USPOULTRY’s Women’s Leadership Conference provided attendees with a slate of speakers to facilitate career growth and development among women leaders in the poultry and egg industry. Through the many individual stories shared, themes of understanding oneself, supporting others, and being mindful of self and others emerged as crucial aspects of leadership. The various sessions offered attendees an opportunity to explore, in depth, leadership skills that must be developed for success.
Krista Warn, leadership & organization development specialist at Advisa, spoke about the distinction between actions and titles. She noted that, for someone to be a trusted leader, they must have the technical knowledge required as well as connective competence. Technical competence generates respect. Connective competence, defined as demonstrating care for colleagues and keeping their best interests at heart, generates affection. The combination of both traits results in trust. Trusted leaders can engage with employees by building relationships and a strong work culture and driving employee engagement, and ultimately, customer satisfaction and successful business results.