Professor Elam

Wednesday November 7 2012

Texas A & M University accounting student Josefina Hernandez attended the San Antonio IMA Student Leadership Conference this past week.I asked her to contribute her thoughts and experience at the conference. Her comments follow.

I attended the IMA 13^th Annual Student Conference.   Thursday night was the first day of the conference and it was more of an ice-breaker.   The task was to get a card with things like find someone with a light colored shirt and have them sign your card.  Once the card was full it was turned in for a raffle.

Friday:  The first session was CEO & President Bryant Ambelang of NatureSweet Tomatoes.     His session was titled, Being the Groundbreaker.  Before this I wasn’t thinking good things about people that take their business out of the U.S. When I would think of companies moving overseas or to Central Mexico (as in this case) I would think of beat down workers and corporate executives with money pouring out of their pockets.  This presentation gave me a second take on it.  They chose Central America because that is the best place to grow tomatoes.  They were on a mission to make great tasting tomatoes and they did it by empowering their employees.  They did is by creating a better way.  They educated their employees, they paid them decent wages and they created happy employees.  Happy and proud employees look up.  Mr. Ambelang judged success by how many people looked up to him as he walked by.  (Shameful employees look down).  He decided that he was not only going to create a better way for the company but for the employees.  They have education assistance, onsite clinics and they dominate the industry.   He emphasized the problems we’ve had in our economy is not the employees fault but the managers fault.  He emphasized the breakdown in our economy has a lot to do with leadership problems.  As an accountant we can’t just focus on the numbers because it all comes from somewhere and down the line there are people just like me.  They have families and goals to.

I think more people should talk about this company for what it has accomplished and how it was accomplished.  They strive to be transparent and they strive to empower their employees.  These actions are what have helped NatureSweet dominate the industry.

The second seminar I attended was Finding a Mentor by C.S. “Bud” Kulesza

He talked about informal and formal mentors. I focused more on the formal.  The role of a mentor is to advise, train and educate.  The goal for the mentee is to reach the mentors abilities or surpass them.    Mentors coach/advise, sponsor, act as a role model, provide social support, and protect the mentee.  He didn’t talk about how to get one.  My mentor is male and I would like to have a woman mentor as well.  I think it is important to get both perspectives of the industry.  So although I went to the seminar, I don’t know how to find and approach a female mentor.  He provided tips for choosing a mentor; they should have industry and organization knowledge, organization and industry relations, a respected reputation, abilities and skills to show you the ropes, and motivation to help you.   He mentioned how some people with good faith pursue a mentor/mentee relationship but don’t have the time and haven’t acquired the skill to be a mentee.  With that being said-how in the world can you find a suitable mentor?