2025 Warren Bennis Leadership Experience spotlights relationships, reflection and resilience
Annual student-run leadership event highlighted by alumni panel
The eighth-annual Warren Bennis Leadership Experience reflected on the former University of Cincinnati president’s leadership lessons at Tangeman University Center’s Great Hall on March 12, days after what would have been Bennis’ 100th birthday.
The student-run Warren Bennis Leadership Experience, a staple of the Warren Bennis Leadership Institute, was founded in 2016 by Jack Fitzgerald, A&S ’17, ’20, and aims to inspire students to become leaders. The keynote portion of this year’s event saw students, faculty, staff, alumni, institute supporters and community members gather to hear from three distinguished panelists and UC alumni:
- Cory Sims, Bus ’11, Managing Member, Investment Advisor Representative, Sims Investment Management.
- Monica Haywood, Bus ’06, Principal Technical Program Manager, Microsoft.
- Eli Maiman, CCM, ’08, Guitarist and Vocalist, Walk the Moon.
Panel moderator Doug Conant, far left, the former CEO of Campbell’s Soup and Nabisco, interacts with panelists Cory Sims, Monica Haywood and Eli Maiman as attendees listen and look on.
The panelists answered questions centered around what Thornburgh Academic Director Donna Chrobot-Mason, PhD, called the “core principles” of Bennis’s leadership teachings and publications: relationships, reflection and resilience.
The event closed with Kate Bennis, Warren Bennis’s daughter and chair of the Warren Bennis Leadership Advisory Council, guiding the audience through a group discussion on leadership.
Student leaders + student scholarship winners
After a brief welcome from Lindner dean Marianne Lewis, PhD, WBLE Student President Makena Mobley, Bus ’25, reflected on her leadershp journey, which originated at the 2023 event.
From left: Kate Bennis, daughter of Warren Bennis, with Leaders Are Made scholarship award winners Amari Cummings and Colin Finnecy.
“I saw something bigger than myself, an opportunity to grow and to be challenged. I stepped into a new realm of leadership.”
WBLE Vice President Ben Richards, A&S ’26, recounted the “monumental strides in leadership” that UC has made since Bennis’s presidency and thanked the event’s supporters.
Just prior to the panel discussion, Kate Bennis recognized MBA student Amari Cummings and Colin Finnecy, A&S, Bus, ’27 as the recipients of the Leaders Are Made scholarships. The scholarships honor students who exemplify the Bennis way of leadership and challenge the status quo.
Panel discussion
Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell’s Soup and Nabisco, moderated the panel, which covered leadership topics and approaches.
Haywood: “You can balance technology. You can balance strategy. But you need to keep people and relationships at the center.”
- Sims: “The best leaders that I’ve been around are the ones who are very open-handed. They are giving to everybody with their time, which is our most precious commodity.”
- Maiman: “Have your eyes open and see how people are feeling. Check in and buy someone coffee or a meal. Doing these things really go a long way towards creating culture.”
- Haywood: “I had to reflect on a failed program. I learned the art of transparency. We have a saying at Microsoft of ‘embrace the red.’ I learned to use failure as a data point. What do we learn from this?”
- Maiman recalled an issue that forced Walk the Moon to play a Rock in Rio show without a piece of technology integral to their live shows. “After the devastation washed over us, we all stared at each other and we’re like, ‘We are going to do this rock-and-roll style, old school.’ And you know what, everybody in the crew and everybody in the band agrees that this was the best show we ever played.”
- Haywood: “Curate you experience at UC. Think about the problem you want to solve. That will ultimately become your legacy.”
- Sims: “Most of the education we have is through life experience. Be a lifelong learner and find something that you are super passionate about.”
- Maiman: “The thing that got us signed to our record contract was a music video that we made with $500 and some friends in an abandoned building downtown. Don’t wait. If you feel passionately about something, just go get it.”
Featured image (from left): Doug Conant, former CEO of Campbell's Soup and Nabisco; Walk the Moon Guitarist/Vocalist Eli Maiman; Cory Sims of Sims Investment Management; Monica Haywood of Microsoft; Lindner dean Marianne Lewis; Kate Bennis, daughter of Warren Bennis; Warren Bennis Leadership Institute Senior Advisor Betsy Myers; and Warren Bennis Leadership Institute Academic Diresctor Donna Chrobot-Mason. Photos/Lauren Meisberger.
UC's home for interdisciplinary leadership
Inspired by the legacy of Warren Bennis, UC’s 22nd president and “The Father of Leadership,” the Warren Bennis Leadership Institute empowers students, UC alumni, professionals and community members to believe in their potential to lead, preparing individuals to better themselves, their workplace and their community.
Related Stories
Lindner recognizes 2022-23 faculty and staff award winners
April 13, 2023
The Carl H. Lindner College of Business touted its award-winning faculty and staff from the 2022-23 academic year in a reception April 12 at Lindner Hall.
Career, community, connections: Business Fellows piece all together in Seattle
December 19, 2023
Forty-six first-year Business Fellows embarked on a four-day excursion to Seattle with their peers.