The Closing Bell Speaker Series Essay

The Closing Bell Speaker Series consists of lectures where presenters from different companies speak about professional development in areas that pertain to their career or a topic that they are passionate about. The purpose of this paper is to summarize two of the Closing Bell Speaker Series that I attended and to relate the information I was given to my own professional development. This paper will include a background of the speakers that presented, a summarization of their presentation, and my response to the information presented. The first presentation that I attended was titled “Iron Sharpens Iron: Why Mentoring Matter So Much” and the speaker was Mr. Forest Harper. Mr. Harper is the President and CEO of INROADS, Inc and currently

Harper’s presentation, he discussed the importance of mentoring. He also discussed some myths of being a mentor and how to be successful and bold. To be successful and bold Mr. Harper said that a person should ask for what they want in life. “Closed mouths don’t get fed” is a popular expression that describes exactly what Mr. Harper was talking about. An individual cannot be scared to ask for what they want in life, because the worst thing that they can be told is no. He also said that people should treat every interaction as an interview. This means making your best first impression whenever speaking to anyone, because every moment is a networking opportunity. During Mr. Harper’s presentation, he also went over some myths about the perfect mentor. Some of the myths about mentoring included: (1) the mentor and mentee must physically meet, (2) it is only a one- way mentorship, and (3) mentors must have all the answers. It is never just a one-way mentorship because there is always new information that can be learned by the mentor. Mentors also do not always have all the answers because no one person knows everything. It is okay to seek help from a professor or other

Gaither informed us about international management, how she adjusted to her career, and the importance of being diverse in the workforce. International management is the practice of managing business operations in more than one country. When dealing with international management a person must be knowledgeable about the language, culture, and economic background of the various countries involved. Since Ms. Gaither was moving from one country to another she must adapt quickly to this fact. This ties into being diverse and marketable in for different careers. According to Ms. Gaither, a person that is bilingual earn 7% - 10% more income than someone who is