Opportunities for strategic career development and for business professionals to grow their career skill set will stem from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Center for Executive and Professional Development Power Lunches series beginning September 12. Faculty members from the College of Business and the greater university present the 90-minute sessions. The five lunches allow professionals to obtain insights into relevant challenges facing businesses now and in the future. 

“Popular and affordable, the Power Lunches cover a wide range of topics and are pertinent to business today. We know people are busy so we offer something respectful of their limited time. For those wanting more, we offer longer programs related to several of the topics we cover in Power Lunches,” said Dr. Emre Unlu, executive director of the center, associate professor of finance and Paul C. Burmeister Professor of Investments. “We find topics and speakers who engage with the audience effectively. The ultimate goal is supporting our state’s employees and employers. If they grow and succeed, all of us will succeed.”

Three brand-new Power Lunches are available this fall addressing communication, marketing metrics and leadership. Expertise in these areas will be shared by presenters, Rik Barrera, associate dean and chief operating officer of the College of Business; Dr. Amit Saini, associate professor of marketing and W.W. Marshall College Professor; and Dr. Elina Ibrayeva, associate professor of practice in management.

Each session costs $54, including lunch and parking validation for the 14th and Avery parking garage. With the purchase of more than one power lunch, the price drops to $49 each. All lunches will be held in Howard L. Hawks Hall in room 202. Lunches and programs are open to all professionals and students. To register, visit: https://business.unl.edu/powerlunch.

The power lunch series include:

Moving Beyond Carrots and Sticks: Unlocking Motivation in the Modern Workplace with Dr. Jake Messersmith, Thursday, September 12, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
How do you best motivate others to do their best work? Do financial incentives crowd out creativity and intrinsic motivation? Dr. Jake Messersmith, associate professor of management and executive director of Business Graduate Programs, will explore the latest research on the complicated relationship between financial incentives and employee motivation to offer insights into how to build an organizational culture and system that motivates individuals and teams to do their best work.

How Machine Learning Impacts Business with Dr. Steve Cooper, Thursday, September 19, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Machine learning has become increasingly popular. Machine learning takes data and analyzes it in a way that helps you make good business decisions. In this age of big data, the volume and level of sophistication of data have grown enormously. Those utilizing machine learning give it an almost mythical capability in describing its predictive and analytic powers. In this session, Dr. Steve Cooper, associate professor of computer science and executive director of the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management, will discuss some of what machine learning includes, what you as a business owner or executive should be thinking about and why a certain degree of caution is warranted.

Managing Communication and Culture in the Five-Generation Workforce with Rik Barrera, Thursday, September 26, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Typically there are three generations in the workforce at any given time. Today there are five. What effect does this have on the culture of your company? Research shows the most critical element of a positive and productive organization is the manager. Barrera focuses this workshop on these expansive generations, how they think and how they can better work together. Attendees will also explore what these employees are looking for in a job or organization, how to more effectively manage them and how you can build a culture that makes your company an attractive place to work.

Improving Marketing Metrics with Dr. Amit Saini, Thursday, October 3, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Are you unsure about how to measure your marketing effectiveness? Are you guilty of a “spray and pray” approach with your marketing budget? Knowing how, when and what to measure with regards to your marketing output is critical. As the saying goes, “if you can measure it, you can manage it”. This power lunch session with Saini will advise you on selective and using suitable marketing metrics for dynamic environments.

Becoming a Mindful Leader with Dr. Elina Ibrayeva, Thursday, October 10, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Are you interested in cultivating your awareness and presence as a leader? In this session, Ibrayeva will share lessons from her 15-year journey into mindfulness. The concept of mindfulness is a new and popular approach to how people can be more creative, resilient, optimistic and overall, a more effective leader. Ibrayeva will discuss the most general theory of mindfulness and its major principles, practices and exercises. Participants will be asked to contribute their stories, examples and questions. Those interested in how to be more thoughtful in their decisionmaking, more imaginative in their role, conscious to the world and the people around should attend this program.

To learn more about the Center for Executive and Professional Development and its programs, visit: https://business.unl.edu/execeducation.