Empowering tomorrow’s Leaders for the future

Photo By Charles Haymond | Scott Frost, University of Nebraska-Lincoln head coach, speaks on the importance of sacrificing for others during the Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders conference May 14, 2019, at the Salvation Army Kroc Center Omaha, Nebraska. Frost emphasizes the need to develop a servant’s attitude in order to help establish better team efforts on and off the field. (U.S. Air Force photo by Charles J. Haymond)  

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, NEBRASKA, UNITED STATES

05.16.2019

Story by Charles Haymond 

55th Wing

The third annual Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders conference was recently held at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Omaha Nebraska.
The theme for this year’s conference was “Innovate and inspire, be the change you see.”
Opening remarks were made by the 55th Wing commander, Col. Michael Manion.
“As you’re going to quickly find out today, the intent of this conference is not only to build leaders who can effectively innovate ideas as a practice,” Manion said. “For them, it is also to have a work force that knows how to leverage available assets and to move faster.”
The goal of the conference is to help future leaders learn various ways to step up and take charge of the day-to-day business in their workplaces. It also details strategies for sharing ideas with leadership and maximizing innovation.
“I challenge you to take full advantage of everything this conference has to offer,” Manion said. “Be open to innovation, and then in turn, go back to your offices and your work spaces and be that inspiring leader who is willing to listen, to encourage new ideas and to find ways to bring the future faster.”
One of the speakers, Jason Lauritsen, emphasized the importance of networking and having working environments that promote togetherness.
“When we start building relationships inside the organization, we start connecting together,” Lauritsen said. “Social capital starts to break through the walls of silos and starts to bring silos to the ground. When you do that, you get more innovation, you get faster, communication goes faster because instead of having to go up and over, down around a silo.”
Lauritsen would go on to declare that the days of working alone are over. He believes things are coming to us more rapidly and organizations can only be successful through team effort.
“The way we work and create value has changed,” Lauritsen said. “The days of going at it alone and doing things alone are gone. We just don’t have time for that, things are moving too fast. The way we work now is together, in collaboration.”
One of the last speakers for the event was Scott Frost, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln head football coach. He spoke about his motto and the creed that he preaches to his team and coaches on a daily basis.
“If you want to be great in anything, then you sacrifice,” Frost said. “As the leader of the Nebraska football program, I don’t see myself as the pinnacle of that university and that athletic department. I see myself as a servant of the players and the other coaches to try to help them be the best they can be.”
Frost went on to communicate that sharing the message of sacrifice to this new generation can be difficult. However, it is a valuable practice that needs to be implemented in our lives and working environments. He added that approaching work with a team concept can make all the difference.
“When you’re a part of something that is bigger than yourself, and when you care more about the thing that you are a part of than yourself, you really got more than an individual, you got a team,” Frost said.

• Date Taken: 05.16.2019
• Date Posted: 09.12.2019 14:40
• Story ID: 339184
• Location: OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, NEBRASKA, US