XBO Schedule
Integration for the Next Generation
Introducing the XBO Experience, a new collaboration between NSCA and Ignite, taking place on November 12-13 in Atlanta, GA. This event is designed by and for emerging talent in the system integration industry.
Level Up Your Career
Whether you’re new to the industry or rising fast, XBO offers industry-specific development and networking opportunities made for the next generation of integration leaders.
Peer Driven
Collaborate with fellow attendees and build business networks that last.
Next-Gen Speakers
Hear from the thought leaders and innovators driving today’s trends.
Dynamic Sessions
Bounce ideas and learn leadership skills in a truly energized setting.
View ScheduleNext-Level Fun
Build relationships in a fun, energetic environment you’ll actually enjoy.
XBO 2024 Schedule
The XBO Experience will bring a new focus to ongoing and emerging trends, as well as educate newer professionals about the industry’s best practices and most proven methods.
Powered by NSCA’s Next Gen Academy curriculum with support from NSCA’s tried-and-true business insights, we’ve built this schedule to aid in prepare new leaders for the generational shift underway now.
Check out what the NSCA team has planned with the schedule below.
The XBO’s schedule is chock-full of great content. Here’s what you can expect:
- Emotional intelligence
- Communication styles
- Workplace conflict
- Organizational culture
- Trust and vulnerability
- Organizational behaviors
- Change management
- Financial literacy
7:00 am
8:00 am
8:05 am
9:05 am
9:20 am
10:35 am
10:50 am
12:15 pm
1:15 pm
1:30 pm
2:30 pm
2:45 pm
4:00 pm
Breakfast
Opening Session: What Is Emotional Intelligence and Why All Leaders Should Have It.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) refers to the ability to perceive, understand, express, and regulate one’s own emotions, as well as those of others. It is a characteristic every leader should possess and can be developed further regardless of your intelligence or personality. Those who possess a high level of EQ are not as affected by stress, which can contribute to effectiveness in job performance, team functionality, relationship development, and more. Understanding emotional intelligence and learning how to develop it is an important factor for personal leadership and growth.
Breakout 1: Can You Repeat That? Understanding Communication Styles to Avoid Misinterpretation
Everyone has heard the saying, “you know what happens when you assume,” and this applies directly when a workplace is lacking in effective communication. Just as everyone contributes different skills and strength to their job or company, everyone has different ways in which they communicate. Understanding and accepting those differences, especially in working relationships, is key to functioning effectively as a team. You must be open to those differences as a leader and be willing to change the way you communicate to fit the needs of your team. By keeping an open mindset and adapting to this change, you open the door for overall success.
Breakout 2: Tough Conversations: Navigating Workplace Conflicts
Conflict in the workplace is inevitable and will happen eventually to everyone at some point in their life. Experiencing a conflict does not mean someone is a bad employee – far from it. Just as it is important to understand and adapt to different communication styles, it is also as important, if not more, to understand how to address difficult situations when they arise. Avoiding even the smallest of conflict can drastically affect relationships and have lasting consequences. Most people will always avoid the conflict with the hope it will disappear on its own, simply because they have never been taught how to approach difficult conversations.
Sponsor Table Talks
Lunch
Keynote: Becoming a Globally Competent Leader to Boost Organizational Culture
With remote work at the forefront, and as integrators expand their footprints, you must be adept at being a competent leader in an interconnected world that transcends borders. By understanding and appreciating different cultures, experiences, and viewpoints, you can foster inclusive action within your teams. By incorporating strategies like active listening and curious questioning, we’ll talk about how to cultivate cross-cultural collaboration to drive a positive culture.
Breakout 4: Organizational Behaviors: Shaping Your Foundation for Future Success
Organizational Behavior essentially looks at how individuals interact with each other, and how those interactions affect the overall performance of the organization.
Cocktail Hour
7:00 am
8:00 am
8:05 am
9:05 am
9:20 am
10:35 am
10:50 am
12:15 pm
1:15 pm
1:30 pm
Breakfast
General Session: The Dominos Are Falling: How Making One Small Change Can Help Everything Fall into Place.
Learning how to constructively suggest and implement change/make a decision as a new leader can be a challenge. You want to ensure these changes will be the best for your team AND the company, but you don’t want to make changes that are too big or go too fast and cause more harm than good. The best way to encourage others to embrace suggesting change, is to provide proof as to how the change will benefit everyone.
Breakout 5: From Doing to Delegating: How to Lose Control Without Losing Control
Moving into a leadership or management role means additional tasks and responsibilities will be added to your daily schedule, many of which will have a large impact on the company overall. A common strategy is delegating some of their workload to the employees they manage. But delegation isn’t just about assigning tasks and it should not be done quickly. As a manager, you need to be prepared for your team to learn new processes, make mistakes, learn and grow from those mistakes, and get to a point where you trust they can do things on their own. New perspectives can be beneficial, and you must be open to the potential for change. While you have been successful doing things a certain way, a different perspective may find an alternative route to the same solution, potentially eliminating unnecessary steps and streamlining a process even further.
Breakout 6: Financial Literacy: How to Approach Problems with ConfidenceBreakout 6:
Just like in your personal life, understanding finances in your career is a huge contribution to success. Being financially literate is one piece of the puzzle when it comes to being business savvy, and understanding how your decisions will affect your team and the company as a whole. Having the ability to project the financial impact your daily choices will make allows leaders to make fully informed decisions, and have evidence to back up their reasoning.
Sponsor Table Talks
Lunch
Closing Session: Find Your Why: The What and How of Leadership Development
The first step to being a leader is deciding that you truly want to be one. Leadership does not correlate directly to a person’s job title or their rank. It has everything to do with mindset. When we put others before ourselves, we have the mindset of a leader, and this can trickle down into a desire to change things for the better, inspire others, and improve yourself. Leadership is also not something which can be measured by metrics alone. It is also difficult to determine the success of a leader over a short time. The way to look at whether someone is a successful leader is based upon the investment provided to others, and the output those individuals produce, which may not be visible right away.
Book XBO Early and Save
NSCA members are eligible for a reduced XBO Experience rate by registering early! Don’t miss your chance to experience this new must-attend event for emerging professionals in the system integration industry.
