Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and acclaimed author, headlined this year’s Leadership Series.
Bestselling Author Thomas Friedman Headlines 2022 Leadership Series
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estselling author of “The World is Flat” and New York Times foreign affairs columnist Thomas Friedman headlined this year’s Rockhurst University Leadership Series March 24, speaking on “Helping Today’s Leaders Understand Big Trends Shaping the World: Economics, Technology and Geopolitics.” Although Friedman spoke about leadership during current disruptive changes such as war, rapidly evolving technology and climate change, he concluded with an emphasis on personal traits that leaders share. “The best leaders during the pandemic are those who put more truth into the world than they take out of it, those who put more trust into the world than they take out of it and those who put more kindness into the world than they take out of it,” Friedman said. During the event, held at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the University honored alumnus Joe Reardon, ’90, with the Rashford-Lyon Award for Leadership and Ethics. Reardon is president and chief executive officer for the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Prior, he served two terms as mayor and CEO of the Unified Government of Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County and as president and CEO of the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. In all of those roles and in his work as an adjunct instructor at Rockhurst University, Reardon has emphasized cooperation as a way to achieve big things for the region regardless of state lines or city limits. The Rashford-Lyon Award for Leadership and Ethics, established in 2014, is named for two influential leaders in Rockhurst University’s Helzberg School of Management — Tom Lyon, Ph.D., and the Rev. Nick Rashford, S.J.
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