Session Sneak Peek: Beth Adele

Beth Adele, Ph.D., will be leading a session on managing change while building resilience for yourself and your team during the OSCPA's Leadership Summit. Join Adele and other great speakers for eight hours of recommended CPE credit and professional development on August 10. 

• OSCPA's Leadership Summit
  August 10 | 8:30 AM | In-Person | Virtual | Recommended CPE Credit: 8 Hours

About Beth Adele, PhD.

Adele joined Oklahoma City University (OCU) as chair of the Mass Communications Department in the fall of 2019.

Since then, she has added the titles of associate professor and director of the Nonprofit Leadership Graduate Program.

Prior to serving OCU, she was the Director of Marketing at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. Adele has also served as the acting chair and assistant to the dean at Cameron University’s School of Business, as well as the director of career services and instructor of marketing at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) where she was instrumental in the creation of the Veteran Higher Education Resources Office.  

Adele earned her Ph.D. in human resource development at The University of Texas at Tyler with an emphasis in organizational development and change management. Her dissertation focused on examining the beliefs, behaviors and outcomes of managerial coaching. Adele is also a graduate of UCO with her bachelor of music and master of business administration degrees.

She is an alum of Leadership Edmond Class XXIX and holds a Nonprofit Management Certification from the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits as well as an Instructional Design Certification from the Association for Talent Development (ATD). 

Q&A with Beth Adele, PhD.

OSCPA: Why should members attend your session?
Adele: Change is inevitable, and leaders’ resilience needs to be supported and reinforced. This session provides practical ways for any leader, no matter their title or level in the organization, to refresh themself and motivate others within a dynamic personal and professional environment.

OSCPA: What qualities do you believe are essential for effective leadership? 
Adele: As I have professionally grown, one quality keeps rising to the top to be an effective leader: a sense of vulnerability. Along with this sense comes an understanding that a leader does not have all the answers, a leader must be transparent, and a leader should ask for feedback. It also propels leaders to have a commitment to learning.

OSCPA: How has your experience as a professor altered your perspective on leadership? 
Adele: Ah, this is easy. One of my greatest joys about being a professor is that my students get to learn from one of me, and I get to learn from all of them. My role in adult learning becomes more of a leader or guide than a lecturer. Therefore, my philosophy of teaching closely resembles my philosophy of leading. You can lead from any position, and sometimes, that means holding the door open as students walk through and encouraging them from the back of the line.  

OSCPA: What advice would you give to aspiring leaders? 
Adele: Know thyself. This goes back to being vulnerable. Knowing your strengths, where you excel with help, how to incorporate feedback and how to listen are traits and skills you can learn and practice. Then, it is easier to provide a safe environment for learning from failure and successes. I encourage those who wish to lead to understand that they are already leaders in some aspect of their life. Reflecting on themselves and situations while genuinely listening to others can help them behave in a way for them to be respected as leaders.