Episode 06: How can you value the teachable moments that come from unexpected, brief encounters with others?
February 2024
Mikeila McQueston (DMA Composition ’26) Christine Taft (WMBA ’25), participants of Sanger Leadership Center’s Story Lab, speak to the importance of valuing the learning that comes from connections with others, regardless of how brief or unexpected those connections might be.
Episode Competencies (coming soon!)
Episode Resources
Reflection Questions:
- Who are the non-traditional teachers in your life that have inspired you?
- How can you continue to value the learning moments you’ve had with that?
Speaker Bio
Mikeila McQueston
DMA Composition '26
Composer and soprano Mikeila McQueston (DMA Composition ’26) writes accessible, engaging works that emphasize music’s rich capacity for storytelling. Mikeila’s work, praised as “effective” and filled with “thought provoking dichotomies” (New York Concert Review; American Prize), has been performed throughout the United States and Europe, including festivals and series such as Carnegie Hall’s DCINY, the TUTTI Festival, the Nief-Norf Summer Festival, and the Uuden Musiikin Lokakku in Finland. Mikeila holds a BM and dual MM degrees in composition and voice from Louisiana State University and the University of Tennessee respectively. She is currently pursuing her DMA in composition at the University of Michigan.
Christine Taft
WMBA '25
Christine Taft (WMBA ’25) is a Talent Manager at Liberty Mutual Insurance, and works remotely out of Ann Arbor, MI. She’s currently pursuing her MBA through University of Michigan Ross’s Weekend MBA program. At work, Christine manages a team of 12 individuals and is known for her problem solving, empathy, and love of the question “Help me understand…”. One of her favorite projects in her career was project managing the design of a leadership program based in neuroscience, which enabled managers to better lead themselves, lead others and lead change through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion. Diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic at the age of 12, Christine can remember a time before she had this incurable disease – and has recently begun to recognize the impacts that this medical condition has had on her mental health throughout her life. Christine has experienced the power first hand of knowing someone else with the same condition as you, and the feeling of being alone when you don’t. Outside of school and work, Christine enjoys complicated table-top board games, bowling and curling up with her cat and a fantasy novel.
Nick Viviano
Program Specialist, Sanger Leadership Center
Nick Viviano (he/him/his) is a program specialist at the Sanger Leadership Center at Michigan Ross. He oversees a variety of leadership development programs, including Story Lab and the Leadership Crisis Challenge.
