The Resilience Imperative

Keynote by Al Siebert, Ph.D.

Managing in today's world is more challenging than ever. Resilient executives and managers must get more work done in less time with fewer people with less budget while managing non-stop change. In this session, Dr. Al Siebert draws on thirty years experience teaching management psychology and his knowledge of highly resilient survivors to show how to develop workforce resiliency. This will be an interactive session with discussions that facilitate expert learning.

Participants will learn:

Why some people are more resilient than others. How to hire and develop resilient employees.
Why managers must develop emotional intelligence to effectively manage transitions and change. Fundamentals of transition psychology. Why the best way to manage change is to manage learning. How to shift from managing with instructions to managing with questions.
How people and groups learn to be excellent: Essential processes in a learning organization. How to create attitudes of professionalism.
How to avoid "groupthink" in teams. Why a successful positive attitude includes negative thinking. Techniques for handling people with negative attitudes in positive ways.
How to overcome barriers to resiliency learned during childhood. Why trying to be a "good" person prevents effective coping.
The latest findings about resiliency training.
How to bounce back from unexpected difficulties. How to gain strength from distressing experiences and convert misfortune into good luck.

Dr. Siebert has taught seminars in management psychology for the Professional Development Center at Portland State University for over 30 years. A native Oregonian, Al is an ex-paratrooper and a graduate of Willamette University. He received his M.A. and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan. His public service includes serving for seven years on the Multnomah County School Board, being a volunteer rap group leader with Vietnam veterans, and volunteer consultant to the Northwest Indians Veterans Association.

Dr. Al Siebert is recipient of the Oregon's governor's award for his selection as the State of Oregon's 1993 "External Training Consultant of the Year" for his work during the layoff of 4000 state employees.

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