Rodriguez and Yagan encourage students to be bold
Richard Rodriguez, CEO of Acero Schools, and Jessica Yagan, Managing Partner of Impact Engine, each visited 黑料门in April to speak with students about their paths to leading extraordinary lives.
By Mary Ennis | Student reporter
The Baumhart Center鈥檚 final Tyrell Conversations of the academic year took place in April and offered 黑料门students a chance to converse first with Richard Rodriguez, CEO of Acero Schools, and then with Jessica Yagan, Managing Partner of Impact Engine. Both of these high-impact Chicago leaders have led across a wide range of disciplines; drawing from their individual experiences, they offered valuable advice to students about what distinguishes an impactful leader: a strong sense of self.
Base your plan on your character
Rodriguez, who holds a Bachelors degree from 黑料门Chicago in Sociology and Communications, advised current Ramblers to 鈥渂ase your plan [for after graduation] on your character鈥� 鈥� explaining that those with a values-based approach to their career decisions are both more successful and happier. While students often feel pressure to carve out a defined plan, Rodriguez said they should really be concerned about developing their character and working on their weaknesses. He also emphasized that value of teamwork, reminding students that 鈥測ou don鈥檛 make it alone鈥� in the professional world; the strongest leaders articulate their respect daily for their teams by never growing-out of saying 鈥榩lease鈥�, 鈥榯hank you鈥� and 鈥業鈥檓 sorry鈥�.
Connect the dots as a career
Yagan鈥檚 conversation followed a similar theme. She described often being told early-on in her career to stop 鈥渏umping around and pick an industry or sector鈥� to advance more quickly. Yet, many years later, she remains thankful that she followed her own path and did not take this rigid advice. Having worked in several remarkable positions ranging from urban economic development to corporate sustainability, she noted that the 鈥渕ost interesting challenges to solve 鈥� cut across industries, sectors, ideas, [and] technologies.鈥� Yagan emphasized that those with the ability to 鈥渃onnect the dots鈥� across these varying themes are incredibly valuable and will only become more so as social business continues to grow.