Sept. 15, 2003

ISU's Gongaware Center to sponsor
leadership conference Oct. 17

The workshop is geared toward emerging leaders in the financial services industry. The workshop will help attendees develop the personal techniques and interpersonal skills of a problem-solving leader.

Participants will learn to apply adaption-innovation practice, research and theory to become a more effective leader. Interactive learning methods, problem-solving, decision-making techniques, participatory discussions and practical examples will be used and related to real-life solutions.

By the end of the workshop, participants will develop new insights and/or skills regarding:

• the types of challenges associated with problem solving
• their cognitive style and the problem-solving styles of others
• how, as a leader, they can more effectively solve problems and make decisions for themselves and with others by understanding how people manage structure and take in information
• what skills they need to develop in order to be a broader problem solver and deploy their own thinking style more effectively
• how to make better predictions about the behaviors associated with "people problems” and how to redirect team energy to the main problems to be solved
• *how to leverage style diversity so they can improve group performance

Priscilla Wolfe, director of the Leadership Development Institute at Indiana State, and Art Sherwood, assistant professor of management at ISU, will be presenters at the conference.

Wolfe has worked with the Occupational Research Centre in England as an associate tutor of Kirton’s Adaption-Innovation (KAI) programs in North America, Europe and Asia since 1999. As an experienced trainer, facilitator and consultant, she has been an associate of the Creative Problem Solving Group, Inc., New York, since 1997. She received her Ph.D. in education from Indiana State.

Sherwood is a primary consultant with the Leadership Development Institute at ISU. Over the past decade, he has taught, consulted, researched and written extensively about leadership, strategy, learning and effective teaming both in the United States and Europe. He received his MBA and Ph.D. from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Co-workers, co-managers and peers are encouraged to attend together. Register before Oct. 3 by calling (812) 237-4011 or toll-free, 1-800-234-1639. Once registration is complete, participants will receive a KAI inventory to complete and return to The Gongaware Center prior to the start of the workshop.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. Oct. 17 and the workshop is 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $135 and includes lunch. Visa and MasterCard are accepted and group discounts are available.

The Gongaware Center at Indiana State University develops leaders for the financial services industry at every level of their professional career. From mentoring and advising college students to coaching top-level executives, The Gongaware Center “prepares industry leaders for what’s next.” The Center works closely with the Leadership Development Institute, based at ISU’s School of Business, which provides custom-designed leadership development programs and is an interdisciplinary think tank on problem-solving leadership.

For more information about the workshop or the Gongaware Center, call (812) 237-2442 or toll free at 1-888-269-4460 or e-mail bssadam@isugw.indstate.edu

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Contact:
Anita Adams, The Gongaware Center, (812) 237-2442 or bssadam@isugw.indstate.edu

Writer:
Jennifer Kearns, assistant director, public affairs, (812) 237-8037 or devkearn@isugw.indstate.edu

ISU Public Affairs:
(812) 237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu