ACEC Missouri’s Future Leader Academy Offers Professional Development Opportunities

Professional Land Surveyor, Aubrey Meyer, PLS, recently completed the American Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri’s Future Leader Academy. A six-day program, each class has between 18 and 20 participants every year. In this article, learn more about his experience and why he found it beneficial.

Why did you apply for Future Leader Academy? What were you hoping to learn from it?
This is a yearly program that ACEC Missouri offers, and Affinis has had several co-workers attend over the years. I am always looking for ways to improve my leadership abilities, understand how others conduct business, and find opportunities to meet with like-minded people.

What kinds of sessions did you attend?
I attended a variety of sessions. They were Listening and Negotiation, Firm Culture and Business Development, Contract Language/Risk, and Strategic Human Resources.

What were your takeaways from the program?
The program was great! It was highly engaging and encourages you to know your classmates by name, company, and discipline. There is an emphasis on building relationships and networking, while learning how to become a leader with a better understanding of our industry in general. ACEC encourages industry professionals to reach out to their individual State Representatives and Senators to establish a relationship with them. The program focused on this aspect, because it is important for our industry to have the ear of legislators and offer guidance to them when they are making decisions and voting on bills that impact our industry.

Which sessions/activities did you find most interesting and why?
All were great sessions! I would say that the Listening and Negotiation sessions were the most engaging and eye opening. There is truly an art to negotiations, and the key to being successful is to listen more than speak.

What did you find most beneficial? Why?
I feel like I benefited the most from the Contract Language/Risk area, as I use it most in my day-to-day. The biggest takeaway for me is that when scoping a project, it is easy to just list tasks that are important to the project needs and meet the client’s expectations. However, stating what is not being done in the scope is as important, and maybe even more so, to mitigate scope creep and reduce risk in general.