By: Shaylie Pickerel Staff Writer
On April 8, the day-long Focus on Leadership conference was held in the Werner University Center. This year, it was mixed with the Greek Summit event for fraternities and sororities on campus. The whole day was set up to give students the opportunity to attend multiple sessions, lunch and listen to the keynote speaker, Justin Jones.
Megan Habermann, the associate director of Student Leadership and Activities, discussed what her hopes were for the annual event. She hoped, “That students learn new leadership skills and to allow them to improve on anything they hope to improve on.”
This event underlined the importance of going outside of comfort zones and pushing those limits to better oneself. When asked what advice she would give to aspiring leaders, Habermann replied, “Don’t be afraid to try something you may not normally 
try.” This piece of advice was an important and recurring theme throughout the conference.
After the introduction, students had the choice to attend two different sessions before the keynote speaker presented, one of which was “the Importance of an Introverted Leader.” During that session, Marlene Lopez-Cruz went over the difference between being introverted and extroverted, what introverted leaders bring to the table and how to push introverts to their full potential.
She emphasized a few important strengths that introverted leaders have; they think first and talk later, they embrace solitude, they have great listening skills and they are very task-focused.
When asked what the importance of being a leader was, Lopez-Cruz said, “To develop leadership skills and to be able to communicate effectively and work with a wide range of people.” In her opinion, to further leadership skills, one should, “Attend workshops, conferences, clubs and organizations, even classroom groups can give you a good opportunity to further your skills.”
After the first session ended, students gathered to listen to Justin Jones, the keynote speaker for the day. Jones emphasized the importance of the “WHY:” why we do things and how that impacts what we do, which impacts when we do it which, in turn, impacts how we do it. He also emphasized how your “WHY” shapes the type of leader you are and how you’re going to continue doing what you do to benefit you best.
“Don’t just be like anyone, be better for everyone by being the only you,” Jones stated. He went on to explain the many kinds of leaders there can be, and how people often react to certain leadership roles.
After the keynote speaker presentation, students attended lunch and then had the opportunity to attend six more smaller sessions before the end of the conference. This event not only emphasized how to improve leadership skills, but also pushed the ideas of why leaders do the things they do, as well as taking chances to ensure a better leadership path.
Contact the author at spickrell15@wou.edu
