Do you find it difficult to have difficult, but essential conversations? Then join MSCI and U.S. Army Colonel (Retired) Pilar McDermott for a free webinar. McDermott will use her personal experiences from her time in service to illustrate “Why Hard Conversations Matter.”

Having served in a variety of command and staff positions during her 27-year U.S. Army career, including command of the largest field artillery battery in the Army at the time, McDermott will explain why candid conversations are necessary to begin moving in a positive direction. Respect for self, for the other person, and for the organization is important to lay the foundation.

Individuals and teams need to be aligned in values, and this alignment is created through an environment of autonomy, trust, and culture. What you say and do is on the surface — how you prioritize, measure, and reward is below. McDermott will discuss the challenges of creating accountability and lays out the steps to help achieve goals as an individual and as a team. Hard conversations don’t just build character; they reveal it.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Company leadership, managers, supervisors, and anyone who wants to improve internal communication in their company.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER

Colonel Pilar McDermott is a soldier-scholar who served in a variety of command and staff positions, stateside and overseas, during her 27-year Army career, including command of Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 30th Field Artillery Regiment, the largest artillery battery in the U.S. Army at the time.

McDermott retired from active military duty on July 1, 2013 as a Professor of History and Chief, International Division, Department of History, United States Military Academy. Upon her retirement in 2013, McDermott received the Compass Award from the Women’s Leadership Exchange, awarded to those “who have shifted the paradigm of how women are perceived as leaders.” She was inducted into the New York State Veterans Hall of Fame in May 2016.

McDermott serves on Series Editorial Advisory Board, Albatros Ediciones (Spain), Historia de España en su proyección internacional en la Edad Moderna and is a board member for Hudson River Rowing Association, as well as an educator for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.