The Naveen Jindal School of Management recently hosted women on the central administrative staff in middle and senior staff positions with the Dallas Independent School District at a workshop where they learned how to define and refine their leadership skills.
DISD Women’s Leadership Experience was a first-of-its-kind event, held in June at the Jindal School for about 85 participants. Administrators who attended manage everything from curriculum to athletics to nutrition — all of it impacting the district’s 159,000 students and almost 22,000 employees.
The “fun” event of the day, “What Color is Your Leadership?” with André Davidson, pointed out with a quick, 22-question survey that administrators and their co-workers come to the office each day with a set of traits that influences the way they respond to work and personnel issues.
The owner and president of Davidson & Associates, a leadership development, strategic planning and event management consulting firm, Davidson has facilitated board training and leadership seminars for numerous business and nonprofit organizations.
Dr. Diane McNulty, associate dean of external affairs and corporate development at the Jindal School and clinical professor of governance, built on Davidson’s talk to show how values shift over time and across venues. McNulty’s interest and research in leadership topics is approached from a governance perspective with responsibility, accountability and ethics as a focus.
Trisha Cunningham, Texas Instruments’ chief citizenship officer, gave suggestions on being bold in leadership and career moves. Cunningham and her team work across the company to manage programs that build TI’s reputation and influence as an outstanding corporate citizen, including online reporting of its social and environmental impact, strategic philanthropy focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and employee involvement in the community.
Jill Hellwig, a professional coach, spoke about leading with intent — managing a path to leadership and developing an approach to leadership with specific outcomes in mind. A Zig Ziglar certified coach, Hellwig runs Brand New U Coaching.
“We at the Jindal School have a lot of solid research on leadership and want to get that information out to the community, where it can have an impact,” McNulty said. “Right now, we are building a relationship with Dallas ISD women executives to increase their leadership potential.”
The Jindal School was able to leverage its ties to get the speakers — Cunningham, Davidson and Hellwig — in front of an audience hungry for the best-practices ideas they offered, McNulty said.
