The Modern Leadership Style (No Public Speaking Required)

This past Sunday at our weekly meeting, Amy Nichols, a representative from the Kansas Leadership Center visited to speak about an engaging leadership style. The Kansas Leadership Center states, “Leadership is mobilizing others to do difficult work for the common good”. As a group we discussed challenges that faced the group and the university as a whole and possible ways for us as members and students to overcome these challenges. By breaking down concerns the group was facing along with discussing aspirations, we were better able to understand the direction the whole of the group wanted to go while understanding what was required to be resolved to get there.

The Kansas Leadership Center takes the stance that leadership is an activity rather than a responsibility solely for someone with a title or a high up position. With this belief, anyone and everyone can lead others. Organizations and businesses can gain tremendously if they are able to engage members and employees to work for the common good. We as members were challenged to switch from the mentality of “someone should do something about this”to “I’m going to do something about this".

Located in Wichita, the Kansas Leadership Center is a non-profit that works with businesses, churches, and other non-profits to help create an improved Kansas through creating leaders who are able to make enduring change in their communities and businesses. Wichita State offers a course, taught by Dr. Peter Cohen, which follows the principles trained by KLC. The course is called Leadership in Self and Society and it is a one-week precession that takes place every spring semester.

Creating a Challenge Culture - BIG Digs Deeper

Everyone has unique knowledge and expertise of some kind that can help create value in a group setting. Sharing that knowledge is crucial in creating an effective challenge culture within an organization. The Barton International Group decided to dig a little deeper into what the challenge process really entails and how we can encourage appropriate challenges among our employees.

In order to have an effective challenge process, the following four need to exist:

Environment: The challenge process is not something that can be turned on and off. It needs to be heavily molded into the culture and the environment of the organization.

Humility: as the challenge process is being exercised, individual contributors need to be sure they are humble about the opinions they are offering. The challenge process is much like brainstorming in the sense that no idea is “wrong” but there are certain ideas that are better suited for any given situation. Members of a group should not be hurt if their ideas are not chosen and they should always be willing to speak up when they have something that they think will add value.

Ability to Listen: allow everybody to speak up and actively encourage productive discussion.

Respect: it is important to ensure every member is respecting the ideas and opinions of other group members throughout the challenge process.

Some things to avoid during the challenge process:

Keeping quiet if you do not have all of the facts to support your point of view. It is okay to throw out an idea even if you don’t have all of the information. It might spark someone else’s train of thought and could lead to very effective brainstorming.

Rejecting ideas in order to avoid accountability. Don’t reject an idea just because it will require a lot of work from you. Think about what will be most beneficial for the group as a whole and reach out if you think you will need help accomplishing your assigned tasks.

Second-guessing all ideas because they weren’t yours. If someone has a good idea, congratulate them. Try to avoid criticizing ideas just because you were not the one who came up with them.

Implementing the challenge culture can be awkward and uncomfortable at first but we have learned that the value created is immeasurable when everyone is working toward effectively challenging the status quo.

How do you improve your Search Engine Optimization?

This year, the Wichita community has had the opportunity to benefit from the Business Booster Series, hosted at Wichita State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Meritrust Credit Union. The workshops range in topics from using data, to social media, to culture and are designed to help businesses in the area grow.

            On October 10th, Marc Zwygart from Copp Media Services presented an Introduction to SEO. He began by saying that 99% of businesses weren’t worried about their SEO (search engine optimization) which meant that those who are focusing on their search engine content had a huge competitive edge over the others. While he stated that SEO was a complicated topic, those attending the workshop were able to gain insight into this important subject.

            Since keywords are the most important part of SEO, allowing search engines to match searches with words that are on your website, Mr. Zwygart stressed that it was important to have content on your website. This means that you need to have text that describes what you do, using words that potential customers are likely to search. As well as putting keywords in your content, it is also important to include keywords in your links. Mr. Zwygart urged businesses to make sure they used a consistent address and phone number whenever posting it online, as search engines weren’t able to distinguish between even the smallest differences and would categorize them as different businesses. Finally, he instructed the audience members to address negative reviews. Doing this, he says, will turn 30% of the negative reviewers into raving fans, simply because of taking the time to listen and to reply to them.

            While SEO isn’t a well known topic with small businesses in the Wichita area, thanks to the Business Booster Series, business owners and their employees were able to more fully understand this important concept and develop strategies to improve their SEO.

- Carmen Resco

WSU INNOVATION

If you’ve been keeping up with our blog posts over the summer, you may have noticed a recurring theme among them: innovation. As classes at the University started this week at Wichita State University, that theme still rings true thanks to President Bardo’s new vision for the campus. Along with creating new buildings for the Engineering and Business Schools, Bardo’s strategic plan includes numerous other amenities including another new residence hall, a parking garage, and even a hotel. However, the most interesting piece may come from the inclusion of private industry working its way onto the east side of campus in the form of shops, restaurants, mixed office space, and apartments.

  The idea of an innovation campus has clearly been Bardo’s dream since he began his tenure as the University’s President. Similar radical changes were made to the campus of West Carolina University where Bardo served as Chancellor for sixteen years. The creation of Shocker Hall in just over a year serves as a symbol of what Bardo hopes to do in his time here; implement creative, profitable, and of course, innovative ideas into the campus at Wichita State. These ideas seek to do more than aid Wichita State recruiting. They have the very real potential of growing the Wichita economy by bringing in new industries and fostering a culture that encourages change and collaboration. This recurring theme that ties Bardo’s vision for an “Innovation Campus” together is precisely the mentality that our group observed in our recent trip to Silicon Valley. The idea that all one has to do to further develop their “big idea” is to utilize the resources surrounding them is exactly what Wichita State University could offer aspiring entrepreneurs in Wichita and the surrounding area.       

However, as we gathered from our conclusions in Silicon Valley, there is a fine line between providing costly resources and receiving a direct benefit.  In short, it takes an incredible amount of buy-in and support from the community to make the dream a reality. Bardo has nearly solved this problem up front by holding many conversations with local businesses that wish to be a part of the Innovation Campus, including tech companies that already thrive on the collaboration and innovation ideas. Coupled with the excitement and buzz that encompassed the newly-renovated Rhatigan Student Center on Friday afternoon after the big reveal, the Innovation Campus no longer seems like a pipe dream; rather, a reality that will start to take shape as soon as we let it. 

By: Taylor Freund

SHOCKER HALL OPEN HOUSE

           Everyday is a good day to be a Shocker, but August 14, 2014 was a particularly special day to be a part of the Shocker family. As another school year begins, this year started off with a bang. There are many exciting changes happening at Wichita State. Two years ago on July 1, 2012 we invited a new president who saw potential in Wichita State and imagined a bright future. President Bardo has a vision for targeted change and growth for our university. Bardo initiated a university strategic plan, which includes a fund to provide grants for students to engage in faculty-mentored research and a new resident’s hall to boost on campus offerings.

            The resident’s hall, appropriately named Shocker Hall, became open to the public on August 14, 2014 after a short ceremony and ribbon cutting. The facilities offer state of the art technology with five Wi-fi connections per person, a brand new dining hall and coffee shop, a kitchen and laundry facility per floor, billards and games in the main lounge, and a home for about 800 students with five different room styles to choose from. Shocker Hall is located directly in the heart of campus and is a five-minute walk away from all on campus amenities. The new resident halls offer a more traditional college experience to the students living there. This is a large pull for many potential Wichita State students. Combining the traditional college living experience with the emphasis on community and a “small campus” feel that Wichita State offers, the opening of Shocker Hall is the beginning of a new focus and direction for the university.

            In his address, Bardo said, “We are celebrating a change in the life of the university associated with increasing the quality of student experience… Today, we are changing their experience to offer them the opportunity to get to know each other, work together, and to collaborate- to enjoy each other and be a part of a major, emerging national research university.”  The new residents halls are going to draw the attention of many new students and the innovation of the new facilities will encourage growth in other aspects of the university as well.

           As a senior at Wichita State and through involvement in several student organizations I had the opportunity to participate in the grand opening on Thursday. It was an incredible day to be a student. As I listened to several speakers address the anticipated opening of Shocker Hall, my heart was swollen with pride. Not only do we have the support of Wichita State faculty and staff, but also the Wichita community is supporting the development of the university. As a member of Barton International Group, I see potential growth as an organization. We work very closely with many members of Wichita community outside of the university, so the progress and advancement of Wichita State does the same for any organization. That is what being a Shocker is all about and I could not be more thrilled to be a part of it. 

By: Katelyn Doherty