{"id":1378,"date":"2018-02-08T14:50:51","date_gmt":"2018-02-08T19:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/?p=1378"},"modified":"2018-02-08T14:55:46","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T19:55:46","slug":"get-to-know-tom-lokar-88-leading-in-new-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/2018\/02\/08\/get-to-know-tom-lokar-88-leading-in-new-ways\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to know: Tom Lokar ’88, Leading in new ways"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Thomas
Thomas Lokar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tom Lokar \u201988 knows a thing or two about leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently the chief human resources officer for telecommunications company Mitel, he has worked in similar positions for HP, AOL and Bristol Myers Squibb. He also founded and ran an online career management and talent management business, where he developed a series of assessment tools and feedback protocols to help those seeking jobs define their career plan, and help recruiters find the right candidate. <\/span><\/p>\n

He spoke about leadership to Detroit Mercy undergraduate students last week at an event hosted by the College of Liberal Arts & Education.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLeadership sensibilities are changing,\u201d he said. \u201cThe old model where the director is in control and everyone does what he says are gone. There is a lot more they need to understand about equity and collaboration.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His advice to students who want to become tomorrow\u2019s leaders? Get international experience early in your career; take every opportunity for leadership that presents itself; and be open to opportunities that allow you to follow your interests.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s leaders are being called on to manage a more diverse workforce and cater to a more diverse clientele. Those two groups seem diverse, but when a leader creates a culture that is inclusive and individual, everyone can win.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s customer is looking for an experience rather than an outcome,\u201d Lokar said. \u201cThat changes what we do for them and how.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And listening \u2014 to customers, team members, the industry and your competitors \u2014 is the only way to really understand what needs to be done inside the company for the employees and outside for the customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lokar, who graduated with a Psychology degree, said University of Detroit shaped his career and life. He had some knowledge of the University because his father, Robert \u201960, and mother \u201964 are alumni of University of Detroit\u2019s dental and dental hygiene program, respectively. Robert Lokar was an orthodontist for many years and is an adjunct faculty member at Detroit Mercy Dental. He says he made the right decision to come here.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, University of Detroit is the foundation of my life and career as a professional and as a man,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I was here, I was really learning and the professors here made me love learning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He graduated magna cum laude, he said, which was a major accomplishment after finishing high school as an average student. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI always tell people I went to a Jesuit university,\u201d he said. \u201cI loved my Jesuit education.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Campaign for University of Detroit Mercy is raising funds to ensure students benefit from Detroit Mercy\u2019s commitment to updated and expanded programming. Please consider making a gift toward the $100-million goal online at udmercy.edu\/donate or by calling 313-993-1250. Gifts of any size can make a major difference. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Lokar \u201988 knows a thing or two about leadership. Currently the chief human resources officer for telecommunications company Mitel, he has worked in similar positions for HP, AOL and Bristol Myers Squibb. He also founded and ran an online career management and talent management business, where he developed a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":1379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2018\/02\/Thomas-Lokar.jpg?fit=571%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Kcng-me","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1378"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1381,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1378\/revisions\/1381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}