Speaker Biographies

• Dr. Francis Hartman, P.Eng.
  

  

  Dr. Francis Hartman heads a small management consulting practice (Quality Enhanced Decisions Inc.) that specializes in complex project management. He has over 35 years of international experience in industry on capital and other projects. He was a Professor and the Endowed Chair in Project Management and past Director of the Project Management Specialization at the University of Calgary. He has held Adjunct Professorships at the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia, as well as Sydney University in Australia. He has working relationships with a number of other universities and research institutions around the world. Dr. Hartman has held various other executive positions in the engineering industry, construction and high technology enterprises in Canada and the United States.
  
  Dr. Hartman’s contributions through journal articles, books, chapters, invited papers, presentations, conference proceedings and reports number well over 220 from the past two decades. Dr. Hartman serves on the editorial boards of several journals in North America and Europe. Dr. Hartman is currently working on his fifth book.
  
  Dr. Hartman has been recognized for his contributions to the fields of management, engineering and education through fellowships of professional associations as well as awards from government, industry and not-for-profit organizations.

  The Neuroscience of Leadership & Mentoring
  Objectives

• This session will look at how we can use new knowledge of the brain and of how humans think and work to improve our mentoring skills. Neuroscience has evolved in the past decade with a wave of new and fascinating discoveries which has led to a better understanding of the human mind. People passionate about sharing knowledge and experience may be able to hone their mentoring and protégé skills through exposure to some of these emerging ideas.
  
  By the end of this session, the participant will be able to:
  
  • Describe how their own and others' brains function
  • Work with others as more effective mentors, partners and learners
  • Explain how to work with apparent (or real) barriers to improving personal performance and potential for success

   

  The Three-Minute Relationship Builder
  
  

  A study in the United States looked at medical doctors who were sued by patients and those who were not. The single most interesting difference was three minutes. These were the three minutes that doctors spent talking to their patients about them – not their ailments. These few moments make a big difference – one that we have largely eliminated as we focus on productivity and a definition of work that precludes socializing.
  
  By the end of this session, the participant will be able to:
  
  • Build better relationships in the workplace with the intent of improving the work environment
  • Add meaningful time to their interactions that humanizes and personalizes what they do
  • Determine the value of such action and why it is worthwhile
  • Revisit the mentoring process in the light of new neuroscience that looks at how we learn and how our plastic brains develop knowledge and wisdom