Do It Differently leadership event centred on creativity, curiosity

Donavan Robinson’s entrepreneurial instincts kicked in when he was in high school, selling snacks and disposable cameras out of his locker to his classmates.

Now 48, the Winnipegger’s professional experience includes heading Vantage Studios, a marketing firm; co-founding the Good Will Social Club, a now-defunct West End music venue; and acquiring, expanding and selling A Little Pizza Heaven.

He currently runs Pop CoLab, a company that includes a retail store and offers professional development centred around play.

“I’ve had probably hundreds of employees, and I wouldn’t say I was very successful in my early years trying to figure out how to navigate that,” Robinson said.

“You want them to be happy at work. You want them to have meaning … and so it starts with you as a leader. If you can understand the things that drive you and excite you, (you can better) recognize that in other people.”

Robinson’s interest in workplace culture led him to partner with five other local entrepreneurs to organize Do It Differently, a new leadership conference.

Around 100 people have registered at popcolab.ca/didwpg for the one-day event in Winnipeg, which takes place on Thursday in the downtown Richardson Centre concourse.

The conference is aimed at people who aspire to lead with creativity, curiosity and courage, said Tamara Kroeker, one of the organizers.

Attendees will walk away with greater self-awareness, practical tools for solving problems, and frameworks to identify challenges and make better decisions under pressure, organizers said.

“All of us are coming to this event hoping to gain some knowledge for our own perspectives on work and how we can maybe shape things in our own workplaces,” said Kroeker, who runs a consultancy called Enneagram Aware.

Kroeker will lead a session that will challenge attendees to investigate the motivations behind the structures they’ve implemented at work and invite them to consider these structures from new perspectives.

Meantime, Robinson will talk about how play is not just about participating in a game or activity, but a mindset leaders can use to create a workplace where people feel curious, engaged and connected.

The four other organizers — Jane Helbrecht, Kate Hanson, Jordan Labelle and Kristine Tubiera — will also lead sessions.

They envision an event where the focus isn’t on the speakers, but rather the attendees.

“It’s really meant to be a space to explore ideas, to see what’s working and what isn’t, with a bunch of people who want to do the same thing,” Kroeker said.

The event will demonstrate what a healthy workplace can be, she added.

“I think a healthy workplace culture is a space where people can ask questions and feel psychologically safe enough to have conversations where people may not always agree,” she said. “A healthy workplace culture lets you be you.”

The six organizers got to know one another through working together and attending networking events. They started a group chat to see if they could “come up with something fun to do,” Kroeker said.

The conference evolved out of that conversation. “Once we kind of all got in a room together, it just happened.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca