2015 Fall Conference Proceedings

15-FA-Emotional Intelligence 101: How Our Reactions Impact Engagement
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

How do our emotions support us or work against us? What causes us to react differently in various settings? How might our response to stress be energetically impacting culture, employee motivation, and the bottom line? The answer to all of these questions is found in two words: Emotional awareness. But you need to know how to understand emotions as energy, to make it work for, not against, you. If you always try to inspire others, but sometimes feel like something’s missing, something is. Energy Leadership(tm) puts you in touch with the missing link between your ambitions and your ability to achieve them. (54 minutes)

15-FA-Characteristics of Highly Effective Boards of Directors
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

Our industry is highly competitive today. Business leaders need every edge possible for success. When used effectively, a company’s board of directors can help guide the management team to greater heights. The board can help the company achieve its vision and strategic direction, ensure that resources are allocated effectively, maintain financial strength, and maintain the best policies. Professional-service companies of all sizes and ownership structures are moving to a more dynamic and forward-looking governance model. Learn how your company sizes up in this area and where there may be an opportunity to “up the game” for your business. Gerald J. “Gerry” Salontai, P.E. and the panelists address:

• the role and focus of the board,
• qualifications and selection of directors,
• agenda and decisions for the management team vs. a board, and
• advancement of the company’s long-term vision and strategy.

(62 minutes)

15-FA-Disseminating GBA Materials and Information within Your Firm – Talk About ROI and Engagement!
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

Matthew R. “Matt” Poirier, P.E. (Sanborn, Head & Associates, Inc.) leads a panel discussion with Thomas “Tom” Fennick, P.E. (McPhail Associates, LLC), Daniel L. “Dan” Harpstead, P.E. (Kleinfelder), and Michael E. “Mike” Covert, P.G. (Terracon Consultants, Inc.). GBA’s long tradition of members sharing their experience continues as these panelists discuss how they are able to leverage GBA’s materials and information to increase staff productivity, manage risk, and create staff alignment within their respective firms. Their firms’ investments in GBA are yielding an outstanding ROI, and they will arm you with ideas for how you can see similar returns in your firm. Matt, Tom, Dan, and Mike will each discuss their experiences and what programs their respective firms have implemented to gain the most value from GBA’s unending supply of resources. (27 minutes)

15-FA-Accountability: The Key to Driving a High-Performance Culture
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

Accountability. Just saying the word conjures all sorts of negative images: micromanagement; an emotional, mean-spirited conversation; punishment. It can be all of those things, but it doesn’t have to be any of them. Greg Bustin will show you how to:

• approach accountability as a reward and not punishment,
• think creatively about the tool that does the heavy lifting of accountability, and
• exercise your mind when facing a conversation with an under-performer.

This session will transform the way you manage, maintain, and motivate yourself, your team, and, ultimately, your workforce. (59 minutes)

15-FA-Unearthing the Leader’s Code: Ancient Secrets from Strategic Domination – Part 1
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

Leaders want results, and thousands of books published annually intend to help. But do they? The success rates of management theories are dismal. Lack of alignment, speed, and accountability still frustrate many managers. This program offers scientific, yet provocative, alternatives to modern leadership hype. Prepare to journey into the fusion of ancient wisdom and modern science as Don Schmincke shares how genetics, anthropology and an ancient model bring fresh, new approaches for accelerating strategic growth. Specific focuses include a new approach using an ancient model for consistently producing results, the primal impulse great leaders tap for generating strategic focus, and how to dramatically enhance your team and culture for rapid execution of strategy. (Part 1 of 2) (54 minutes)

15-FA-Unearthing the Leader’s Code: Ancient Secrets from Strategic Domination – Part 2
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

Leaders want results, and thousands of books published annually intend to help. But do they? The success rates of management theories are dismal. Lack of alignment, speed, and accountability still frustrate many managers. This program offers scientific, yet provocative, alternatives to modern leadership hype. Prepare to journey into the fusion of ancient wisdom and modern science as Don Schmincke shares how genetics, anthropology and an ancient model bring fresh, new approaches for accelerating strategic growth. Specific focuses include a new approach using an ancient model for consistently producing results, the primal impulse great leaders tap for generating strategic focus, and how to dramatically enhance your team and culture for rapid execution of strategy. (Part 2 of 2) (59 minutes)

15-FA-Six Pressure Points: Emerging People Challenges That Will Drive Your Firm’s Growth…or Its Decline
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

Richard “Dick” Orton’s presentation is a follow-up to GBA’s 2013 Crystal Ball Workshop held in Boston. Using data from CEOs and chief human-resources officers, Dick identifies six internal people issues that, over the next 5-10 years, will pose both great danger and great opportunity for professional-service firms. Dick discusses the growth of staff obsolescence, ownership-transition problems, and the new definition of “trust.” Using what Dick provides, you will be able to gauge your own firm’s risk potential relative to the six emerging issues and gain insights for the design of successful management strategies and mitigation techniques. You will also learn about a simple, but effective, strategic-planning tool for evaluating the relative balance of your firm’s economic/financial and human-resources efforts. (48 minutes)

15-FA-The Third Dimension of Value: Community Engagement
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

Kurt R. Fraese, L.G. and David R. “Dave” Gaboury, P.E., both GBA past presidents, present their perspectives on the value of community engagement in the communities where they practice. They address the investment of time and money in these endeavors and the ROIs those investments have realized. They will demonstrate that community engagement stands as the “third dimension of value” alongside colleagues and clients in a thriving geoprofessional enterprise. (51 minutes)

15-FA-Safety Is Good Business! The ROI of Safety Engagement
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

We are in business to make money and any investment should have a return. Safety is not an expense; it’s a solid investment and, in this presentation, Randall A. “Randy” Neuhaus, P.E. shares experiences on how a safe workplace will provide a return on investment in more ways than you think. Randy discusses intangible returns, true costs (direct vs. indirect), increased productivity, client satisfaction, and increased profitability. He shares how a business objective of saving money turned into a culture of actively caring for employees that resulted in increased employee engagement with the company, its clients, the local community, and their families. (23 minutes)

15-FA-Is Your Firm Lucky or Good? The Importance of Engagement and Culture in Business Conduct and Ethics
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

A professional-services firm is only as successful as its reputation allows it to be. Perhaps no aspect of a firm’s reputation is as important as being known as honest and ethical. Michael J. “Mike” Yost, Esq. will help you determine whether your firm’s approach to ethics is by accident and dumb luck or carefully cultivated through an engaged ethical culture. Mike discusses: the importance of engaging ethics and the cost of failing to do so; the role of both the firm and the individual in creating and maintaining this culture; and some of the most common risk areas geoprofessional firms typically face with ethical issues and provide best practices to avoid pitfalls. (44 minutes)

15-FA-Determination of the Standard of Care for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, 2007-2010
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

GBA previously developed survey reports describing the standard of care in the industry for performance of Phase I Environmental Site Assessments. These reports have been widely accepted in litigation matters as generally representative of the national standard of care and have helped GBA-Member Firms combat expert testimony based solely on personal experience. W. Jerrold “Jerry” Samford, P.G. provides a brief overview of the procedures used in the study and a progress report on the current standard of care study being completed by GBA’s Environmental Business Council. (9 minutes)

15-FA-How To Hold Employees Accountable To Increase Profitability
This video is only available to members; join GBA today to watch it.

The behavior of your employees is what sets your firm apart and ultimately leads to its success. Many A/E firms struggle with holding employees accountable and lack overall performance-management metrics, processes, and systems to enable them to keep employees focused on their objectives and to achieve the type of profits that the firm needs to be successful. June R. Jewell, CPA focuses on the specific actions you can take to implement an effective accountability process to inspire employees to maximize their performance and work toward common goals and team alignment. (62 minutes)