SEO Title
NBAA Leadership Conference Focuses on Resiliency
Subtitle
Event includes workshops that will drive self-improvement
Subject Area
Business Aviation
Channel
Training and Workforce
Teaser Text
Event includes workshops that will drive self-improvement
Content Body

NBAA's 2018 Leadership Conference comes to Southern California later this month powered by the theme "Resiliency: Thriving Through Change" and with a revamped format that aims to increase attendee participation. This year's edition, to be held February 26 to 28 in San Diego, continues the event's mission of providing opportunities for current and future leaders from across the business aviation spectrum to grow.


"It's no secret that we have been going through wild swings over the past decade, both in business aviation and the world in general," said Dustin Cordier, managing partner of jetAviva and the event's co-chair. "Limping along and waiting for normal to return is not an option. We're not going back to normal. This is the new normal."


Seeking to help attendees tackle this reality head-on, Cordier and co-chair Julie Goodridge, national sales manager of Jet Aviation, keyed on resiliency as a core tenet of business aviation leaders, and built the conference's two-day program around it. The program's sessions cover thriving through change; using visualization to achieve success; bouncing back from tough times; and nurturing a resilient spirit. New this year are two workshops that will help attendees develop plans they can take home and implement—one on emotional mastery and the other on the concept of "living big."


"Beyond the conference's resiliency theme, if there is one common thread among the six experts we have speaking, it's that solving big problems starts with self-growth," Cordier explained. "That means taking a deep dive into what you see in the mirror. Our hope is that the two workshops will help everyone start down that path."


On February 26, NBAA will also hold a pre-conference event PDP course, "Regulatory Compliance and Documentation."

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False
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AIN Story ID
082April18
Writer(s) - Credited
Sean Broderick
Print Headline
Annual NBAA Leadership Event Is 'Stand-down' For Management
Print Body

Cyrus Sigari, co-founder and president of jet sales brokerage JetAviva, knew about NBAA's annual leadership conference; he'd approved numerous requests for subordinates to attend. But until this year's gathering in San Diego, he'd never experienced the event himself. Now?


"I plan to be here every year, moving forward," he told AIN.


 


This year's event drew a record number of attendees—approximately 450, according to event organizers. The secret to its success? Taking a concept similar to the safety standdown that is so well-received in the operations world and applying it to the administrative side.


 


"It's a 'pause moment' to reflect on personal development," Sigari said. "It's an opportunity to reflect and to plan, to come away with a redefined mindset."


 


Julie Goodridge, sales director at Jet Professionals, has attended more than half a dozen of the events. This year, NBAA's Business Aviation Management Committee (BAMC), which puts on the event, tapped her to serve as the conference's co-chair. Relying on her experiences from past events and taking input from industry peers, Goodridge and Dustin Cordier, JetAviva managing partner and the other co-chair, built an event designed to give attendees tools for their mental toolbox.


 


Adjusting to the New Normal


 


"Attendees really want a message that they can take back to their flight departments," Goodridge said. "They might take some of the themes and host their own mini seminars. In some cases, it provides people with the tools they need to communicate more effectively with senior leadership."


 


Goodridge and Cordier, both BAMC members, sought a theme that resonated both with personal development and their industry. They settled on the idea of resiliency.


 


"It's no secret that we have been going through wild swings over the past decade, both in business aviation and the world in general," Cordier said. "Limping along and waiting for normal to return is not an option. We're not going back to normal. This is the new normal."


 


The event's lineup featured six main speakers—each of whom came from outside of aviation. Two speakers also led interactive workshops, one on emotional mastery and the other on the concept of "living big." The presenters' task wasn't just to connect with attendees, but also to give them tangible takeaways that could be integrated into their day-to-day operations. The program's sessions covered thriving through change; using visualization to achieve success; bouncing back from tough times; and nurturing a resilient spirit.


 


"It's one thing to sit in a room for two days and feel good," Cordier said. "It's another to be better, afterwards. The workshops give people an action plan that they can take back."


 


The BAMC has taken steps to ensure the momentum continues between events. In 2015, it launched a LinkedIn group that conference attendees are encouraged to use to stay connected and discuss leadership-centric themes. The group is going strong, with more than 1,200 members.


 


"Everybody needs a leadership coach," said Goodridge. The BAMC, through initiatives like its events and the LinkedIn group, "wants to be your leadership coach."


 

Content Label
Training and Workforce
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