University at Buffalo School of Management

Networking across time zones For 70 years, the School of Management has honored outstanding executives at the Alumni Association's Annual Awards Banquet. But, like so many events last year, a large in-person gathering was not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the school quickly adapted and held a new event to celebrate past award recipients and give attendees an opportunity to interact with them in a way that would only be possible in today's virtual world. Nearly 140 individuals attended the Nov. 18 Zoom gathering, dubbed "Audience with Honorees." Forty-six past award winners signed on, as well as more than 90 alumni, students, faculty and staff. UB President Satish Tripathi and Paul Quebral, president of the school's Alumni Association, gave brief welcomes, followed by remarks from Dean Paul Tesluk. Next, the group heard from Bob Swan, BS '83, CEO of Intel, who shared his insights on leadership in challenging times. Swan was the 2016 recipient of the school's Industry Leadership achievement award, but was not able to attend that ceremony, so he was invited to speak this year. Next, guests were assigned to small chat rooms, each with a mix of honorees, alumni, students, faculty and staff for some lively and interactive discussions. First-year MBA Anu Patel, for example, was placed in a breakout room with Bill Gisel, executive vice chair and past CEO of Rich Products; John Scannell, chairman and CEO of Moog; and Marsha Henderson, former president of KeyBank's Western New York division. "I had the opportunity to ask them about their leadership journeys and make personal connections with all of the other leaders in the room, too," says Patel. "It was such a rewarding experience." 2 Buffalo Business Spring 2021 CLOE adds leadership coaching to lineup The school's Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (CLOE) launched two new coaching programs in the fall to help managers—and those they lead— become their best. CLOE's Leadership Coaching cert- ification is a four-course program in which p a r t i c i p a n t s b u i l d f o u n d a t i o n a l a n d advanced leadership coaching skills, gain expertise in assessment and feedback, and get hands-on experience with real-world coaching under the supervision of program facilitators Marsha King and Neil Stroul. "Coaching is especially important now, when budgets are tight and employees are being asked to do more with less," says King. "Your employees want to be empowered. They want to do their best. With coaching, you can motivate and inspire them to do just that." The first cohort of the Leadership Coaching certification began in O ctober and continues through May. With weekly sessions on Zoom, the certification is open to participants from across the globe, and planning is underway for a second cohort. "The CLOE Leadership Coaching course has been an amazing experience, equipping me with the foundational knowledge and understanding to become not only a leadership coach, but also a more reflective and curious leader within my school," says Paul Errickson, head of Middle School, Nichols School. "I feel as though my classmates and I are on a transformative journey together." In addition to the Leadership Coaching certification, CLOE now offers one-on-one, customized online leadership coaching. Participants meet with a leadership specialist for a minimum of six one-hour sessions to identify strengths and needs, create a development plan, strengthen leadership skills and improve effectiveness. To learn more about both programs, visit mgt.buffalo.edu/cloeprograms. Startups Participants interact with their instructor and one another during a leadership coaching class. From left, past Executive of the Year honorees Marsha Henderson, John Scannell and Bill Gisel joined dozens of other honorees for the event.

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