February 20, 2017

Thanks to a generous offer by BB&T, an initial group of 40 Moore School students learned how their various strengths affect their leadership styles and explored how to further develop those strengths and identify them in others. The BB&T Emerging Leaders Certification Seminar enabled students to learn directly from business professionals and engaged students in focused small group discussions on leadership styles.

“I learned more about what it takes to lead others based on my strengths and weaknesses,” said Michael Barquero, third-year finance and management student. “You can’t expect to successfully lead others if you don’t understand your own leadership style, and that’s exactly what this helped me understand.“

The seminar was originally organized for the first cohort of Business Community Leadership Fellows, but as that group is still being finalized, BB&T offered to share their expertise with 40 selected Moore School students. The involved students were invited based on nominations by Moore School faculty and advisers, and at the end of the seminar, each received a leadership certificate.

“The BB&T Leadership Institute has a long history of promoting effective leadership behaviors through its educational programs for executives, institutions and students,” said Steve Barth, director of Student Services and External Relations. “The Moore School is very grateful for BB&T’s willingness to provide this prestigious certification training to our students at this event and in future years as part of the Business and Community Leadership Fellows program.”

The first session of the seminar equipped students to identify their character strengths and how they would fit into the BB&T model for providing leadership. The second focused on identifying leadership styles in both one’s self and in others.

“A lot of the time, we look at leaders as having one skill: the ability to lead,” said Anea Gause, a second-year finance and risk management student. “However, this seminar taught me that there is more to being a leader. To become an effective leader, you must first realize who you are.”

By Madeleine Vath