Month: January 2025

The Inspire’s Next Generation Leader class asked me to be their speaker for technology leadership. The online class occurred on July 10th (yes I am late in posting) and was very lively with great participation. Here is the feedback from the attendants:

Hey Curt,

Thank you again SO much for your thoughtful insights and stories on today’s session!

I saw a lot of head nods, and after you logged off we debriefed and here’s (shorthand) what I heard:

• Never heard of slow go before. Let’s go slowly is a great thought process for some of my team and functions to talk about that will speak volumes.
• He did a tremendous job of calling out the mindset of a CIO of building a partnership and relationship. 
• He is a great story teller, he used some technical jargon along the way, but he made it so that everyone could understand. This is a great example of how to communicate as an IT leader.

Thank you again!

I enjoy these open discussion sessions with rising leaders very much.

I once again found myself in a difficult position. It was Friday afternoon and I was between 800 teenagers and freedom. I was the keynote speaker for Pizitz Middle School career day on February 2, 2024. I was the last event on the schedule for the day.

This would require a bit of empathy and strategy. The empathy part was talking to them in terms that would resonate with them. This meant the presentation had to have a Taylor Swift slide, a Foo Fighter slide, a reference to League of Legends as well as a reference to riding horses. The strategy part was to shorten the presentation, not use the podium, and walk the room engaging them up-close and personal. I only had four main points and I bet the middle schoolers to recall one point that resonated with them an hour after the presentation.

By all accounts, the presentation was well-received. There is a LinkedIn summary of the presentation from one of the parents who invited me to give the presentation, Will Choat. Unbeknownst to me, the Bradley Barnes, UAB’s Vice Provost for Enrollment Management’s 6th grade son was in the audience. Bradley send me a note the next day which read:

Dr. Carver,

Just so you know, my 6^th grader said that you did a fantastic job……and it takes a LOT to impress him!

About 200 of the middle school kids took the time to write me a personal thank you note and the school sent all the notes over in massive pile. It was heart warming.