Business Excellence, Innovation, and Mindfulness

  •  March 2, 2017
     4:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Creative destruction and disciplined innovation are not foreign concepts to today’s business leaders. Transformational change requires a balanced approach to problem solving. In this thought leadership session, learn how mindfulness can unlock higher levels of creativity and innovation. Then, take a look into the power of Business Excellence (BEx®) to accelerate innovation, leadership development, and value creation in any organization.

This thought leadership session will include:

  • How to apply the practices of mindfulness to empower your internal state
  • A structured and disciplined approach to leadership development, business innovation, and growth
  • A high-level review of Innovation, Lean Principles, Six Sigma Methods, and Business Process Ownership
  • Interactive exercises demonstrating powerful Business Excellence concepts in action
  • How to identify and prioritize improvement and innovation projects

Speaker Bios

Jon McGraw

Jon attended Kansas State University with a major in business finance and walked on the football team, 1997-01. He was twice selected as a First TeamAcademicAllAmerican.

He was a second round draft pick to the New York Jets where he played 3 seasons. He then played for the Detroit Lions for two seasons before playing his final five seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs. Jon retired from the NFL in 2012 and received the Ed Block Courage Award.Theaward is presentedannually toone player fromeach NFLteamwho,in theeyes ofhis own teammatesis a source ofinspirationand courage.

Jon completed NFL-sponsored business management and entrepreneurship programs at Harvard Business School and Wharton Business School. Jon has been actively involved as President of the Jon McGraw Foundation which supports various charitable causes. He is now a principal partner at Vision Pursue, a performance mindset training and technology company. Jon is married and has two children.

José Pires

José Pires serves as the Global Vice President and Director of Business Excellence (BEx) for Black & Veatch where he oversees the global identification, prioritization and execution of several hundred mission critical business improvements and innovations that add value to Black & Veatch, its business partners, and clients.

Prior to his current role, Pires held business excellence and innovation leadership positions in large, global companies in the electronics (Sony), semiconductor (Cymer-ASML), and food (Nestlé) industries. Throughout his career, Pires developed and refined BEx as an integrated program for innovation, leadership development and value creation globally.

Pires is an advisory board leader and keynote speaker for several global conferences on innovation, operational excellence, leadership development, business transformation and growth acceleration.

He holds a Bachelor in Engineering Physics from the University of Kansas and a Master in Business Administration focused in Investment Banking and Entrepreneurship from the University of San Diego.

Thought Leadership in KC Event Details
Thursday March 2, 4 – 7pm
Black & Veatch Auditorium
11401 Lamar Avenue, Overland Park, KS 66211

Registration A registration page will be created in the near future. In the meantime, you can contact Heather Raggett at RaggettHE@bv.com to register.

Networking to proceed and follow the thought leadership session a half an hour before and after the event in the Black and Veatch Innovation Pavilion (3:30 – 4:00 pm and 7:00 – 7:30 pm)

This event is being offered at no cost to participants, with the option for attendees to contribute to a goodwill donation that will go towards funding student scholarships.