Impressions of SIOP’s 2018 LEC

UMBC I-O Graduate Students

SIOP thanks Elliot D. Lasson, Professor of the Practice, and I-O Psychology Graduate Program director, UMBC at Shady Grove, for coordinating @UMBC student volunteers at the Leading Edge Consortium in Baltimore last month and for providing this feedback from the volunteers and students who attended the graduate student briefing.

Nidhi A.
My experience at SIOP's Leading Edge Consortium (LEC) on October 19-20 at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel was phenomenal. At the conference, I have the opportunity to hear applied psychologists and senior executives talk about identifying, developing, and retaining high-potential talent (HiPos). This afforded me the chance see a convergence of academic and practitioner perspectives in industrial-organizational psychology. Experts such as Allan Church (PepsiCo), Jane Ewing (Walmart), and Seymour Adler (Aon) offered informative insights into best practices implemented by their renowned organizations in developing and managing high potential talent. I especially appreciated the talk by Sandra Davis of MDA Leadership when she challenged everyone to recall a time when “someone took a chance on you.” She went on to also explain how often the best followers will make for the best leaders. This event also provided me the chance to meet new people and network with them. After my experience at SIOP LEC, I will be sure to attend SIOP conferences in future including the one in April at National Harbor. These professional forums are not to be missed.

Melinda H.
The SIOP Leading Edge Consortium (LEC) held October 18-20, 2018 in Baltimore, MD was one of the most interesting conferences I've attended. As a grad student volunteer, my job was to work the lights to keep speakers on schedule, register attendees, and answer general event questions. There were over 200 SIOP attendees from all over the country and 30+ speakers at this event. During our networking sessions I spoke with some of the most powerful men and women in corporate America, including the Fortune 100. I even had a lively discussion with a consultant – a gentleman who flew all the way from Denmark just to attend the SIOP meeting; his dedication was amazing! I also had a chance to meet the wonderful staff of SIOP who accomplish so much for being such a small team. I learned a ton from the sessions and speakers, but we had fun too as they had an after-hours cocktail party aboard the U.S. Constellation ship. All in all, it was time well spent and I look forward to attending the SIOP Annual Conference in April 2019 in DC, which should be even better!

Deejin M. 
I very much appreciated this opportunity to attend a free SIOP graduate student briefing. It was informative and very interesting. I found their blueprints to be useful, particularly in regard to how to identify, develop, and retain high potential leadership talent. I appreciated how the presenters deconstructed the blueprints in a way that captured the distinctions between foundational dimensions, growth dimensions, and career dimensions. As a result, these were easier for us comprehend or even potentially replicate in our own workplaces. Perhaps my favorite part of the briefing was Rafi Prager's quote: "Make yourself comfortable with novelty, "new-ness," and it will make your professional development progress more quickly and easily." Throughout my 10+ years of working, I have consistently observed how difficult it is for employees to adjust to (necessary) change, often inhibiting themselves and their colleagues from accelerating their missions and careers. This is why I like and agree with what Rafi Prager said. When one is resistant to, or uncomfortable with (necessary) change, it can impede professional growth.

Katie K.
I am very glad that I attended the LEC graduate student briefing. It was a really unique professional and learning opportunity. First of all, I had the chance to interact with industry leaders and hear them speak about the current state of the field of I-O. As a first semester student, I found that the experience really helped the field come alive to me. I heard these industry leaders give their opinions on where talent management and leadership development is headed and what areas still have room for improvement. This was something that I personally found very helpful as a student who is still trying to figure out the best career path for me in the future. It was also a unique experience to learn the personal stories of these industry leaders, how they became involved in the field, and the paths they took. Not only did I gain from the amazing speakers, but it was also great to spend time with students from other graduate I-O programs in the area. I enjoyed finding out what they are learning about, what projects they are working on, and hearing their questions to the speakers. I very much appreciated experience.