Opportunity Begets Opportunity

Chris Posey, Online Marketing Lead

Students from SEG chapters worldwide joined with leaders from the Chevron Corporation at the SEG 82^ndAnnual Meeting and International Exposition for an exchange that surely benefitted both student and presenter during the Student Leadership Symposium, held 3-4 November 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year, 50 students from 27 different countries trekked upwards of 27 travel hours to take part in SEG's crowning achievement in student leadership training.

Following the opening remarks given by Elsa Velasco and Melissa Presson of the SEG University and Student Programs department and Tom Smith, Chair of the Foundation Committee, students were given the opportunity to engage on a professional and personal level with selected leaders from Chevron over the course of the two-day program in an exercise designed both to define and instill leadership principles.

First to address the students was Steven Shirley, Manager, Earth Science Technical Relations at Chevron. Shirley articulated the importance of the SLS program, pointing out that the participating students play a significant role in one of two key demographics directly responsible for the longevity and success of the geosciences industry: experienced managers (who will be retiring in the next 5-15 years) and the young professionals who will take up the banner of vocational leadership following the retirement of the former.  Shirley emphasized the importance of a melding of technical skills with people skills, encouraging students to manage carefully their own engrained, earned, and learned skills. Shirley concluded his portion with an admonition to the students to "take what [they] learn, and give back."

Following Shirley's address, Joe Koch, Global Upstream Advisor for Chevron, observed the power of opportunity and its intrinsic ability to generate new opportunities. Careful not to attribute success to luck, Koch did point out the providence of opportunity, attributing it heavily to an intentional series of previous wise decisions. Using corollaries from his own career, Koch observed the cycle of leadership as it moves from the sharpening of core technical skills to localized leadership opportunities to a climactic moment in the leadership cycle in which one looks for opportunities to mentor others to be technical, functional, and organizational leaders.

Saturday's lunch included an opportunity for students to sit and share bread with members of SEG's Executive Committee and senior staff. As plates were cleared, SEG President Bob Hardage introduced Zhijing (Zee) Wang, Manager of Reservoir Properties from Seismic and Geophysics at Chevron. Wang is also a Chevron Fellow—a designation of Chevron's highest recognition for excellence in technology. Wang took a different approach in defining leadership as he provided a combination of anecdotes from American Civil War history (peppered with quotes from American historian Douglas Freeman), and from his own experiences as a child growing up in China. Wang's philosophy on leadership rested on principles of self-mastery, strength from adversity, adaptation to change, responsibility, and empathy. Wang joked about how he did not know how he ended up at Stanford University, even referring to his rise to rock physicist was "accidental." Yet despite all of the external adversity Wang faced along his professional journey, he alleged that "the most difficult thing in life is to understand oneself." Wang concluded this short lunch by focusing on a key characteristic of all good leaders: balance.

On Sunday, after a morning brunch, Elsa Velasco, SEG University and Student Programs Manager, kicked off the substance of the last day's session with a Leadership Workshop. During this hour long intensive workshop, Velasco tackled the weighty topic of branding oneself. With a focus on the necessity of each individual attendee's leadership role in the industry, she articulated the importance of and steps necessary in executing an individual branding effort, noting that the discipline is essential for a successful tenure both at a career level and at an industry level.

That afternoon, students heard from Michelle Tharp, Senior Development Specialist Learning Opportunities at Chevron. Sharp laid out two tenets of leadership, willingness and ability, at the start of her presentation, and these two concepts permeated both the remainder of her discourse as well as the organized student interactions she facilitated. Tharp, who emphasized the popular SLII® model for organizational development, spent significant time engaging students in an exercise in which they were to assess development levels of potential leaders. Tharp often turned the table on the students, challenging them to become diagnosticians as she became the test subject.

Following Tharp's presentation, students took part in the climactic SLS team-building exercise. During this year's exercise, students were asked to build a free-standing tower using limited provisions in a limited amount of time. Project managers were chosen, and students split up into groups that were soon humming away in excited busyness.

While the symposium finally had to come to an end in a conclusion rife with handshakes and hugs, the relationships garnered at this year's SLS will perpetually motivate students to access their inner-leaders throughout their entire professional careers. This year's program represents a meaningful opportunity created by students that will undoubtedly beget many more such opportunities throughout their years ahead.