AIA Dallas 2020 Emerging Leaders: Architecture Advocacy

On May 15, 2020, Pete DeLisle, PhD, Hon. TxA, started our Emerging Leaders session with a discussion about the Guild Hall model. The guild Hall Model divides the stages of development into Master, Journeyman, Apprentice and Novice. Levels go From D1 to D4 (D1 being the Novice, D4 being the Master). Once the class became familiar with the different stages, he explained the needs and actions for each stage. After the Guild hall model, he continued the discussion with a situational leadership graph. The graph went from low to high levels of relationship behavior on the Y axis and from low to high levels of task behavior on the X axis. We assigned each of the development levels to a quadrant to understand how they work. One person can be on different stages of development at different times/situations during their life, and they can always jump from one level to another, depending on the task.

The class was assigned to work on the Situational Leadership questionnaire prior to the class. During the class, Pete asked the class to add up the numbers they got from the answers to find their Leadership Style and Range. The exercise helped us learn our style effectiveness and discover how close (or far) we are from the book’s perfect number.

After the exercise, four panelists were introduced to the class for an open discussion on the topic of “Architecture Advocacy-State/National": Alejandro Hernandez, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BC+C, AIA Dallas President-Elect and Principal at Stantec, Michael Malone, FAIA, Founding Principal at Malone Maxwell Borson Architects, Samantha Markham, AIA, NCARB, AIA Dallas Representative to the Texas Society of Architects and Associate at Stantec, and Stephen Wakeman, AIA, Division Vice President and National Design Principal at Jacobs. Each panelist gave their opinion on multiple questions the class had prepared for them. The questions were focused on architecture advocacy, as well as general leadership advice. The main take-away from the discussion was to let our voices be heard; and be the drivers and not the passengers of our lives. The panelists also shared with us their personal experience on how they advocate architecture in their firms, communities, etc. The discussion had some powerful moments which had a great impact on the class; and although the whole discussion was held online and we were not able to meet the panelists in person (due to the pandemic), we really enjoyed the discussion.

After a quick break, we concluded the class with a brainstorming session for the class project with Dallas Pets Alive. We talked about ideas for the two prototypes and discussed the game-plan to move forward. The Design and Permitting teams were assigned some tasks for the next class; once those tasks are finished, design team will have a better understanding of how to layout the spaces and what the limitations are.