Dec 14, 2005 -- Three trailblazing CEOs, all members of the Yeshiva University community, shared observations and lessons from their successful careers with Sy Syms School of Business honors students Dec. 9. The event was the inaugural Dean's List CEO Seminar. On hand to speak to a select group of about 45 students from the Wilf and Beren campuses were Sy Syms, founder of Syms clothing stores, a vice chairman of the YU board of trustees, and namesake of YU's undergraduate business school; Morry J. Weiss, CEO of American Greetings and chairman of YU's board of trustees; and and Marcy Syms, CEO of Syms Corp. and member of the board of directors of Sy Syms School of Business. Before a question-and-answer session led by Dr. Lawrence Bellman, director of the Rennert Entrepreneurial Program at SSSB, interim SSSB dean Ira Jaskoll told students in attendance that they "represent the highest level of academic achievement" at the school. Issues addressed by the three business leaders included the importance of people skills in a business career, whether diversity of experience was better than a single-minded career focus, and the role of women in the business world. Addressing the lack of women in certain high-level roles, Mr. Weiss said that women do most of the buying in many households and therefore should be involved in product development. "Ninety-two percent of all greetings cards are purchased by women," said Mr. Weiss about his own industry. "Women buy more men's ties than men do. It makes sense that women should be involved in the creating, designing, and pricing of these products." The comments drew applause from women, and men, in the audience. Marcy Syms addressed a seemingly simple issue, raised early in the session - the importance of people skills. Like accounting or most any other discipline, she said, people skills can be learned and should be studied. Ms. Syms offered advice on how to act toward others in the workplace: "Be positive. Make good eye contact. Shake hands. If you are approachable, friendly, and accessible you will do well." Sy Syms, Marcy's father, offered a bit of interviewing advice. "At the end of an interview," Mr. Syms said, "our human resources people like to say to a prospective employee, 'List 10 questions you'd like to ask about this company.' If the first question is how the bonus system is structured, you may have to get rid of that person." Morry Weiss talked about how the average business career path has changed. "There was a time when people went to work for a good company, kept their heads down, forged ahead, and the company took care of them," Mr. Weiss said. "Times have changed. You are responsible for your own career. You have to set reasonable goals and evaluate your own performance. "It also used to be that a person would remain in the same industry for his or her entire career. Today, there are people who've held positions in unrelated industries and they've done well. Would I have been a better CEO if I had four positions for 10 years each or one position for 40 years? The jury is still out on that." In plotting career strategy, all three panelists agreed that students should set personal goals and understand the culture of a company and the industry in which they plan to work. The panelists stressed doing business and doing good should be synonymous. When facing what one might consider an ethical dilemma, Ms. Syms suggested students to play a visual game with themselves. "Imagine you are in a helicopter looking down on yourself," she said. "How would you view what you are doing? In the end, a decision based on people and not numbers will be the right decision."