Deborah Lee
Staff Writer
Passion and purpose are ongoing aspects students struggle with. However, Landis Leaders help them conquer these troubles through conference activities and unique keynote speakers.
The Office of Student Life partnered with the Landis Leadership Scholars Program to host the second annual All Leo’s Leadership Conference Sunday in the Campus Center.
Approximately 50 students attended the event, which offered two education sessions with three different lectures to choose from.
Matt Durant, strength and conditioning coordinator, led a lecture series titled “Road Trip! Your path to Leadership” to educate students on the difference between simply holding a leadership position and being an effective leader.
“As leaders you set the standards and expectations for others since that’s your assigned title,” Durant said. “As a person with leadership, you motivate and inspire people when you’re not around.”
Students were encouraged to participate, and received raffle tickets for each session they attended and each question they asked.
Raffle tickets were used to give away books from the Leadership Library.
“These books were suggested by diverse leaders on campus who had an outreach to a dynamic of students such as Devorah Lieberman, our president, and all of our Landis Leaders,” said Angie Anderson, associate director of the Office of Student Life.
The books raffled to students provided incentive to stay for the entire event and get exposed to other leaders’ favorite books.
Junior education major Rachel Klodell and senior business major Jessica Faber are Landis Leaders who hosted a session titled “Sandwiches 101,” emphasized the importance of communication.
The session discussed the sandwich method, which can be used to communicate constructive criticism.
The top layer of the bread involves giving the person positive feedback and validation for their efforts, while the meat of the sandwich provides brief and clear constructive criticism.
The bottom layer of the bread is positive encouragement and to ensure the message gets across in an efficient manner.
“You can tell that the people here genuinely want to be here to learn and better themselves for it,” Klodell said. “That’s what we as Landis Leaders do, we make better leaders.”
Shortly after the luncheon, catered by Argo Mediterranean Grille, keynote speaker Justin Jones-Fosu re-energized the crowd with his energetic personality and relevant topics.
He talked about the “intentional moment of appreciation” he dubbed as IMOA for short. Which is when someone stops to appreciate the little things in life.
“The goal is to have people appreciate themselves and the little things in life,” Jones-Fosu said.
Deborah Lee can be contacted at deborah.lee@laverne.edu.
