On Tuesday March 21, Dallas SWE Members had an opportunity to hear speaker Alise Cortez, PhD of Insigniam, Catalyzing Breakthrough Results® enlighten our members about vital communication skills. Her topic “The Key to Success and Sanity in the Workplace: Developing the Vital Communication Skills to Talk about ANYTHING” provided key takeaways for all us to put into practice in our personal and professional lives.
She referenced a few books with the main recommendation being “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High” by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler . She integrated the essential framework of the method with psychology studies to provide perspectives and strategize with attendees on issues that might arise during real-world interactions..
Below are a few of the key takeaways from the night:
The first critical step of vital communication skills is to become aware of limiting conversations. Do you know how much you are interpreting a story from the past and its effect on filtering what you see as possible in the present? Do you realize the impact of your misperceptions on your future interactions? The way you see something based on past experiences does not give your current or future circumstances a fair chance to be different.
Once you aware of your limiting conversations and are ready to embrace the present fully it is time to have more crucial conversations.
The following are ways to have crucial conversations:
Start from the Heart
Stay focused on what it is you really want
Work on you first engage your mind by reflecting on your brain
What do I really want for myself?
What do I really want for others?
What do I really want for the relationship?
How would I behave if I really wanted these results?
Master Your Stories
Stay in dialogue when you’re angry, scared or hurt and create your emotions you can act on them or be acted on by them. It’s always a choice in how you choose to respond.
STATE your Path. Speak persuasively not abrasively using:
S- Share your facts
T- Tell Your Story
A- Ask for other’s paths
T- Talk tentatively
E- Encourage Testing
Overall, developing vital communication skills means making it safe, for a mutual purpose with mutual respect for communicating with value and addressing misunderstandings.
Join us for our April Professional Development Event:
Get Out of Your Own Way to Create More Success, Balance and Meaning in Your Life and Career
We have a tendency to blame others for our unhappiness. The truth is that in order to create the life we want, we need to give up all blaming, complaining, judgments and shaming. Our point of power is in the choices we make. Everything that has happened to you in your life is a result of choices you’ve previously made. We’re creating our future by the choices we’re making today. Make choices that will help you move from where you are to where you want to be.
Attend this presentation led by Katherine Bock to find out the keys to success. You will leave with a better understanding of how to change so you can get out of your own way to create more success, balance and meaning in your life and career, along with concrete steps to take to move toward the life you want and deserve.
Cost: FREE for SWE Members, $5 for non-members and guests. Food is available for purchase by the individual. Please RSVP by Sunday, April 16!
Speaker: Katherine Bock, J.D, PCC
Executive Coach & Speaker
Katherine Bock is an executive coach who helps women take charge of their careers and lives to create more success, meaning and balance. She is a self-described “recovering attorney” and has the ability to connect with humor and insight making her a sought after speaker, facilitator and coach. Her spa and beach retreats for women have been described as “life changing” by many attendees.
Katherine’s expertise and insight into people and organizations are grounded in her hands-on business experience that includes trust banking, corporate law, career transition coaching and consulting at the executive level.
She holds the Professional Certified Coach designation from the International Coach Federation and possesses both law and accounting degrees. She’s a 2001 graduate of Leadership Texas and is active in the community and belongs to several executive-level networking groups. She’s also a certified Laughter Yoga instructor.
Katherine’s motivation in going to law school was to get involved in politics to help make the world a better place and she believes that what she does now helps to make the world a better place—it’s just one person or a few people at a time!
Our FY17 leadership team is a diverse and dynamic group! Join our FY18 team and make the most of your Dallas SWE experience.
It’s that time of year again: we are gearing up to elect a new team of Dallas SWE Leaders! SWE is a great place to learn new leadership skills, give back to your community, and build a network of engineering professionals and friends! Per our section bylaws, elected officers must be voting members of Dallas SWE in good standing with the Society.
Officers are expected to attend monthly 1-hour executive council meetings, usually conference calls on a weekday evening. The schedule for the year is agreed-upon by officers each year. Once a quarter, in place of a conference call, we have a face-to-face 2-hour business meeting on a weekend. At the start of each fiscal year, a day-long officer transition meeting is held to share lessons learned from outgoing officers to incoming officers and bring everyone up to speed on Dallas SWE happenings. We have a wealth of experience to help you succeed in your leadership role and won’t leave you hanging!
See an important message from our FY17 Nominating Committee below!
Dallas SWE is currently seeking nominations for officers to serve for FY18 (July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018).
There are 8 positions available and self nominations are highly encouraged! We need nominations for the following 1-year term positions: President, Executive Vice President, Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Outreach, Secretary, Section Representative (1 position). Additionally, we are seeking nominations for Treasurer (2 year term) and one Financial Advisory Committee Member (3-year term). Below (under the cut) are detailed positions descriptions per our section Bylaws. You can also view practical descriptions of our assigned activities on our website here. Please e-mail any questions to zgahmad@gmail.com.
Please e-mail nominations to zgahmad@gmail.com by Saturday, April 8th at 11:59pm.
Thank you! Dallas SWE FY17 Nominating Committee Teri Cate (Chair), Tessa Hazlett, Zaineb Ahmad, Molly Sing
With our Member of the Month program, Dallas SWE seeks to recognize some of our non-officer members whose technical contributions, leadership accomplishments, or SWE volunteer service are particularly noteworthy. If you would like to nominate a Dallas SWE member for his/her contributions, please email us.
Our Member of the Month for March is Shilpa Nagaraj! Shilpa has a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bangalore University, India. Her love for math and science led her to engineering while bringing a design to life via solid modelling and analysis lured her into a mechanical engineering profession. She currently works as a Senior Design Engineer at Emerson designing pressure regulators for Natural Gas Pipelines. She has also worked in New Product Development Group as an HVAC compressor design engineer for the automotive industry. She has extensive experience in engineering & project management in the R&D, automotive and energy sectors for over 15 years.
She believes providing exposure and opportunities for young women to showcase their capabilities is crucial in increasing their chances of success in STEM careers. As a STEM activist for young women, she serves as a Counselor to the Collin County Community College section of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Ever since she worked on her thesis in Robotics and Control Systems in Graduate School, she has developed a keen interest in volunteering at Robotics Activities such as building VEX Modkits Robots for Robot Soccer via Collin College Girls in Engineering Program. Other involvement with STEM included serving as a Panel member for Shark Tank Design Contest for Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Career Panel member for Boys and Girls Club of Greater Dallas, volunteer for Dallas SWE’s Design Your World STEM Conference for Girls, volunteer as Scholarship Review Committee Member and Finance Committee Member for SWE. She is also a College Relations Officer for Local Universities via the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). She currently serves as Women’s Alliance of Mckinney (WAM), Mckinney Chamber of Commerce Board Member and helps empower women in business. She recently completed a Certificate of Non Profit Management Course from State University of New York (SUNY).
The SWE network is like no other; it is a strong force, a collaboration, a sisterhood that encourages & understands its student and professional members. SWE provides amazing networking, professional development and outreach opportunities for its members. I have developed great friendships while attending events such as Region and National Conference, local networking events and industry tours. SWE keeps me up to date with technology, industry trends via presentations, webinars, and poster presentations. The outreach activities at SWE keep me engaged and facilitates its members to give back to the community.
The Key to Success and Sanity in the Workplace:
Developing the Vital Communication Skills to Talk about ANYTHING
Join Dallas SWE members for an engaging professional development event presented by Alise Cortez, an expert in organizational development, complex enterprise strategy implementation, and leadership transformation and development. She will discuss how to cultivate the skills needed to inspire, motivate, and communicate about tough issues in the workplace.
When: Tuesday, March 21, 2016, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Where:Blue Mesa Grill – Addison, 14866 Montfort Dr, Dallas, TX 75254 Cost: FREE for SWE members, $5 for non-members. Food available for purchase by the individual. RSVP below!
Collegiate group photo at the final Region C Conference!
Last weekend, twelve Dallas SWE members kicked off Engineers Week by attending the final Region C Conference! Texas A&M University in College Station hosted over 300 collegiates and professionals from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi for a busy weekend of networking, professional development, career coaching, and celebrating the history of SWE Region C!
Dallas SWE at the final Region C Conference!
Friday evening attendees were welcomed at a networking social with prizes for filling in networking bingo cards and performances by A&M’s Aggie Wrangler dance team and the Apotheosis a cappella singing group. Later, the group separated into socials for smaller groups including graduate students and past section presidents and region governors.
Saturday’s activities kicked off with breakfast and keynote speaker Polly Bessel from AT&T who shared perspectives from her long and varied career experiences. Our joint region business meeting was led by Region C Governor Hope Toole Schwalls and the FY17 Region C leadership team, giving updates on SWE governance changes, region finances, K-12 outreach initiatives, SWE Senate updates, SWE branding tips for social media use, and LCC program updates. Then we split up into separate professional / collegiate meetings to discuss further region business.
During the professional Region C Council meeting, the main point of discussion was how to dispense our healthy region finances as SWE governance changes force the dissolution of our current region structure. A proposal was presented to fund an endowed scholarship to be managed by the SWE Finance Committee, with the remainder of region funds being disbursed equally to all professional and collegiate Region C sections and MAL accounts in good standing. Pros / cons to this approach were discussed and several other endowment options were also considered. The Region Council will consider several proposals in the coming months as we have a goal to approve a plan by the end of FY17. If you have suggestions or opinions on this topic, please email us at dallas.swe@gmail.com as soon as possible and we will make sure our Section Representatives take your important feedback into consideration before a vote is brought to the Region Council.
After one breakout session hour, attendees enjoyed lunch with SWE Board of Directors member Karen Roth delivering the State of SWE presentation on changes happening within SWE at the national and international level. Special highlights were made on SWE Next, WE Local conferences, and membership growth especially in countries outside the United States. In the afternoon, attendees enjoyed three more breakout session hours, a research poster competition, and the career fair.
Accepting Lennox SWE Region C Sustaining Benefactor Award!
Saturday evening culminated in the annual Region C Awards Banquet with keynote speaker Janeen Judah, an A&M Alumna with inspirational words for women engineers at all stages of their education and careers to be proud of our accomplishments and strive for excellence in all circumstances. Lennox was awarded the SWE Region C Sustaining Benefactor Award for their support of Dallas SWE professional development and outreach activities!
As the tradition of over 20 years of Region C Conferences come to a close, we are optimistic about the replacement WE Local Conferences and the opportunities they will bring for networking and sharing SWE lessons learned across geographic regions. In FY18, the closest WE Local conference to us will be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For the latest information on WE Local conferences, visit SWE’s WE Local website.
Below are some additional photos and insights from Dallas SWE attendees. If you missed this conference, we hope to see you at WE17 in Austin, TX October 26-28! Mark your calendars! The WE17 website will be up soon with housing reservations opening in April and registration opening in May. The conference planning team is in need of volunteers: if you are interested, sign up here or email us for more information!
“As a relatively new grad, my main goal was to hit up a one-on-one coaching session with experienced engineers to talk about my career trajectory and interests. I got some great insight and direction and was really glad this experience was available to me. Another great moment at the conference was realizing that one of the speakers, now a faculty member at Texas A&M, was once a faculty member at Ohio State! She influenced me to join a engineering design team and that led me to Buckeye Current – a major part of my college experience.” – Kim Concillado, Dallas SWE Social Media Chair
“I loved the Cyclotron tour, it was a truly unique experience. The conference was a great opportunity to meet fellow SWE members and also interact with the Collin College student chapter. I particularly loved the ‘Life Hacks’ session by Shawna Fletcher.” – Shilpa Nagaraj, Collin College SWE Counselor
“After attending my third Region C Conference, I’m reminded of what an amazing opportunity it has been to network with area professionals, grow personally, and connect with SWE friends, old and new. Though smaller than the Society WE Conferences, Region Conferences provided wonderful sessions for professional development and SWE business. Every conference has had a vastly different feel, but the support, diversity, and sense of community is ever-present, which is why I’m looking forward to attending WE Local in 2018 as part of a new yearly tradition.” – Zaineb Ahmad, Dallas SWE VP of Membership
“The first Region Conference I attended was ten years ago in College Station, so it was interesting to have the last Region Conference there as well! I’ve made some great memories with SWEsters from our Region over the years and while this last conference was bittersweet, I am confident that we’ll continue to have friends in our surrounding states and make new connections and new memories in WE Local cities starting in FY18!” – Shelley Stracener, Dallas SWE President
I am sad it was the last Region C conference ever and am so glad I was able to attend. I attended my first Region C conference in 2013 here in Dallas, and every one since then. Texas A&M did a great job of hosting. The entertainment at the Friday night social was fantastic!
Hearing about WE17 heightens the anticipation for the conference coming to Austin in October. I appreciated Karen Roth, SWE Director of Professional Excellence, speaking to us about the Society Governance Update and the State of SWE.
I liked carpooling because it is a great time to catch up with my Dallas SWEsters and talk about what is happening in the section and beyond.
The key take-away for me is around determining the plan for disbursement of Region C finances at the end of FY18. I heard people with lots of different opinions during the professional business meeting. As a section representative, I will want to know what our members think about the options proposed.
-Barbara Read, Dallas SWE Section Representative
Dallas SWE members at the Friday evening social.
Dallas SWE members at the Mardi Gras themed Friday evening social.
Attendees ready to start the day at breakfast!
Dallas SWE members having fun with the conference social media hashtags.
Shelley Stracener selling branded merchandise at the SWE Boutique
Barbara Read representing Raytheon at the Career Fair
Shilpa Nagaraj and Hoden Fara happy to be at conference with Shelly the Region C Turtle mascot.
Our Region C Senators and Speaker of the Senate. Kate Van Dellen, right, is from our section!
On Tuesday March 21, Dallas SWE Members had an opportunity to hear speaker Alise Cortez, PhD of Insigniam, Catalyzing Breakthrough Results® enlighten our members about vital communication skills. Her topic “The Key to Success and Sanity in the Workplace: Developing the Vital Communication Skills to Talk about ANYTHING” provided key takeaways for all us to put into practice in our personal and professional lives.
