Best Leadership Practices Headline Montecito Bank & Trust’s Santa Barbara B2B Events
Montecito Bank & Trust held its second 2013 B2B education event in Santa Barbara on Thursday, September 26 at The Fess Parker. The sold out afternoon “Leadership Challenge” workshop engaged an audience of 100 business-focused participants actively working with Daren Blonski, Consultant, Sonoma Leadership, and Judy Guillermo-Newton, SVP and Director of Organizational Development for Montecito Bank & Trust, and certified Leadership Challenge facilitator. This four hour session covered the five practices of exemplary leadership, a self- evaluation of leadership practices, and tools to foster a more committed and engaged workforce. Reviews from participants were solidly positive.
The evening began with a reception and networking session of 250 guests. Janet Garufis, bank president and CEO, welcomed guests and introduced the keynote evening speaker, Barry Posner, Ph.D. and co-author of The Leadership Challenge. Mr. Posner is one of the top 50 leadership coaches in America and has worked with powerhouse companies such as Apple, Ikea and Trader Joe’s. Ms. Garufis shared that she was introduced to Mr. Posner early in her career and he remains one of her heroes. Being able to bring Mr. Posner to Santa Barbara had a very personal and special meaning for her. She so firmly believes in Mr. Posner’s leadership principles and the positive impacts to an organization’s performance that she instituted The Leadership Challenge program at Montecito Bank & Trust where it has been in practice for several years.
Mr. Posner engaged his audience with his warm personally connecting delivery style as he worked his way through the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, applying them to real life organizational challenges. He advocated that besides friction, confusion and under-performance, everything else requires leadership. Everyone in an organization must believe their actions make a difference and that everyone at every level of an organization has the capacity to be a leader. Leaders are not smarter than others, but they do recognize the importance of a team and everyone’s contribution. With each leadership practice, Mr. Posner spent time making his case that by following this roadmap; any organization can become a great workplace with engaged and committed people.
The third and final 2013 B2B event will be held on Tuesday, October 15 in Solvang. The afternoon workshop is entitled: “Tourism Marketing: How to Sand out in the Crowd” will feature a panel of experts. The evening keynote address is entitled: “Local and Global Trends in California Tourism” by Lynn Carpenter-Schumann, VP of Marketing for Visit California.
For more information on the Solvang events and to register, visit Montecito.com/events.