Date: November 2, 2018
Location: Perkins Eastman DC, One Thomas Cirlce, Suite 200, Washington DC
Led by: Daniel Blair and Nicole Keroack
Session Sponsors: Perkins Eastman, Marvin, Silman, YKK, Tremco, ECS, WSP, Kawneer, Pioneer, Henry Adams, ABC Imaging
Session Downloads: Session 02 Guide

Overview
This session focused on the underlying themes that are fundamental to firm productivity, entrepreneurship, collaboration, and leadership but that are often not learned in educational study or in professional practice. By drawing on discourse that started in CKLDP Session #1 “Working Together,” this session engaged participants through a roundtable discussion between three experienced firm leaders on firm management and lessons learned along the way; a presentation from a successful entrepreneur on business opportunity and branding; and through an interactive group activity on self-development and leadership.

Developing a Practice | Roundtable Discussion
During the roundtable discussion, speakers engaged in a moderated dialogue that incorporated questions from the scholars. The participants were Matt Daw, a senior principal at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) engineering firm, Ryan Moody, founder of Moody Graham landscape architects, and Barbara Mullenex, a managing principal at Perkins Eastman DC. All three candidates discussed their paths through their own careers, from how they started to how they took on the positions they are in now, as well as lessons learned along the way. Much of the discussion focused around how architects can take the knowledge that they learned and possess from their education in design and apply those skills towards developing stronger business acumen and recognizing career advancing opportunities through leadership.

A Decade of Ditto + Lessons Learned Along the Way
Presentation by Martin Ditto + Callie Bruemmer
Martin Ditto,founder and CEO of Ditto Residential, and Callie Bruemmer, Ditto’s Communication and Marketing Director, led the second presentation that gave a brief history of how Ditto started and how they have become the innovative real estate and development firm that they are today. Martin discussed how his passion and desire to respond to underserved populations in DC has driven much of their business strategy and how his unapologetic attitude towards his work has benefited their mission and brought them significant recognition in the architecture community. With Martin, Callie discussed how she has helped to develop the Ditto brand and how it has helped to drive their success in the community and beyond.

Developing Your Leadership Brand
Presentation and Activity with Jordan McAnaney
Jordan McAnaney is the Global Head of Organizational Development at Altisource Portfolio Solutions in Atlanta, GA, where he helps the company optimize the potential of their workforce and set goals for long-term growth. Jordan gave a presentation on the principals of effective leadership and methods for building individual development plans to help the scholars achieve both short and long term career goals. During the activity, the scholars were broken into smaller groups and were given mock scenarios in which they were able to practice the important and crucial skills of giving and receiving feedback. The scholars were asked to role play participants from the mock scenarios and come up with effective solutions to communicating and addressing a workplace issue.