UW students tour OCS, meet state executives
More than 30 students visit Office of CyberSecurity as part of the UW Bothell Organizational and Leadership Development program, or BOLD for short.
How do you decide when to use influence versus formal authority?
How do you smooth over relationships with coworkers after a contentious meeting?
Those were just some of the questions asked by a group of more than 30 University of Washington students who visited the state Office of CyberSecurity on April 27, as part of the UW Bothell Organizational and Leadership Development program, or BOLD for short.
The program provides a forum for executives to speak to students about leadership development and how they achieved the leadership roles they hold.
The students spent several hours touring the Office of CyberSecurity and listening to presentations by various leaders from state government including Rob St. John, the state Chief Information Officer; Jaime Smith, the governor’s executive communications director; and Agnes Kirk, the state Chief Information Security Officer.
“It was wonderful to host the students,” Kirk said. “They were engaged, enthusiastic and had thoughtful questions that made us think about what we do every day in a new light.”
Some of the advice to students by the speakers:
- Become an expert at what you do, so that others look to you for advice and expertise.
- Networking and maintaining strong working relationships are key to your future success. You never know when someone you meet will become an important contact in the future.
- Honesty and integrity are the foundation for any role as a leader. You need to be known as a straight shooter who knows their stuff.
Kirk urged the students to consider careers in the public sector, as they finish up their degrees.
