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About the Event 

Critical Thinking and Judgement: The Key to Effective Leadership

Critical thinking is purposeful, directed thought. It requires reflective skepticism mixed with an open mind—this is a difficult combination of tasks—almost requiring individuals to simultaneously use both their right and left sides of their brain to tackle an issue. Critical thinking development requires several things.  First, because it is difficult, the individual has to recognize the need for critical thinking or he may not persevere in learning the skills.  Second, the basic tenets, concepts, and relationships associated with critical thinking must be learned.  Third, individuals must focus on self-awareness.  360 degree feedbacks are a great way to do this.  Finally, and sometimes most importantly, individuals must work in an environment that values critical thinking—this is a climate and culture issue

About Our Presenter

Bill Billeter, a 1997 graduate of West Point, has over twenty years of experience leading cross-functional teams in the completion of challenging assignments. As a manager with two Fortune 100 companies, Amazon and Target, he has led up to 300 employees, breaking site records for productivity, and streamlining logistics and manufacturing operations. An expert in business strategy and execution, he redesigned the fulfillment center's outbound shipping processes, reducing errors by more than 50%. Most recently, Bill has led numerous complex projects for a major Toyota supplier, directly supporting production of Toyota Camry and the Lexus RX lines. This included the development and tracking of over 100 key performance indicators for quality.

A Bronze Star recipient and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran, Bill was a Captain in the U.S. Army. Following graduation from West Point he initially spent four years on active duty in various leadership positions with the 10th Mountain Division. In 2005, when the Department of Defense communicated a need for former officers to support ongoing operations in Iraq, Bill volunteered to return to active duty. After graduating from the JFK Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, he led a Special Operations Civil Affairs A-Team in the Baghdad districts of Zafaraniyah and Sadr City. His team established the first coalition forces small business loan office in Eastern Baghdad. Bill served as a primary liaison and mentor to the newly elected Iraqi government officials, and helped manage more than $290 million in reconstruction and community development projects including schools and hospitals,