{"id":7767,"date":"2016-10-26T12:52:08","date_gmt":"2016-10-26T17:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.thechicagoschool.edu\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T15:45:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:45:22","slug":"helping-others-best-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/community\/helping-others-best-can\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping others to be the best that they can be"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Angela Joyner was already an executive on the rise at ConAgra Foods<\/a> when she stumbled across information about a new Organizational Leadership<\/a> program at The Chicago School on the pages of Psychology Today<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

But she didn\u2019t pursue a Ph.D<\/a>. to be a better vice president. She did it because she wanted to be a better leader\u2014one that\u2019s equipped with the positive psychology tools required to help inspire employees and foster success.
\n\u201cBefore coming to The Chicago School, I was always trying to assimilate to other leaders,\u201d explains Dr. Joyner, Vice President and General Manager of the Refrigerated Foods Portfolio at ConAgra foods and founder of a coaching practice for women called The Wonder Loft<\/a>. \u201cNow, I have the ability to leverage who I uniquely am through my leadership at work.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the questions that resonated with her during her research at The Chicago School was \u201cWhat about the people?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to feel like they matter,\u201d explains Joyner, who grew up moving around every few years with her father\u2019s job for the YMCA in New Jersey, making friends and learning about new, diverse communities of people along the way. \u201cYou have to have the knack to identify what each person can bring to the table, enhance that value, and leverage it for its maximum impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

A dedication to service<\/h3>\n

Wherever her family moved, Angela was drawn to service and would often volunteer as a lifeguard, a camp counselor, or a day camp director. \u201cA sense of values had been instilled in me early in life\u2014family, community, and leaving a place better than the way I found it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those values of empathy and awareness carried through the start of her career at Hallmark Cards and later Sara Lee Foods, where she had the opportunity to travel to manufacturing sites in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Dominican Republic. There she was exposed to not only the stark differences in working conditions in different countries, but also saw first-hand the connection between quality people and quality products.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout those experiences, I kept thinking, how can I help others really perform at their peak, regardless of what the job was?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These early observations at factories and production plants around the globe stayed with Dr. Joyner as she moved through the Organizational Leadership<\/a> program at The Chicago School.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time I wasn\u2019t sure I wanted to leave my job full-time in order to pursue my Ph.D. What I loved about the program was the flexibility,\u201d she says of the combination online and on-ground program. \u201cIt was fantastic. It allowed me to take the concept and theories that I was seeing in class and our discussions and apply them in my business. The combination of positive psychology, character strengths, and focusing on executive woman, has opened new doors for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leading by example<\/h3>\n

So while Dr. Joyner continues to win accolades for her professional work, she leads by example in the community as a volunteer\u2014with a special focus on coaching and supporting professional women.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cMany women have a dual responsibility\u2014providing for our families while working professionally. They\u2019re always worried that something might fall through the cracks,\u201d explains Dr. Joyner, who founded The Wonder Loft in 2009 to create a safe and nurturing place to build future woman leaders through programs that are connected to various nonprofit initiatives. \u201cI want them to feel like each one of them is contributing to a greater good and making a greater impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Joyner, who is also the current co-chair of the Chicago chapter of the Network of Executive Women<\/a> (NEW) and received the organization\u2019s Bobbie O\u2019Hare Award<\/a> in 2015, says one of the biggest hurdles for professional women today is mindset.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where her love of \u201cpositive psychology\u201d comes in.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be comfortable in your own skin,\u201d she says. \u201cI watch the women on my team, and it\u2019s just the mechanics of being able to believe that they can do it and having the confidence to know that they can lead.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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