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Convocation Keynote
Hi, I'm Libby!
I am the founder of Bravo cc, a Communication and Consulting Venture that helps organizations shape confident leaders. I work with organizations across the globe, including K-12 and Higher Education.
Her story starts at Bowie Elementary in Lubbock, Texas. As a precocious (nice word for trouble-making) kid, my earliest lessons in leadership started with a life long relationship with my elementary school principal, Bill Roach (where I spent an inordinate amount of time in his office). I found my place in the world when I joined the speech and debate team in high school. My dream to become an educator led me to pursue degrees in communication studies at Texas Tech University and The University of North Texas. I taught college for ten years, leaving the college classroom for the corporate classroom. In 2004 I formed Bravo cc. Whether on stage, in the classroom, working on a consulting project, or building custom content, she is dedicated to shaping confident leaders.
One of my missions is to use Bravo cc to help educators tackle the unique leadership challenges in public education and higher education. My team and I work with administrators, faculty and staff to develop outstanding communication skills so they can lead with purpose, power, and potential. Utilizing the custom Bravo cc Leadership Framework, we pour into educators because an educator should never be asked to pour from an empty cup. When you invest time, money, and resources in your faculty and staff, these empowering experiences impact the entire school, district, and community. Together, you learn, grow, and transform. Walking side by side, these efforts change the very culture of your organization.
SIGNATURE KEYNOTE:
WHAT’S YOUR PLAN BE?
How a Cup of Coffee and Conversation Changed My Life Grande Vanilla Latte. That’s my order. I drink coffee every day and I love to have a chat with a friend while I get my daily dose of caffeine. Ten years ago, over coffee, a question emerged that changed my life. “What’s Your Plan Be?” came to me at the right time—I was building a business and feeling a little frustration with clients who couldn’t figure out who they wanted to be!
At every age, I encounter people who struggle to name, claim, and live who they want to be! I regularly receive messages from clients who discover their Plan Be. Take Tara, a client and dear friend who texted me recently. “I am 42 and I figured out what I want to be today! A high school guidance counselor!”
As educators, you have the unique opportunity to positively influence young people (at any age) with the support and encouragement they need to find their Plan Be. Plan Be isn’t about a job. It is realizing the kind of person you want to be and making a life that supports it. For me,
“be a speaker” came early in life. I knew I wanted an audience. I also knew I loved teaching.
After school, I would come home every day and play school in my bedroom. I also loved making people laugh.
My Plan Be? Educate, Liberate and Entertain. Through my Plan Be to educate for future success, liberate you from dead end practices that are holding you back, and entertain you I have learned to Be Brave, Be Bold, and Be Authentic. How can you live your Plan Be and help others find theirs? In this fun, informative, and game changing talk I share how educators can create a culture that supports helping students see their purpose, feel powerful, and tap their potential.
You learn the origin story of Plan Be, how to change your mindset from doing to being, the philosophy of Plan Be (Roots and Rocketship), and participate in a Plan Be activity you can use in your classroom and district.
You leave ready to Name it! Claim it! and Live it!
Keynote:
“Doing Time in the Principal’s Office”
Leadership Lessons Learned from My Elementary School Principal
Ask any adult who knew me as a kid and I bet you a dollar to a donut the word BRAT will come up. I was a brat, so I hold no ill will toward their honesty. I am from the generation of corporal punishment at school, a paddling is what you had coming your way if you continuously misbehaved in the classroom. And despite how much time I spent in the office of my principal, Mr. Bill Roach, I came away with zero “licks.” In fact, he never threatened to paddle me. Instead he took time with me. I talked and he listened. He did ask why I kept showing up in his office, but the
truth is a child has little understanding of the why behind their behavior. To say the time spent in Mr. Roach’s office was a God send would be an understatement.
The term Emotional Intelligence would not be coined until 1991 when it emerged from the world of psychology and slowly made its way into the mainstream. Mr. Roach was the ideal model of an emotionally intelligent leader, well before EQ was on everyone’s mind. And because of that,
I am a better person. You know the impact a teacher has on a child’s development and life. My teachers were my angels. Mr. Roach was the head angel. We maintained our friendship until he died, tragically, in 2006. At his funeral, I had the (surreal) pleasure of reconnecting with my
elementary teachers as we celebrated the life of a man who changed so many kid’s lives at Bowie Elementary.
Today I understand Mr. Roach MODELED CONFIDENT LEADERSHIP and while it took years for the seeds he planted in me to fully bloom, he showed me what it looks like to be a leader. He had a gentle approach and I like to believe he knew I wasn’t a BAD kid, I was a kid that was bored and needed to be challenged. While I don’t want to give away all the BIG lessons that came out of our friendship, I will tell you this: Every kid needs a Mr. Roach in their life. In this fun and thought provoking keynote, I relay the SEVEN leadership lessons I learned from Mr. Roach. I hope to inspire and motivate, of course. More importantly, I share how you can use leadership to model lessons for those around you. After all, the job of the leader is to create new leaders. No matter your role, what you do matters. We all can show up as leaders.
Let’s Work Together
Get in touch so we can start working together.