All of the ideas from the 90 Ideas in 90 Minutes event

A group of dynamic leaders of businesses and organizations in southeastern Wisconsin presented their best ideas for leadership, professional success and personal fulfillment at the annual BizTimes Media 90 Ideas in 90 Minutes event, held Thursday at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee.

The event is sponsored by Concordia University Wisconsin. The supporting sponsor was AG Architecture.

Here is a list of the speakers and the ideas that they presented at the event. Click on their names to see a video of their presentations.

Therese Bailey, founder ZenZen Yoga Arts

• Laid off can be a wakeup call.
• Do what you love doing and share it.
• Let nothing keep you up at night.
• Fear is false perception.
• Every encounter with another human being is sacred.
• Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” Believe Him.
• Have a daily spiritual alignment.
• Use feedback/criticism as a guidepost for your next idea.
• Study your failures; they’re teaching you something.
• Stop justifying your unhappiness and choose differently

Elana Kahn, director, Jewish Community Relations Council, Milwaukee Jewish Federation

• Expose yourself.
• Dislodge yourself from patterns of thinking.
• Reject binary choices.
• Reject victim mentality
• Lead by being a great person.
• Don’t ever believe that you’re the smartest person in the room.
• Look for your blind spots.
• Remember that every choice reflects values.
• Speak to be understood by the listener(s), not just to be right.
• Love people over everything else.

Dan Katt, co-founder and CEO, Good City Brewing

• Take intentional risks.
• Play to your strengths.
• Keep things tidy.
• Make time to get away.
• Figure it out.
• Have fun.
• Management is not micromanagement.
• Keep fresh eyes.
• See things through.
• Relationships matter.

Erik Kennedy, community impact coordinator senior, Aurora Health Care

• Remove your lens to understand and respect others while embracing change.
• Take one day at a time and reflect each day.

  

• Admit when you can’t and seek help and guidance.
• Your success and failures shape your life journey, but they do not define who you are.
• Change the narrative by stepping outside your comfort zone.
• Cultivate purposeful and meaningful relationships and partnerships.
• Be an effective connector and “break bread.”
• Be a community advocate, cheerleader and supporter while helping make an impact.
• Strive to be genuine and transparent while instilling values.
• Help people live well.

Jim Tarantino, founder Capri Senior Communities

• Evaluate your organization from the perspective of an outsider.
• When you find the right leadership, let them lead.

  

• Recognize the value of working from the bottom up.
• Make your business a vocation, not a job.
• Business success is predicated upon collective buy-in.
• When you do the right thing, good things will happen.
• Leaders lead by example.
• “In your pursuit of perfection, you will achieve excellence.” – Vince Lombardi
• Operate your business as a generous corporate citizen.
• Be a lifelong learner.

Maurice Thomas, founder and executive director, Milwaukee Excellence Charter School

• Speak less, listen more.
• Get out of your bubble.

  

• No one is self-made.
• Make a 10-year plan.
• Education is the key to success.
• Say “no.”
• Don’t get comfortable.
• Tell your story.
• Be bold.
• Find new friends.

Andrew Weins, COO, JDog Junk Removal & Hauling United

• Respect: treating people the way they should be treated.
• Integrity: doing what you say, saying what you do.
• Trust: the result of respect and integrity.
• Empower our veterans.
• Serve: As vets, we chose to serve our country.

  

• Protect our environment.
• Embrace the hustle.
• Endure the struggle.
• Enjoy the grind.
• Stop talking and start doing.

Sherry Zhang, founder and CEO, GenoPalate Inc.

• Travel the world, and find a home for building your dream.
• Identify your strength and weaknesses, then look for people that can complement your skills.
• Be prepared, but fear nothing.
• Demonstrate you are a strong player, especially to your team.
• Share your dream and knowledge with your team.
• Mentor talent because that is the only way your wisdom will live.
• Deliver quality in quantity, with consistency.

  

• Curate your network of people.
• Don’t make things more complicated than they need to be.
• Stay informed of your competition, but focus on what defines you.

Michael Sapiro, assistant vice president of marketing, Concordia University Wisconsin

• Your work is not your entire identity. Keep a healthy perspective about yourself.
• Only hire people you wouldn’t mind sitting next to for a six-hour car ride. You spend a huge chunk of time with your co-workers. Make it enjoyable.
• Get in over your head. Sometimes it’s the only way to grow quickly.
• See people, not titles. From C-suite to entry level, we are all humans with strengths, weaknesses, hopes and fears.
• See people, not titles. The best employees are proactive about creating spaces for thought and consideration.
• Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Stay even-tempered and open to others.
• Be a lifelong learner. It enriches your life and opens up new possibilities.
• Want to innovate? Take a walk. There is strong connection between walking, thinking and producing ideas.
• The strongest leaders are comfortable in their own skin. If you aren’t comfortable with yourself, you won’t be comfortable leading others.
• A good sense of humor will get you through almost anything. It’s how people have dealt with difficulties for thousands of years and it is as effective now as it’s always been.