What Matters Most? Career Capital, Compounding Choices, and ROI

Marianne Ruggiero - Optima Careers, LLC

Finance leaders in higher education are expected to exercise sound judgment, build strong relationships across complex institutions and communicate impact clearly. This session frames career development through a leadership and finance lens.

Participants will explore how strategic relationship-building and disciplined storytelling strengthen leadership effectiveness and organizational influence. The session emphasizes practical tools leaders can immediately apply to advance their career, communicate value, and engage more effectively with senior leadership and governing boards.

Through two interactive exercises, attendees will practice executive-level networking conversations and high impact STAR-based narratives. Participants will apply structured approaches to articulating their value, supporting others’ success, and translating effort into evidence of impact.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand how career progression aligns with leadership effectiveness, requires moving beyond opportunism to a strategic approach for relationships building, internally and externally and expands market intelligence to the broader higher education ecosystem.
2. Apply a structured approach to creating a relationship portfolio that strengthens trust, enhances credibility and influence, broadens reach to gain market knowledge and insights, and the ability to support others’ success.
3. Construct concise STAR-based narratives that communicate the value and impact of effort and work product to senior leaders and governing boards.
4. Adapt STAR-based leadership stories to advance discussions and executive briefings, to advocate for colleagues and team members.

CPE Available

• 1.5 Credits: Personal Development