, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior
• How to Create an Abuse-Free Environment by Min-Hsuan Tu, PhD, Assistant Professor of Organization and Human Resources
• How to Ensure You’re Ready for the Future of Work by Courtney J. Walsh, MBA, Assistant Dean of Professional and Executive Development and Adjunct Instructor 
• It’s a Small, Small World: Creating and Nurturing a Diverse Workforce by Rosanna Berardi, CEL ’17, Facilitator, UB Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Managing Partner, Berardi Immigration Law 
• Jump-Start Your Team’s Creative Engines by Snehal Hora, PhD Candidate in Organization and Human Resources
• Keeping Up and Remaining Compliant: Employment Law Changes Since the COVID-19 Pandemic by Lisa A. Coppola, CEL ’20, Facilitator, UB Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Partner, The Coppola Firm
• The “Leading Edge”: How to Effectively Lead Creativity and Change by Tim Maynes, PhD, Associate Professor of Organization and Human Resources
• Leading Us Out of the Health Care Wilderness: The Role of Primary Care in a Post-Pandemic World by Lawrence J. Zielinski, Executive in Residence for Health Care Administration, UB School of Management and Executive Director, Primary Care IPA
• Leading with Empathy by Aisha O’Mally, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Organization and Human Resources
• The Manager of the Future: What’s Changed? by Stephanie Argentine, JD, MBA, Executive in Residence, CLOE and Chief People Officer, Centivo
• The Role of Analytics in the Future of Work and Leadership by Charles Lindsey, PhD, Associate Professor of Marketing
• Upstarts (Can) Rule! Harnessing the Power of the Underdog Effect by Paul Tesluk, PhD, Dean and Professor
• What Does It Really Mean to Be an Ethical Leader? and What We Really Think About Leaders: Assumptions, Stereotypes and the Surprising Role of Gender by Jim Lemoine, PhD, Assistant Professor of Organization and Human Resources
• Women and Health Care Leadership: Promoting Equity by R. Lorraine Collins, PhD, Associate Dean for Research and Professor, Department of Community Health and Health Behavior 
  

The event was sponsored by KeyBank, The Martin Group, Rich Products, Seneca One and the UB School of Management Alumni Association, and built upon the success of previous CLOE conferences, which have offered opportunities to learn about building inclusiveness, the power of people-oriented leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship, emerging research and how to put that research into practice, and new ways to build collaborations and relationships.

Since 2013, CLOE has created more effective leaders and organizations by advancing research, education and outreach in leadership and organizational development. CLOE also supports UB’s goals of accelerating academic excellence, translating scholarship and developing leadership capabilities in UB students and business leaders.