SBA graduate students can take advantage of a unique opportunity this year to develop a cache of practical tools that can help them navigate the challenges of today’s business world.
As sponsor of the 2012 Bulletproof Your Success business lecture series, the SBA designated 10 complimentary registrations and lunches per lecture for graduate students, available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
The Bulletproof Your Success series is being presented by Camille Jayne, President and CEO of The Community House in Birmingham. Sessions began in February and continue the second Wednesday of the month through September, 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m.
Jayne, former chairman and CEO of Universal Electronics Inc., is a visiting MBA professor at several universities, including OU. Each presentation covers a competency cluster she has identified to increase business effectiveness. The first session, “Are You Building Your Business Or Just Paying For A Lot of Free Lunches?” described techniques to create results from networking relationships.
The series has been a valuable experience, OU MBA candidate Alex Bodea says. “It relates to my goals for professional development, which includes improving my communication skills. I graduated as an engineer, and English is my second language,” he says. “Communications was not one of my strengths.”
Bodea has attended two sessions in the series so far. “Always the Windshield Never the Bug,” presented in March, helped participants determine if they really have the desire to be on top in business. For those who do, it offered steps to realize that goal.
At the April presentation “Get Comfortable Making Others Uncomfortable” Bodea gained guidelines on building a strong personal brand.
“It provided very structured information on how to convince people of practically anything,” Bodea says. “People say you have to be persuasive. You have to know the person you’re talking to. But there’s actually some homework required. It’s not something you can figure out for yourself.”
Steve Valentine, MBA ‘12, also attended “Get Comfortable Making Others Uncomfortable.”
He was impressed with Jayne’s presentation. “There were about 100 individuals there, and you could hear a pin drop the entire time,” he says. “Everyone was engaged.”
The presentation covered concepts familiar to Valentine, while giving him a better idea how to implement them.
“What I didn’t really have was a structure to put these tactics to use on a regular basis. It does help to have a couple of process maps in my head before I start talking,” Valentine says.
The series also offers time for attendees to network. Bodea has met representatives from other industries, along with other MBA candidates.
“I like it; it was a value-added program,” says Bodea, who plans to attend more sessions in the series.
SBA graduate students interested in attending the lectures should email Paul Trumbull at trumbull@oakland.edu with the following information: full name, email address, lecture date and indicate chicken or vegetarian lunch preference. The spaces are available on a first-come basis.
SBA faculty, staff and undergraduate students interested in attending may email Trumbull to be placed on a waiting list for any available openings.
The series also has openings for paid registrations. The cost is $35 per session, and lunch is an additional $10.
For more details, visit http://www.oakland.edu/bulletproof or http://tchbulletproof.org