Elizabeth Burke ’17
Todd Weintraub ’90 returned to Siena to conduct his business lecture, “Humility: The Missing Ingredient to Success,” on Wednesday, December 2. As an experienced board of directors member and former Chief Financial Officer of Macquarie Infrastructure Company, Weintraub was able to parlay knowledge of many facets of the business world to the future business men and women in attendance.
Weintraub opened his lecture by reflecting on his own time as a student. He would often attend lectures not unlike his own, and listen to the various speakers’ 300-word introductions about their careers. This, Weintraub believes, does not do justice to the setbacks and obstacles that business professionals face in their careers. Instead, he wanted to focus on telling his own personal experiences to the audience in hopes that they may relate back to his testimony as their careers develop.
One of Weintraub’s biggest obstacles was always procrastination. As he experienced repercussions from this hurdle through his life, he began to realize that he needed to become self-aware and confront it head-on.
“When I start falling into bad habits I can catch myself before I can fall into a bad term… If you are going to be successful you have to be self-aware and take an honest inventory of yourself,” said Weintraub.
After he graduated from Siena, Weintraub realized that he should have been taking advantage of the networking opportunities on campus. He explained to the audience that it is easier to work with people you share a personal connection with, something that the Siena community is built upon.
Weintraub also highlighted the need for students to hone these personal skills as they enter the business world. These abilities, he believes, are the key to moving up in any career.
Finance major Genesis Dominguez ’16 attended the event in hopes to learn something new. She said, “As a young professional I want to learn how to overcome obstacles, to become humbly successful like Weintraub.”
Weintraub ended his lecture with a piece of advice that resonated with all in attendance, “Be proud you are from Siena. You have a good foundation.
This event was presented by the Financial Management Association and Beta Alpha Psi.
