AIA Dallas

ELP Session: Influence Without Authority
2024-05-03 12:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States

ELP Session: Hot Topics
2024-06-07 12:00 - 17:00 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States

ELP Session: Bringing it All Together
2024-07-12 12:00 - 17:00 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States

Emerging Leaders Program 2024 Graduation
2024-08-01 17:30 - 20:00 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
Come celebrate with the 2024 ELP participants as we enjoy a cocktail-style reception, drinks and project presentations.
AGENDA
5:15 – 5:30 PM Arrival: Reception
6:15 PM: Welcome
6:30 PM: ELP Year in Review: Suzanne Smith
6:45 PM: Project Presentations
7:30 PM: Recognition of 2024 Class
– Presentation of Certificates
– Presentation of 2025 Chairs
8:00 PM: Evening Concludes

ALDP Session: Introduction to Strategy + Risk Management
2024-08-16 08:30 - 16:30 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
Kickoff Session/Introduction to Strategy: Playing Chess vs Checkers
A business strategy is foundational to a company’s success. It helps leaders set organizational goals and gives companies a competitive edge. Success or failure is not only about a strong business model, but also about external forces that shape your business. In this session, we will kick off the series with strategic frameworks that offer ways to scan your environment and help shape your business.
Risky Business: Understanding and Managing Risk for Architects
The practice of architecture necessitates taking risks. A design error can have catastrophic safety and financial implications. Business practices can lead to success or to the necessity of closing the firm’s doors. This session will explore the risks of practicing architecture and how to mitigate those risks as a leader and manager.

ALDP Session: Easy Steps to Organization and Personal Branding
2024-09-20 08:30 - 12:00 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
Brand management is one of the most essential elements of business strategy. It is more than a logo or website. Done correctly, your brand can attract business to you and form an identity around your business that internally guides decisions and externally builds trust. It is also about customer experience. In this interactive session, leaders will leave with concrete ideas of how to elevate their branding, personally and professionally.

ALDP Session: Hiring, Engaging, and Retaining Great Talent + Coaching and Mentoring
2024-10-18 08:30 - 16:30 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
The Talent War: Hiring, Engaging, and Retaining Great Talent
We are in the middle of a talent war – with most of the value of any company tied to human capital. This is even more true of design firms. Today’s knowledge-based businesses have people as their unique selling point. In this session, we will cover critical talent management functions that every leader must heed. This session will arm participants with the knowledge and tools to hire the best talent, upskill and motivate your existing talent for enhanced engagement, and build company loyalty.
Coaching and Mentoring to Strategically Upskill Your Workforce
Today’s competitive workplace demands that leaders evaluate performance. By shifting from the mindset of managing and leading to coaching and mentoring, leaders deepen commitment, retain high-performing individuals and support future leaders in their development process. The new generations entering the workforce want coaching and expect mentoring from their leaders. Being a mentor/coach leader is one of the most effective ways to get more done for the company while building an engaged and enthusiastic workplace.

ALDP Session: Creating and Leading High Performing Teams
2024-11-15 08:30 - 12:00 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
Successful teamwork underlies nearly all work situations. Building an effective team is both an art and science and requires leaders to understand the unique nature of effective teamwork and the skills needed to align, direct and build teams. Leaders need to be able to communicate in a way that builds trust and rapport, facilitates effective team interactions, and incentivizes team behavior that leads to group success. Leaders will learn new behaviors and skills to elevate their approach to teamwork.

ALDP Session: Developing Financial Acumen to Make Sound Business Decisions
2024-12-06 08:30 - 16:30 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
Developing Financial Acumen to Make Sound Business Decisions, Part 1 + 2
Warren Buffett notes that capital allocation is a CEO’s main responsibility. Put simply, to grow any business, executives must understand how and where to invest the capital their businesses generate. If capital is allocated properly, business value will grow; if capital is allocated poorly, business value will deteriorate. To effectively allocate capital, executives must be able to read, analyze, and interpret key financial statements as well as create and manage budgets that adhere to the cash flow dynamics of their organizations. In this course, you will develop a financial acumen skillset that will allow you to master these tasks, which serve as the foundation for understanding how and where to invest capital to maximize financial performance, and thus, firm value.

Emerging Leaders Program 2025 Application Deadline
2024-12-09 17:00
The AIA Dallas Leadership created this program with the intent that it will allow participants to enhance their abilities in three areas of leadership: the firm, the profession, and the community. It is the chapter’s hope that each participant will use the skills obtained through the program to not only enhance their own careers, but also to impact the success and culture of their firms and their architectural community.

The program consists of an orientation/kickoff on the evening of February 6, followed by six sessions to be held once a month on Friday afternoons beginning February 7, 2025. Each class includes guest speakers and lectures by program facilitator Suzanne Smith, MBA. Upon completion of the program, participants will be recognized as AIA Dallas Emerging Leaders and will receive recognition at a local AIA Dallas chapter event.

Note: To encourage firm collaboration and diversity, the AIA Dallas Emerging Leaders Program limits enrollment to a maximum of two participants per firm.

Applications are due by Monday, December 9, 2024 by 5:00pm. LEARN MORE >>

ALDP Session: Creating a Shared Vision and Communication Styles
2025-01-17 08:30 - 12:00 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
Articulating a compelling vision of the future is a vital behavior of transformational leadership. The best leaders can inspire the people on their team to envision exciting possibilities. Visions instill hope in people and help employees work toward shared goals. Having a strong vision can be even more important during change or challenging times to keep people focused. Part of the role of a good leader is to not only share the vision, but also communicate it to their team. This communication process turns the vision into something tangible for employees and helps them understand how they can be involved specifically. In turn, this engages employees and can help keep them motivated to reach goals.

Emerging Leaders Program Orientation
2025-02-06 15:00 - 17:30, 2026-02-19 15:00 - 17:30

Emerging Leaders Program Session
2025-02-07 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-03-07 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-04-04 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-05-02 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-06-06 12:00 - 17:00, 2025-07-11 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-02-27 12:00 - 17:00, 2026-03-20 12:00 - 17:00 and 4 more dates

ALDP Session: The Modern Leader + Owning Your Executive Influence
2025-02-21 08:30 - 16:30 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
THE MODERN LEADER
Great leadership is the cornerstone of a thriving organization. Once vision and strategy are in place, leaders must communicate, persuade and influence others to turn those plans into reality. Cooperating, collaborating and maintaining formidable team dynamics are the keys to effective leadership at all levels of the organization. In this powerful session, discussion will include one-on-one practice with a skilled facilitator and an opportunity to share authentic communication with colleagues for feedback. This is an important skill that distinguishes leaders from managers in the ability to influence others
PURPOSE, POWER & PRESENCE – OWNING YOUR EXECUTIVE INFLUENCE
There are those who, even in the toughest of circumstances, can count on themselves to not just get through it, but to rise to the top. They understand how to influence the people around them. They feel energized and purposeful. They communicate with self-awareness and authenticity. In order to lead, executive leaders will learn how to enhance and build their own executive presence – both inside the firm and outside in the community – and create impactful connections that leave a lasting impression.

ALDP Session: Technology & Generative AI: Its Impact on the Future of Architecture
2025-03-21 08:30 - 12:00 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
Technology is the backbone of everything we do. Everything. From the simple and mundane (e.g., word-pressing, cost accountancy, proposal preparation, reporting) to the cutting edge of design (e.g., machine learning and AI), everything we do depends upon our fluency and comfort in trafficking in multiple platforms. There is market disruption, major consolidation, rapid adoption of ever newer technologies, and continuous change management. The pace of change is breathtaking in an otherwise slow moving, inefficient AEC industry. In this segment, we discuss everything from macro-scale and micro-scale that the fully informed businessperson needs to know about technology’s overwhelming impact, today.

The Advanced Leadership Development Program is a new 10-month opportunity for senior leaders to develop the skills to navigate their elevated leadership roles in an increasingly complex environment. Focused specifically on leading a design firm, the “mini-MBA” program is an action-based learning experience focused on the skills needed in strategy development, financial management, marketing and communications, and leadership and communication styles, as well as building high-performing teams inside and outside the firm and leading through change. The program meets once a month on Friday with each session led jointly by a business expert and educator with input from a seasoned firm leader able to speak to the practice of architecture. The goal is for participants to be able to immediately implement the knowledge gained at their firm in a Capstone project shared on the final day.

ALDP Session: Leading Change
2025-04-18 08:30 - 16:30 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
Leading Change, Part 1
It’s time to pull apart decades of leadership and management best practices and get to what actually works. A truly modern organization is one that can evolve and take people and business into the future. Initiatives often fail to realize their full potential because people struggle to commit to a new way of doing things. Change management is an art and science and requires a dual focus on people and performance.
Leading Change, Part 2
In this interactive session, we will discuss some of the major changes ahead for society as well as design firms and how to effectively understand and navigate them successfully.

The Advanced Leadership Development Program is a new 10-month opportunity for senior leaders to develop the skills to navigate their elevated leadership roles in an increasingly complex environment. Focused specifically on leading a design firm, the “mini-MBA” program is an action-based learning experience focused on the skills needed in strategy development, financial management, marketing and communications, and leadership and communication styles, as well as building high-performing teams inside and outside the firm and leading through change. The program meets once a month on Friday with each session led jointly by a business expert and educator with input from a seasoned firm leader able to speak to the practice of architecture. The goal is for participants to be able to immediately implement the knowledge gained at their firm in a Capstone project shared on the final day.

ALDP Session: Integration and Capstone Presentations + Graduation Luncheon
2025-05-16 08:30 - 13:30 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
In this closing session, participants will share their Capstone “change project” with the class for feedback.

The Advanced Leadership Development Program is a new 10-month opportunity for senior leaders to develop the skills to navigate their elevated leadership roles in an increasingly complex environment. Focused specifically on leading a design firm, the “mini-MBA” program is an action-based learning experience focused on the skills needed in strategy development, financial management, marketing and communications, and leadership and communication styles, as well as building high-performing teams inside and outside the firm and leading through change. The program meets once a month on Friday with each session led jointly by a business expert and educator with input from a seasoned firm leader able to speak to the practice of architecture. The goal is for participants to be able to immediately implement the knowledge gained at their firm in a Capstone project shared on the final day.

Emerging Leaders Program Graduation Reception
2025-07-31 17:30 - 20:00 | Architecture and Design Exchange, 325 N. St. Paul Street, Suite 150, Dallas, TX, 75201, United States
