University at Buffalo School of Management

Moderated by Timothy Maynes, Associate Professor of Organization and Human Resources, UB School of Management Today's leaders operate in an environment of exponential technological and social change that requires resilience and adaptability. Leaders must help their organizations envision an inspired future in a world filled with uncertainty. Leadership today requires creating an inspirational vision and aligning it with a measured cadence moving towards that goal. In this session, Ulbrich will share lessons learned in working with his leadership team to guide Goodwill of Western New York through three simultaneous challenges that included the retirement of longstanding leadership, a prolonged and total operational shutdown due to COVID-19 and the closing of their 88-year program supporting people with disabilities. Goodwill's evolution is ongoing and is driven by building an agile culture that is responsive to the inevitable and unpredictable changes businesses face while maintaining a crystal-clear, ten-year objective that they are focused on achieving. The hard lessons learned about culture, communication and making difficult decisions are sure to be of value to all leaders operating in today's often uncertain world. Ulbrich is an entrepreneurial leader with broad-based management experience in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. His passion for social innovation is focused on nurturing strong relationships and building consensus across diverse groups of stakeholders in the academic, for-profit, nonprofit and government sectors. During his prior tenure as an assistant dean at the UB School of Management and School of Social Work, he did extensive work in the field of social entrepreneurship with a focus on the emerging concept of the "entrepreneurial nonprofit." He retains an appointment at the UB School of Management as Executive in Residence for Entrepreneurship. Closing Keynote Presentation 3:45 p.m. — Conflict Communication for Leaders: Delivering an Ideal Message in Less-Than-Ideal Circumstances – Ballroom Ryan Marshall Dunlap, Founder, Conflictish In the face of conflict, adversity and uncertainty, leaders are expected to lead courageously and communicate competently. Failing to do so can quickly cause conflict to escalate into a crisis. When the message is the difference between success and failure, the messenger has to be ready to deliver. This keynote will introduce you to practical strategies for delivering an ideal message in less-than-ideal circumstances by way of real-world lessons learned from a former hostage negotiator and crisis intervention officer. With more than 20 years of combined law enforcement, ministry and executive leadership experience, Ryan Dunlap is a highly sought-after conflict and crisis management expert. He is the founder and chief conflict officer at Conflictish, a conflict strategy firm dedicated to helping leaders prevent, respond to and overcome conflict and crisis challenges. He is the creator of The Real Tact Model™, a custom framework for developing conflict competence. To date, he's coached leaders around the globe and in several industries including biotech, government, nonprofit, faith-based, health care, pharma, education, food and beverage, and commercial construction, helping them to improve their conflict presence. Dunlap is a former SVU detective, SWAT hostage negotiator, and crisis intervention officer who has facilitated hundreds of high-stakes interviews, interrogations and negotiations. As a certified DCJS instructor and field training officer, Dunlap has trained and developed hundreds of law enforcement personnel. He holds a master's in communication and leadership, as well as a graduate certificate in strategic communication management from Purdue University, and earned his bachelor's in criminal justice from Saint Leo University. 4:15-6 p.m. — Reception and Networking – Lobby

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