Alissa Carpenter

The new wave of leaders is upon us. Previously, we would assume the individuals with the longest tenure would be the ones in leadership roles but that is no longer the case. Organizational leaders are found in all generations in the workforce and understanding how to identify talent is essential to the growth and sustainability of an organization. Retaining, training, and spotting talent is not easy and communicating across generations can be difficult. This interactive training will bring to light organizational challenges and opportunities to create a stronger and more cohesive generationally diverse workforce.

We all have biases whether we’re conscious of them or not and they impact our interactions with others, how we make decisions and our overall outlook of the future. In fact, our brains are even hard wired to have preferences for certain things and an adversity to others. This becomes an issue when we don’t consciously recognize our biases and preferences. When we make statements or act without taking into consideration others’ viewpoints and values, we can easily offend sand exclude someone. While potentially subtle, these statements or actions over time can do huge damage and destroy relationships, make people feel unwelcome, and isolated. Even with the best intentions, it’s important to remember that it’s not about our intent, it’s about our impact.

Not everyone thinks, acts, and feels the same way as you do. We all come from different experiences, backgrounds, and DNA, which can sometimes lead to us to butt heads. And being “different” definitely isn’t easy, whether you’re the only woman or person of color in your office, or the only person of a particular religious or political belief on your team. Or perhaps you just have a different way of looking at a project, and having your voice heard in a sea of the same opinions feels like you’re constantly trying to find a life jacket. Alissa will empower individuals who sometimes feel like outsiders by providing them with the tools to have constructive conversations with their peers and provide a gentle wakeup call for those on the “inside,” who are doing the idea squashing.