Business leadership series to feature ‘Love as a Business Strategy’ co-authors

Heidelberg's School of Business will host its annual Lessons in Leadership Series next month, highlighting two of the co-authors of the Wall Street Journal best-selling book Love as a Business Strategy.

According to Dr. Trish Berg, associate professor of management and the series organizer, Lessons in Leadership is targeted at the university’s undergraduate business students as well as the campus, community and business leaders. The series is designed to bring outstanding organizational leaders from throughout the U.S. to campus to share their insights and experiences in leadership.

The year’s Lessons in Leadership event is Tuesday, Nov. 12, opening with a meet-and-greet with students and the authors followed by an invitation-only dinner. The signature event will be a keynote address at 6 p.m. that evening in Wickham Great Hall. The keynote presentation is open to the public to attend for free, but you need to reserve your spot soon. 

According to Trish, the goal of the Lessons in Leadership series is to “give students, the campus and the local business community the opportunity to engage with and be inspired by some of the great leaders of today.”

This year, Heidelberg welcomes back Mohammad Anwar and Jeffrey Ma, two of the four co-authors of Love as a Business Strategy: Resilience, Belonging & Success. Anwar and Ma, along with co-authors Chris Pitre and Frank Danna, helped kick off the inaugural Lessons in Leadership in 2022.

Love as a Business Strategy has become near and dear to Berg’s heart, and she’s thrilled that Mohammad and Jeff will return to campus to share more about failures and ultimately, the culture change and success of Softway, a solutions-based company that serves diverse technology partners based in Sugar Land, Texas. Mohammad is a founding member and president and CEO of Culture+ and president of Softway, and Jeff is the co-creator of Culture Rise, host of the Love as a Business Strategy podcast and founding member of Culture+.

“In creating the Heidelberg Lessons in Leadership series, I wanted to open the door for our students to engage with top leaders of today, inspiring them to grow in their own leadership capabilities,” Trish said. “I also wanted to engage with our community in Tiffin and Seneca County and include them in our series so that ultimately, we are enriching the lives of leaders in our backyard as well.”

Trish was introduced to Love as a Business Strategy when she was searching for a market leadership book to include in her management class on top of the textbook. Now, she chooses a new market book on leadership every year to incorporate into the  Principles of Management course, and brings that author to campus for this event every fall. 

“I was drawn to Love as a Business Strategy because it’s about serving others and bringing humanity back to the workplace. It was a nice fit for the class. I was really struck by the authors’ honesty and how great their message is.”

The keynote presentation is free and open to the community. You can reserve your free ticket here.