Mount Saint Mary College hosted an evening of leadership insights and professional inspiration with bestselling author and Korn Ferry Vice Chairman Alan Guarino on Thursday, October 15.
Students, faculty, and local professionals gathered on the Mount campus at 330 Powell Ave. for a fireside chat discussing Guarino’s national bestseller, Greatness Code: The Formula Behind Unstoppable Success. The conversation was moderated by Michael Horodyski, President and CEO of Wallkill Valley Federal Savings and Loan, and former Mount board chair.
Guarino, an organizational consultant who has advised Fortune 500 CEOs, growth companies, and sovereign wealth funds, addressed the realities of leading in today's fast-paced, complex corporate environment. Drawing from his framework in Greatness Code, Guarino said that true leadership requires moving away from the outdated mentality of simply driving workers.
“A leader’s job today is to take pressure out of the system. The system itself creates the pressure,” Guarino told the audience. “The magic of leadership – which is an awesome responsibility – is to figure out how you empower by taking the pressure out of the system. And by the way, that doesn't mean lowering standards. That means giving people resources that they need, and that means understanding what greatness is to them.”
Reflecting on his decades in talent management and executive recruiting, Guarino highlighted emotional intelligence, authentic self-awareness, and active listening as indispensable tools for modern executives.
“The surprising thing is that the most critical competency is the ability to listen and understand,” Guarino said, adding that leaders cannot chart an effective strategic direction unless they “really listen.”
Addressing the students directly during an audience Q&A, Guarino urged future leaders to develop agility and rethink how they handle adversity.
“The really important quality, whether you're a worker or a leader, is that you have to be nimble, and that's not easy,” he explained. “Nimble means having a high level of learning agility... being able to adjust to disappointment without having it take your power. Fail forward and pivot. Failure doesn't have to be a backward step; failure can be a forward step.”
The college gave complimentary copies of Greatness Code: The Formula Behind Unstoppable Success to the first 50 students in attendance. The book giveaway was sponsored by Focused Wealth Management and Philip J. DeAngelo, Managing Director of Focused Wealth Management and Vice Chair of the Mount’s Board of Trustees. Following the chat and student Q&A, Guarino signed copies of his book for attendees.
In addition to his work as an author, Guarino is Vice Chairman at Korn Ferry, a globally recognized organizational consulting firm, and a trusted advisor on board governance, talent development, and succession planning.
The Mount is a private, coeducational college located in Newburgh, New York. Founded in 1959 by the Dominican Sisters, the college offers undergraduate and graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, education, and nursing.