View From the Class: Liam O'Connor, LT'22, Concentrix

Liam O'Connor, LT'22, Managing Director, Concentrix

What are you learning?

One cohort member framed learning in a way that resonated for me with different altitudes - personal, interpersonal and structural. Personally, I’ve learned the power of deep self-interrogation (not just reflection) to challenge assumptions, reframe narratives based on our upbringing and be more intentional about how I show up. Interpersonally, I have really enjoyed the different modes of group interaction – my quad, lab team and now book club have all been great. I’ve also had so many rich 1:1 conversations with people I’ve only met once, which left me thinking for weeks afterward. And structurally, I have learned more deeply that the major institutional challenges we face are clearly daunting but are also highly interconnected and often stemming from the same root causes which gives hope for more systemic solutions.

What has surprised you? Have you had any “aha” moments?

My biggest aha has been around the power of storytelling and framing, with a focus on impact over intent. One speaker described the job of a leader as “storytelling and connecting your community”. Another cohort member organized an open space session during which each person told their individual story and how it related to a sense of belonging – this was one of the most emotional and powerful sessions I’ve experienced in the program. And we’ve seen firsthand in Challenge Days the power that framing an issue has, then just as importantly the ability to reframe the issue when the initial framing clearly misses the mark or excludes the voices of those with lived experience. Storytelling is a valuable growth opportunity for me personally.

What has challenged you?

Not a “fresh take” here, but the limit of in-person activities does inhibit deeper and broader relationship development which is so important to building a leadership community. A lot of that happens “in between the sessions” – grabbing coffee during break, etc. I have appreciated various efforts by LT to make the remote sessions as engaging as possible.

Which of LT’s values resonates most with you and your experience in the Flagship Program? Why?

The value resonating most strongly for me is collective leadership. Coming from a “formal” leadership position with a large hierarchical team of direct reports, I have really valued learning through experiences like leaderless groups, sharing power, Open Space collaboration and awareness of whose voices have been centered.