The President’s Advisory Council speaks to DMACC students and faculty. Photo courtesy Robert Denson
Prominent Iowa business leaders comprising the DMACC President’s Advisory Council spoke to a room of about 70 students and faculty on Tuesday, Oct. 17 in the Building 5 Black Box Theater.
The council was formed two years ago by the president of DMACC, Robert Denson, and the president of the DMACC Board, Joe Pugel.
The business leaders on the panel were Harry Stine, the president of Stine Seeds, Dennis Albaugh, the president of Albaugh Inc., Mary Andringa, the chair emeritus of Vermeer Corporation Board of Directors, Suku Radia, the former CEO of Bankers Trust, Gary Hoover, the former VP of Tenaska Inc, Thomas Phillips, the former VP of Dupont Pioneer, and lastly Jay Sehgal, the president of the Sehgal Foundation.
These business leaders along with Robert Denson sat on a panel in front of DMACC students and staff and gave an insight into their experiences in the business world, and shared their advice for people pursuing their education, careers, and their adult lives in general.
Each member of the panel was asked to give their most valuable piece of advice to the room. Their responses include:
“If you cannot get something done today it will still be there tomorrow,” Radia said.
Sehgal said, “Get out and explore.”
Phillips’s advice was, “Be good at hard skills but be excellent at soft skills”
President Denson said, “Disappointments in life are for a reason. Money will take care of itself.”
Albaugh, Iowa’s wealthiest resident with a net worth of about $1.5 billion, chimed in with his own personal stories about his success and his golf course. He said that his success was because he “hates the word patience and he hates the word no.”
The panel also collectively talked about taking risks, having a passion for your career, and work-life balance.
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