Young Professionals Luncheon

Young Professionals Luncheon
Sponsored by: 

Topic: Uncomfortable Conversations

Many perceive conflict as uncomfortable and avoid it altogether, or, in many cases, they handle it with aggression. Ignoring the issues won’t make them go away – it sabotages careers, teams, locker rooms, and friendships.
 
Leaders are expected to prepare for regression and confront challenges in real-time. Sadly, too many people shy away from real conversations and end up creating a water-cooler culture. Big things can happen when conflict is used as a tool to grow individuals, restore trust, and improve culture. Clearing the air minimizes stories and improves alignment and communication. These factors positively affect the bottom line, engagement, and retention.
 
Managing conflict is not enough and waiting for conflict to happen is passive and not leadership. If you’re interested to learn how to proactively engage conflict, then, this conversation is for you.




Tim Lester
Head Football Coach
Western Michigan University

Tim has risen through the coaching ranks after completing a Hall of Fame playing career at Western Michigan. He was a four-year starter at quarterback at WMU from 1996-99, leading the Broncos to a Mid-American Conference championship appearance his senior season.

In his first season as head coach at Western Michigan in 2017, the Broncos led the Mid-American Conference with 12 all-conference selections and had 16 Academic All-MAC selections, five Distinguished Scholar-Athletes and a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. As a team, the Broncos posted a 3.08 GPA, the second highest in program history.

Several school records were broken as running back Jarvion Franklin became WMU’s all-time leading rusher with 4,867 career yards, and also set a school record for most career touchdowns with 56. Darius Phillips became the FBS all-time leader for career runbacks with 12 and tied the FBS record with five career pick-sixes. Phillips was named MAC Special Teams Player of the Year for the second-straight season and had 100-yard kickoff returns in back-to-back weeks to open the season against #4 USC and Michigan State. On the recruiting front, Western Michigan signed the highest rated recruiting class in MAC history. Both Okorafor (3rd round, Pittsburgh) and Phillips (5th round, Cincinnati), as well as defensive back Sam Beal (3rd round, NY Giants) were NFL draft picks.

Prior to taking the head coaching position at Western Michigan Tim coached at Purdue, Syracuse, Elmhurst College, and North Central College.

Tim is married to wife, Dawn, and has four sons - Quinn, who is a sophomore men’s volleyball player at Ball State in 2018-19, as well as three grade-school age sons - Cooper, Carter and Camden.