This week, our team packs up to head to the Rhode Island Convention Center for our seventh annual AlwaysOn Leadership Symposium—a one-day event dedicated to helping attendees unearth their leadership potential and leave thinking differently. Our previous symposiums have covered all-important topics like culture, innovation and change and this year we are tackling resilience or, more specifically, what it means to be resilient. We cannot wait to welcome our closest clients, community members and friends to this year’s show!

Check out last year’s event highlights by clicking here.

For this year’s AlwaysOn Leadership Symposium attendees, here’s a quick glimpse at the day ahead, as well as some insider information as to how to get the most out of your experience!

Missed the chance to register? Click here to reach out to our team directly for a chance to grab some final seats.

Our morning session is jam-packed with powerful speakers who will grace the big stage, including:

• Tim Hebert: A national speaker and prolific author on all topics related to next-gen leadership (and our Chief Client Officer!)
• Daniel Rodriguez: A war veteran who left the military and walked on the Clemson football special teams to fulfill a promise to a friend who died on the battlefield.
• Trent Theroux: An athlete who beat the odds of a severe paralysis diagnosis to eventually complete an unprecedented backstroke swim into the Atlantic Ocean.

The morning will leave you pondering the following questions:

• What does resilience mean to you?
• How do you respond when faced with adversity?
• What does the word mean?

Click here for a sneak preview of Tim Hebert’s opening presentation!

As we head into the afternoon, we are changing things up! For the first time ever, we are holding an afternoon session (1 to 3 p.m.) designed to allow you to dig deeper into any topics pertinent to YOU. Here’s a look at how you can spend your afternoon.

Breakouts: Explore the Power of Strengths and Top Talent

There are two exciting breakouts you can attend. Take a look!

• How to Attract and Retain Top Talent: Keeping the cream of the crop in any industry can be challenging. But the consequence of losing top talent can be grave financially and emotionally. In this breakout session, led by two veteran HR leaders, we will walk you through some of the key ways to attract top talent for your organization and, more importantly, how to keep them when they walk through the door.
• Leading with Your Strengths: Carousel’s own Jorge Garcia will help you determine your top five strengths from Gallup’s list of core 34 strengths. Experience an in-person version of StrengthsFinder 2.0, the #1 Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek Designed to leave you with a better understanding of yourself and your management style, this breakout session will help you more effectively communicate and lead.

Roundtable Discussions: Connect With Your Peers

We have five roundtable discussions taking place during the afternoon session (repeating three times from 1 to 3 p.m.) designed to foster small group dialogue. Seating is limited—10 chairs per table!—and you can only choose three of the five to attend. Take a look to decide which conversation will prove most fruitful for you:

• Leading Change as an IT Leader: As an IT leader, you can be at the forefront in controlling and driving the innovation that happens in your business. Whether it’s advising on new innovations to leverage, or lending insight as to how to expedite an existing process, you can lead change to positively impact your business. This discussion will center upon how to get organizational buy-in to bring about change and how to maintain and grow your relevance within your organization.
• Navigating Your Career Inflection Point: Are you ready to pivot? Whether you’re looking to take on a new role at your current organization or preparing to hop the fence and try something new, this discussion is geared towards anyone who is at a career inflection point. We’ll explore how to pinpoint when the time is right to make a professional change, what to do to set yourself up for success once you pivot, and how to get the most out of your new role.
• Developing Your Personal Brand: As Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, famously said: “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” In this roundtable discussion, come explore the significance of harnessing your personal brand and the impact it can have on you both personally and professionally. We’ll talk about everything from how to find your elevator pitch to how to use digital real estate (e.g. social media) to express your brand.
• How To Be An Effective Leader: Chances are you’ve worked for several bosses. But have you ever worked for a leader? Effective managers understand there is an inherent difference between being a “boss” and being a “leader.” This group discussion will cover the characteristics of effective leaders like empowering others, fostering a culture of inclusivity and collaboration, and refraining from imposing hierarchy.
• The Art of Successful Communication: In the workplace, varied social styles abound. Whether you’re dealing with a driving or amiable-type of personality, true leaders understand the art of successful communication—and how to meet their teammates with where they’re comfortable. In this lively discussion, we will explore how to effectively communicate with your team and uncover how successful communication leads to massive team gain.

Partner Expo

Our sponsors will be available throughout the afternoon session to hear about the areas in which you are looking to affect change in your organization. This year’s sponsors include: Cisco, Avaya, Verizon, Fortinet, AVST, Juniper Networks, and inContact. Be sure to stop by the Partner Expo to discuss the exciting innovations that you can bring back to your business.

We look forward to seeing you this week!

• AlwaysOn Leadership Symposium, 
• events, 
• IT thought leadership, 
• resilience