Page 38 - BusinessWest September 5, 2022

don’t add depth. If you’re going to just leave them on the benches watching, that’s a bad business strategy. Your goal is to be spectator-free, have them down on the field helping you move for- ward and score.”
Such sentiments have always been important to the success of any organization, large or small, she told BusinessWest, but they are even more critical in this time of profound change in the work environment brought on by the pandemic and related forces.
“This has been the most dramatic change I’ve ever experienced in my consulting career,” Dulye said, adding that, at this critical time, com- munication and engagement have never
been more important, but they have also
never been as challenging.
an upcoming program on cryptocurrency) and, especially, an intense two-day retreat that, after two years of being a virtual event, will again be in- person in early November.
Applications are currently being accepted for the conference, and 45 individuals from differ- ent business sectors will eventually be chosen to attend the retreat, which “is a not a conference,” she said with considerable emphasis in her voice. Instead, it is more of an immersion, where young people hear from experts, who stay for the entire weekend, on various subjects with the goal of improving vital skills and stimulating networks
business, we talked at length with Dulye about entrepreneurship, the leadership experience she created, changing dynamics in the workplace, and, especially, about how she helps companies convert employees from spectators into engaged team players.
Dulye Ink.
Looking back on her life and career, Dulye said she had several important role models and men- tors, starting with her parents, who were both entrepreneurs.
“
that time, and I learned a lot from her. Most of the industries I was in were male- dominated, and I learned how to express my views in a confident way and how to form relationships with people who were going to be very judgmental of me, because I’m the token female out there, so I have to prove myself a little bit more.”
My mother was a novelty — there weren’t a lot of women business owners at
Overall, she said companies large and small have historically waited until a time of profound change, or crisis, before address- ing issues such as culture, communication, and engagement. Her simple message is not to wait.
“Let’s not wait for a crisis,” she said. “Let’s
be pre-emptive; let’s realize that everything in building a spectator-free workplace is a great business strategy, not just when something cata- strophic has happened.”
While helping companies become more con- nected and engaged — two words she used very early and quite often as she talked about her work — Dulye has also committed herself to helping the next generation of leaders thrive in an ever- changing work environment.
Indeed, she created the Dulye Leadership Experience (DLE), which offers year-round devel- opmental and networking programs (such as
for career and life success. The accent, as it with Dulye’s business-consulting work, is on collabora- tion and connections.
The DLE is a nonprofit endeavor funded by Dulye, who said she created it because there has always been a strong need for such programming, and that need has also been magnified given the changing landscape in business.
“I invest quite a bit in this because I believe in philanthropy,” she said. “And I believe in helping others see — and seize — their best.”
For this issue and its focus on women in
Her father ran a chain of small newspapers in New York’s Lower Hudson Valley, while her moth- er started a commercial printing business, a field that was totally dominated by men at the time.
“When you grow up in family business, or businesses, you learn every facet of a business,” she said. “You also learn that you get paid last, and you learn that employees are what enable you to go to college — my parents’ employees enabled me to go to college — and you learn that every single person is vital; it doesn’t matter what their title is.
38 SEPTEMBER 5, 2022
WOMEN IN BUSINESS
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