The Danger of Participation Trophies | Jennifer Alessandra | TEDxMemphis

Growing up as an athlete, for Jennifer winning and losing were well defined and understood concepts. The desire to win drove behaviors: goal setting, hard work and resilience. Lessons learned on the field were instructive in all areas of life. Imagine her surprise when her son started playing youth soccer and got a trophy for simply participating. She started seeing the unintended outcomes of handing out participation trophies, and what happens when we try to protect people from failure. At work, at home, EVERYWHERE! In her talk, Jennifer explores three ways to combat the participation trophy phenomenon and how to make the techniques stick. Jennifer joined Frontdoor, Inc. in 2019 as senior vice president and chief people officer. Alessandra has significant depth and breadth of experience as a performance-driven leader in public and private companies, and an impressive track record for helping businesses and employees navigate change. Prior to Frontdoor, Alessandra served as chief people officer for SolarWinds where she led teams in 16 countries and was a key member of the mergers and acquisitions team. Passionate about giving back to the community, Alessandra has been a board member and advisor at non-profit organizations including Homeboy Industries and the Central Texas Food Bank.

Alessandra is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She was a collegiate athlete and part of USC's National Championship swimming and diving team in 1997. Jennifer proudly answers to the titles wife, mom, dog lover, traveler and competitor (in almost anything). This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx