Published: July 14, 2007 01:23 am      

Law firm to offer the ‘Next Level’

Labor Institute to feature leadership coaching author

FAIRMONT — At this year’s Steptoe & Johnson Labor Institute, Scott Eblin will show business people how to be effective leaders and successful executives.

Steptoe & Johnson is a mult-practice law firm with six offices throughout the state. Its annual Labor Institute brings human resource managers, operation managers, business owners, in-house lawyers, public sector managers and private sector managers together to discuss current issues, trends and problems.

The seminar, in its sixth year, will take place July 19-20 at Snowshoe Mountain Resort. Each year, the event attracts individuals from West Virginia and surrounding states.

“It’s a beautiful place to learn, to get away,” Bryan Cokeley, practice group leader of Steptoe & Johnson’s Labor and Employment Group, said. “We have interactive sessions. You learn not only from speakers, but from attendees who contribute.”

Eblin, president of The Eblin Group, is the keynote speaker for the labor institute. The Eblin Group, located in Herndon, Va., is an executive coaching and leadership development firm that works with professionals in different organizations to assist them in becoming better leaders. The group helps leaders handle the changes involved with career promotions.

Eblin grew up in Huntington and early in his career worked in West Virginia for One Valley Bank and Columbia Gas Transmission. He also worked for Gov. Gaston Caperton. He started The Eblin Group in December 2000 after a 15-year career as a manger and executive in different organizations.

“The two things that I really enjoyed in my corporate career were leadership development and strategy work, and that’s what I get to do all the time in (my) business,” he said.

Eblin’s book, called “The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success,” came out in April 2006. Eblin did a lot of research and interviewed many executive leaders for the book. He said people who are promoted face a dramatically high failure rate. As these individuals move up in their careers, the mindsets and qualities that they once used aren’t as effective.

“It’s hard because the expectations of the results of more senior leaders are very different,” he said. “Because the expectations are different, you have to change your behavior.”

In “The Next Level,” Eblin talks about the three types of leadership presence: personal presence, team presence and organizational presence. Senior leaders must learn a custom-fit way to communicate with their particular audience, Eblin said. Also, once a leader defines a problem, he or she must step back and let the team try to come up with creative solutions. He also spoke about what he calls “vertical tunnel vision.”

“As you move up in an organization, you’ve got to look left and right ... not just focused up and down on the boss and the function,” he said.

Leaders must pay attention to what their peers and colleagues are doing so they can collaborate and work on a common goal, Eblin said.

Cokeley said Steptoe & Johnson’s Labor Institute offers attendees a number of benefits and substantial knowledge. Eblin will touch on topics relevant to all participants, Cokeley said.

The educational conference features general workshops and break-out sessions as well as fun activities and entertainment. Persons can attend classes on topics that are most interesting and useful to them.

The event will kick off with an opening reception Wednesday night, and classes will run all day Thursday and Friday morning. A reception dinner is slated for Thursday evening.

Interested persons can register for the conference at www.steptoe-johnson.com.

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.