Elizabeth Albrycht is a 16-year veteran of high technology public relations practice and co-founder of the
New Communications Forum, a conference series designed to bring journalists and marketing and PR professionals together to learn how to use participatory communications tools. She is a founding advisory board member and is the chair of the research committee for the
Society for New Communications Research: . Elizabeth has authored articles on blogging, RSS and other new tools for a variety of industry publications, and has presented teleseminars and in-person seminars on new communications tools for PRSA and
Ragan Communications: . She often speaks about social media in both the US and Europe, and blogs about PR and corporate communications at
CorporatePR.
Dave Desforges began piloting "Work From Home" solutions over 3 years ago. His role required identifying additional candidate requirements and necessary remote work practices for both employees and managers at Sun Microsystems. His current work encompasses blending appropriate technology, organizational practices, and workplace environments to support mobile and distributed teams.
Jim McGee is currently a Director at Huron Consulting Group. He has spent much of the last 30 years working to understand, design, and apply information and technology innovations in organizations. Before Huron, Jim taught at the Kellogg School and was one of the founding partners of DiamondCluster International. With Larry Prusak, he was the co-author of Managing Information Strategically (Wiley, 1993). Jim has both an MBA and a doctorate in Information Technology, Organization, and Strategy from the Harvard Business School.
Regina Miller has more than 18 years of experience in Organization Development, Human Resources, Leadership Development and International Operations. Regina recently launched a global consultancy called The Seventh Suite which assists growing companies bolster their competitive edge via aligned strategy and progressive people practices. Her last corporate job was as the VP HR/OD for Oskar (Vodafone) which has been dubbed “one of the fastest growing mobile operators in Eastern Europe.” More info
here.
Giovanni Rodriguez - Through a combination of luck and persistence, Giovanni has worked in the company of some of the most interesting and colorful leaders in several worlds: the law, theater, and technology. Today, he is a principal at Eastwick Communications, a Silicon Valley PR agency, where he advises both emerging companies and market leaders on executive leadership, public speaking, marketing strategy and media relations. He has worked for, consulted and advised numerous businesses and organizations including HP, Stanford University, Fujitsu Computer Systems, Cadence Design Systems, VMware, the American Arbitration Association, and the Unified Court System of New York. He is a graduate of Princeton University (Religion and Anthropology), and he has done graduate course work at the Columbia School of Journalism and N.Y.U.
Jim Ware is a cofounder of the Work Design Collaborative and the Future of Work program. He has over 30 years experience in research, executive education, consulting, and management, including five years on the faculty of the Harvard Business School. He was the lead author of The Search for Digital Excellence, (McGraw-Hill, 1998), and holds Ph.D., M.A., and B.Sc. degrees from Cornell University and an MBA (With Distinction) from the Harvard Business School.
Giovanni Rodriguez
Elizabeth Albrycht
Dave Desforges
Jim McGee
Jim Ware
1. Jim Ware on June 28, 2005 11:29 AM writes...
Elizabeth, you are on to something here, and I vote with you for engagement as the thing that matters most.
For me, commitment suggests a willful intention to see something through, but it may or may not be something you care about.
Engagement, on the other hand, involves deep personal feelings about a common goal. When I am engaged with a task, I have internalized its purpose, and it has genuine personal meaning for me.
Now, to relate that to organizational life, when employees (and/or contractors) are engaged with the organization's purpose and meaning, they have adopted it as their own, and they care as much about success as the CEO or any other member of the executive team. Engaged employees will "charge the hill" no matter how challenging the task, and they'll proselytize the organization's mission to anyone they meet.
Clearly, that's an idea situation, assuming the organization's mission is noble and just (remember that the Reverend Jimmy Jones had a whole lot of engaged followers join him in a suicide pact at Jonestown - leadership can be focused on both good and bad goals).
So let's learn more about engagement. It's a powerful concept.
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