Alumnus Dedric Day Urges Students to "Be Aware of What Surprises You" Through Swearingen Leadership Series
Dedric Day shared leadership lessons learned throughout his career at Eli Lilly and Company on April 7 as part of the Swearingen Leadership Series.
Dedric Day, a 2003 Rose-Hulman chemical engineering alumnus and former president of the Alumni Advisory Board, shared leadership lessons learned over the course of his career with students, faculty, and staff in an April 7 lunch presentation as part of the Swearingen Leadership Series.
Day, who currently serves as the senior director of HR strategic talent partnerships at Eli Lilly and Company, sought to provide leadership insights that were deeper and more unique than what might be found in a leadership book. He offered six key lessons to students as they entered their careers:
- Be aware of what surprises you.
Day opened his talk by sharing his personal interests outside of work. He then asked the audience if any of the information had surprised them, challenging them to question assumptions they may have made.
"Seek to understand, and you will get more out of your team," Day explained, noting that one of the most influential mentors he has found in his career was able to connect with him because they found commonalities despite their differences.
- Learn from every source - good or bad.
Day advised the students to seek what lessons can be learned in any given situation - including working with poor leaders. He learned how not to lead from two bosses that did not value their employees' contributions, which he later applied in his own leadership roles.
"You've always got to find that nugget of wisdom," he said.
- Be humble.
"Where I've seen young scientists and engineers fail is when they walk in thinking they know everything," Day said. He urged the students to lean on their colleagues and mentors and to acknowledge what they did not yet know.
- Control what you can control.
Day detailed an organizational crisis that he had had to manage. He had at first approached the situation quite negatively, until a mentor advised him to redirect his reaction.
Day explained that, as a leader, "People are looking to you to be the bellwether to determine if they should be freaking out or not. In any situation, how are you the positive person saying, 'We can come out of this?'
- Quantify results.
Day explained that he had created a scorecard system for his team to gauge their progress toward their overall goals, in addition to evaluating the team's cohesion, safety, and effectiveness.
"If you can't measure it, it didn’t happen," Day said. "It also allows you to acknowledge the good work that got you those results."
- Remember what is important.
Day encouraged the audience to find the work-life balance that fit their needs, noting that the process was not one-size-fits-all.
Day also urged the audience to find their own leadership style and to claim it while giving back to help cultivate the next generation of leaders.
Day has worked at Eli Lilly and Company for over 21 years. He has held leadership roles in engineering, operations, and technical services and manufacturing sciences in manufacturing modalities including API, Dry Products Packaging, and Device Manufacturing, as well as being Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certified. In his current role, he is responsible for creating a talent eco-system leveraging partnerships with local high schools, key higher education organizations, and state entities associated with Indiana's Biotech Hub activities.
The Swearingen Leadership Series brings speakers to campus to encourage development of future leaders in science, engineering, and mathematics to solve complex problems. It was established through support from John Swearingen, a 1981 Rose-Hulman chemical engineering alumnus, and his wife, Anne.