Press Releases for SCP 2010
Benefit for Haiti Relief Inspires Musical Consulting Psychologists to Band Together for Rock ’N Roll Jam
Friday, 5 February 2010
9:00 pm
Hilton Scottsdale Resort and Villas
Overcoming adversity and creating value is what consulting psychologists do for their clients. Dr. Michael Madera, consulting psychologist and songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts, in collaboration with other colleagues, saw an opportunity to create a win-win solution to benefit the people of Haiti in their recovery from the recent earthquake disaster and to provide welcome recreation and fun for the attendees at this week’s annual mid-year conference of the Society of Consulting Psychology (SCP). Two weeks ago, Dr. Madera, the organizer of last year’s largely unrehearsed Rock ‘N Roll Jam Session and Dance Party, started soliciting member donations for the Jam for Haiti. To date, more than $1,000 over and above expenses has been pledged to benefit Haiti and more funds are pouring in daily. According to Dr. Madera, “It sounded like a great plan- a way to have a good time while supporting a very good cause”.
Many consulting psychologists celebrated this opportunity to pull together and show generosity as a group. Some also noted that this effort was a great expression of this year’s Conference theme: Overcoming Adversity and Creating Value in the Global Economy. Dr. Ann O’Roark, although unable to attend this year’s conference, pledged a donation in memory of consulting psychologist Dr. Henry David, the sole holocaust survivor from his family who went on to contribute many years of exceptional service to the profession of consulting psychology. His life is an example of how to overcome adversity and create value in spite of life’s disasters. We hope the same spirit of thriving in adversity will prevail for the people of Haiti. In reflecting on the life of her friend and colleague, Dr. O’Roark said, “…kind, caring, and generous as is this project.”
Once the ball got rolling, others pitched in as well, including MEE Rentals of Scottsdale, a music equipment rental company, and the Hilton Scottsdale Resort and Villas, who reduced prices and made additional resources available for the event. Six consulting psychologists in this ad-hoc band will pool their musical and improvisational talents over sheet music of classic rock favorites. Music, the universal language of the world, will again cross boundaries, unite diverse people, and celebrate the resilience of the human spirit. For additional conference information please go to www.div13.org/conference/2010 The Society of Consulting Psychology is a division of the American Psychological Association. Members are committed to identifying and implementing the best leadership practices for business and workplace clients.
Dr. Michael Madera is President Madera Partners Consulting, Inc., www.maderapartners.com based in Medford, Massachusetts. He also serves on the Professional Visibility and Media Relations Committee of the Society of Consulting Psychology and will be the lead musician for the 2010 Rock’NRoll Jam Session.
Overcoming Adversity and Creating Value in the New Global Economy: Consulting Psychologists Explore New Ways to Help Corporate Clients
In this climate of double digit unemployment, massive layoffs, recession, business failure, corporate ethics scandals, terrorism, and war what has changed for businesses and those who advise them? Now that the economy looks as though it’s beginning to rally, what should leaders have as their primary focus? What lessons have been learned from the past and how do companies best raft the rest of the way down the river of white water? These and other questions will be considered by more than 200 consulting psychologists at their annual Mid-Winter Conference at the Scottsdale Hilton Resort and Villas from 4-7 February 2010.
Keynote presentations on the theme of “Overcoming Adversity and Creating Value in the New Global Economy will be delivered by Philip L. Francis, Chairman of PetSmart; Dr. Iris Mack, Harvard Management Company Whistle Blower and mathematician; Dr. Michael Horowitz, President of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology; and Dr. David Campbell, Center for Creative Leadership Smith Richardson Senior Fellow. In keeping with the tradition of the Society of Consulting Psychology, speakers will include business leaders and clients, academics and researchers, practitioners, and those from disciplines other than psychology. Attendees will benefit from diverse viewpoints and will be challenged to identify best practices for advising their corporate clients on how to best lead and plan for a successful future.
Other conference sessions and workshops will focus on such topics as ethics, excellence in coaching, understanding what drives competitive advantage, New Leadership Requirements for a New Economy, Coping with the Human Resources shortage, Gender and Power in the Executive Suite: New Thoughts Since Breaking the Glass Ceiling, Developing Diverse and Global Leadership Capabilities in Emerging Countries, Assessing and Developing Adaptable Leaders for an Age of Uncertainty, Evidence Based Management, and Thriving in Troubled Times. For a more comprehensive listing of conference workshops and sessions please see www.div13.org/conference/2010. A bonus feature will be a Friday night jam session by consulting psychologist musicians who will raise funds for the Haiti Relief effort.
Corporate sponsors for this year’s conference include Leadership Worth Following, RHR International, GH Smart, The Chicago School, IPAT, Johnson Controls, VHA National Center for Organization Development, and I/O Capital at Work. The Society of Consulting Psychology is a division of the American Psychological Association. Members are committed to identifying and implementing the best leadership practices for business and workplace clients. Some of the services offered by consulting psychologists include executive selection and development, executive coaching, Executive integration and onboarding, succession planning, strategy development, team building, and organizational assessments and analysis.
For more information or to arrange for interviews with speakers, please contact, Dr. Wilson-Starks.
Dr. David Campbell
How Do We Keep Our Grandchildren From Going To War With Each Other: Why Diversity Issues Are Even More Important In Today’s Workplace
Dr. David Campbell has seen first-hand the negative business impact of ignoring diversity and cultural differences. A company from Chile contacted him because they were unable to adapt to the cultural differences of other South American countries. The company failed to understand what was important to diverse customers and consequently was unable to open branch offices in those countries. Dr. Campbell says, “Diversity issues are universal and growing because of international business.” He further notes that “Diversity is a bottom line financial issue.”
To be successful in the marketplace, Dr. Campbell says companies need to understand three different types of diversity: their workplace, customers, and product lines. He says diversity issues of bias and prejudice go beyond race and gender to include considerations about workforce composition, product line mix, and custom products. “If a company is not using everyone despite race, gender, age, or other variables then they are missing a lot of ideas and a broad spectrum of people who understand their customers,” says, Dr. Campbell.
For the past 25 years Dr. Campbell has been collecting and using provocative, historical, and vintage postcards to elicit strong emotions and to create dialogues. For example, a Caucasian woman from the South selected a photograph of Black teens picking cotton in a field as a group of people with whom she would most like to spend time. She reflected back to her youth and heritage in the South and talked about how her prejudices had prevented her from getting to know African-Americans as people. Recently Dr. Campbell expanded on this theme of provocative visual images and created a series of photographs to further help people to learn more about themselves and others. He says, what’s most interesting is why people select certain photos and the stories they tell about them.
According to Dr. Campbell, people tend to gravitate to those who are familiar or to those about whom they may be curious. A lot of self-learning and reflection happens as people explore their feelings and willingness to engage diverse people at escalating levels of intimacy. As a keynote speaker for the Mid-Winter Conference of the Society of Consulting Psychologists he will use this new training tool with more than 200 consulting psychologists in Scottsdale, Arizona. He hopes that his colleagues will become more aware of their own prejudices and biases and the potential impact on their work.
Dr. Campbell’s keynote presentation will be at 8:00 am on Sunday, 7 February at the Hilton Scottsdale Resorts and Villas. The conference theme is “Overcoming Adversity and Creating Value in the New Global Economy.” For more conference information go to www.div13.org/conference/2010
Dr. David Campbell is a renowned Industrial Organizational Psychologist, Center for Creative Leadership Smith Richardson Senior Fellow, 2006 Distinguished Psychologist in Management, creator of the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory, the Campbell Interest and Skill Survey, and author of numerous books and articles. His global consulting practice has focused on executive leadership development.
Philip L. Francis
From Adversity to Sustainable Success: The PetSmart Story
Philip L. Francis, Chairman of PetSmart, will keynote 5 Feb 2010, at the Society of Consulting Psychology’s Annual Mid-Winter Conference in Scottsdale, AZ
What to do when your previously successful business is on the brink of bankruptcy, that’s what PetSmart Chairman Philip Francis will highlight in the PetSmart Story from near bankruptcy in 2000 to becoming a benchmark retailer that is now for the fifth time on Forbes’ top 400 list. He will talk about how the company’s focus on people, leadership, and culture drove the transformation and continues to sustain their success. Francis will also detail the challenges they faced, their business responses, and how PetSmart is “confronting the future and going global.”
In the face of adversity and an absence of public confidence, Francis says refocusing their mission statement to an emphasis on “Total Lifetime Care” was also a factor in PetSmart’s growth and sustainable success. The company focuses on solutions, superior products, and superb customer service.
PetSmart, Inc. headquartered in Phoenix, AZ is the largest specialty retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. The company operates more than 1,149 pet stores in the United States and Canada and 161 in-store PetsHotel boarding facilities. They are also a leading provider of online pet supplies and pet care information (www.petsmart.com).
Philip Francis who was named CEO in March 1998 after having been a director since 1989 became Chairman and CEO in 1999. As of June 2009 he stepped down from the CEO role and remains Chairman of the Board. Prior to his tenure with PetSmart, Francis held senior level positions in a variety of companies to include Shaw’s supermarkets, Roundy’s Inc., Cardinal Health, and Jewel Companies.
His keynote presentation for the Society of Consulting Psychology will take place 9:00 am on Friday, 5 Feb 2010 at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort and Villas. The conference theme is “Overcoming Adversity and Creating Value in the Global Economy. “ More than 200 consulting psychologists will attend the conference. For more conference information please go to www.div13.org/conference/2010
The Society of Consulting Psychology is a division of the American Psychological Association. Members are committed to identifying and implementing the best leadership practices for business and workplace clients. Some of the services offered by consulting psychologists include executive selection and development, executive coaching, Executive integration and onboarding, succession planning, strategy development, team building, and organizational assessments and analysis.
Dr. Iris Mack
IRIS MACK, FORMER HARVARD DERIVATIVES WHISTLEBLOWER, TELLS HOW SHE LEVERAGED HER FIRING TO CREATE NEW BUSINESS AND LIFE OPPORTUNITIES
Iris Mack, Harvard Ph.D. and Assistant Professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, will keynote Feb. 6, 2010, at the Society of Consulting Psychology’s Conference in Phoenix, AZ
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, JAN. 27: Dr. Iris Mack will tell consulting psychologists how she turned a career crisis battling Harvard University and the Harvard Management Company (HMC) into life lessons and a new business, and will discuss implications for businesses in today’s global economy.
Dr. Mack will share rich experiences about the liabilities of closed organizational systems like she encountered at HMC. There, her verbal and written warnings of risky investment practices – based on her previous derivatives and investment experiences at Enron, London Investment Banque BNP Paribas, Salomon Brothers and Charles Schwab – not only went unheeded but led to her firing. She will tell how the traumatic aftermath fueled her resiliency and desire to overcome adversity, leading her to develop a new and rewarding career.
“In 2002, when I corresponded with Larry Summers’ office about my concerns over derivatives use in the endowment, I was just trying to do my job,” Dr. Mack said. “It’s a bit surreal what we are experiencing today: loss of billions of dollars in Harvard’s endowment, a global recession, high unemployment, millions of home foreclosures, IRS auditing Harvard, etc. – all due to the use of financial WMDs [Weapons of Mass Destruction]!” She also notes that “experiences such as Katrina and the recent earthquakes and aftershocks in Haiti help one put his/her problems in perspective and to deal with adverse situations.”
Raised in a New Orleans housing project, Dr. Mack learned early lessons on overcoming adversity. She is the second African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard. Her vita includes experience as an investment banker, an Enron energy trader, an M.I.T. mathematics and business school professor, and she was a semi-finalist in NASA’s Astronaut Program. She was recently appointed to the National Academy of Sciences’ Research Advisory Board. A strong advocate of math and finance education for children, she authored a children’s book, Mama Says, “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees!” She founded Phat Math, Inc., an “edutainment” firm that offers a mathematics social network site – www.phatmath.com – for students in grades K through college to obtain free 24/7 online math tutoring. She is currently writing a book on her experiences in the derivatives markets.
Dr. Mack will deliver her 8 a.m. keynote address to the Society of Consulting Psychology on Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Hilton Scottsdale Resort and Villas in Phoenix. The conference theme is: Overcoming Adversity and Creating Value in the Global Economy. The Society’s members are psychologists who provide varied business services including executive coaching, training, and organizational consulting for non-profit, for-profit, and government organizations.
For further information on this event, please contact Dr. Tenny Mickey, SCP Professional Visibility and Media Relations Committee, and President of POV Collaborative at:
tenny.mickey@POV-collaborative.com or phone (310) 941-0341.
