Students gain front-row access to two of Houston’s top leaders

“Leadership is putting yourself at risk.”

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo tells Rice students, “Leadership is putting yourself at risk.”

Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo offered that lesson in leadership to a small cadre of Rice students, teaching them that leaders must build trust with team members and hold them accountable. And the students took the lesson to heart.

“Meeting with Chief Acevedo allowed me to see firsthand the mindset and ethos of the Houston Police Department,” said Tarence Rice, an electric and computer engineering graduate student. “He spoke about leading from the front, which shows his character to put himself in the front lines with his team.”

A group of Rice students recently got a glimpse into what leadership looks like in a real-world setting thanks to excursion programs offered by the university’s Doerr Institute for New Leaders. In addition to Acevedo, Dr. Welela Tereffe, chief medical officer at MD Anderson Cancer Center, spoke with students about life and leadership philosophies.

Dr. Welela Tereffe

Doerr excursions give Rice students front-row access to high profile Houston leaders on their own turf. The idea is to guide students through a leader development framework and inspire them to consider how leaders’ experiences are applicable to their own futures.

“Our leader excursions are more than an entertaining field trip,” said Stephanie Taylor, assistant director of leader development at the Doerr Institute. “They give students exclusive access to leader insights and coaching on a formal four-step reflection model that will help them turn their reflections into a personal plan of action that will last long past the initial excursion.”

Before meeting with a leader, students are provided with a framework for reflection and they’re offered help preparing questions. After the meeting, students reflect on their observations, commit to a personal goal and create a plan to apply their insights to new and challenging situations.

Students have the opportunity to ask questions to prominent leaders in an intimate setting.

Tereffe spoke with students about leadership skills such as managing conflict, delivering feedback and building relationships.

“If you’re not leading into conflict, you are avoiding the job of being a leader,” she said.

Danish Ali, a student at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business, said the excursion added more depth to his definition of a leader.

“I was honored to be able to attend the intimate session with Dr. Tereffe and to gain insights from her on how to be a more effective leader,” Ali said. “She spoke in great detail about what it means to be an authentic leader, delegating work so as to not disempower your team and how to constantly innovate yourself.”