Leadership Course Summaries
Mid-Level Management Development
The Leadership Transition
Managing Managers
Building Synergistic Teams
From Formation to Productivity - What Works?The Power of Influence
How to Raise Discretionary Performance, Getting Commitment and ResultsPresenting UP
Presentation SkillsNavigational Agility
Moving Through the Organizational MazeInnovative Design
Thinking Outside the BoxTactical Thinking
Developing the Tools for VisionYou Still Can't Run Away
Conflict Management ElevatedDealing with Uncertainty
Making Decisions in Unchartered Waters
The Leadership Transition
Managing Managers
Moving up through the management ranks comes with an expectation of greater commitment to the organization. They have more power and more influence but often lack the business savvy and leadership skills to match.
This program sets the stage. It balances the manager's personal mission, vision, and values with that of the company. And it exposes managers to the critical skills needed to become competent leaders.
Primary Objectives:
- Managing individual contributors vs. managing managers
- How to inspire and build trust with your team
- Playing the part with passion
- Navigating up and down within the organization
Building Synergistic Teams
From Formation to Productivity - What Works?
"The essence of synergy is to value differences - to respect them, to build on strengths, to compensate for weaknesses. Once people have experienced real synergy, they are never quite the same again." -Stephen R Covey
Synergy is the process of creative cooperation through shared vision. It is one plus one equals three. This learning experience teaches leaders how to build and create teams that "rock their world" and their organization.
Primary Objectives:
- Leveraging diversity in the team
- Learning how to build trust on the team
- Determining and communicating team priorities and goals
- Experience team simulations and a model to deliver results
The Power of Influence
How to Raise Discretionary Performance, Getting Commitment and Results
Influence is an essential part of leadership. Managers strategically use their influence skills to communicate vision and build commitment to goals. To maximize personal influence, effective managers vary their tactics to match any situation.
This training uses the ITA (Influence Tactics Assessment) to help managers recognize their influence style preference as well as develop other styles to increase their leadership effectiveness.
Primary Objectives:
- Understanding influence and potential outcomes
- Identifying your influence stakeholders
- Making the Influence Tactics Assessment (ITA) work for you as a leader
Presenting UP
Presentation Skills
Regardless of the reason or the agenda, Presenting UP is always the manager's best opportunity to make an impression. And, it can be the hinge pin to career success, so don't blow it!
This class teaches the process. Aided with video taping, it puts the manager on the spot. It's uncomfortable but the results are worth the pain. Show up if you want to be great.
Primary Objectives:
- Learning the eight step process
- Using process to prepare and present to group
- Video and class feedback
- Revisions and presenting again
Navigational Agility
Moving Through the Organizational Maze
Leaders who can move effectively through the maze of an organization will likely reach their goals in the least amount of time, without making a lot of noise. Understanding the informal organization, the one beyond the organizational chart, is key to a manager's success.
Organizational agility requires an understanding of how the organization works. Its understanding the various roles people play and the strategies needed to be effective within that framework. Gaining organizational agility will give you the opportunity to lead.
Primary Objectives:
- Understanding the formal vs. the informal organization
- Self assessment to recognize current effectiveness
- Understanding the impact of personal style
- Learning the value of networking
Innovative Design
Thinking Outside the Box
Innovative Design teaches leaders how to manage the creative process. It requires a broad grasp of your industry coupled with the ability to recognize when innovation makes sense and the willingness to turn that idea into reality. It involves measured risk taking but when handled properly can vault your organization to greater success.
Primary Objectives:
- Understanding the ground rules
- Driving creative people
- Managing the creative process
- Moving an idea through the organization
- Dealing with failure
Tactical Thinking
Developing the Tools for Vision
According to Kouzes and Posner, one of the top characteristics of admired leaders is an ability to be "forward-thinking". However, not all leaders see the big picture, and fewer still can be called truly be called visionary. This skill comes from knowing the territory. It comes from understanding the market and the competition. And it comes from passion about your organization. In this learning experience, leaders will learn the process used to developing vision.
Primary Objectives:
- Developing a broad perspective
- Knowing the rules of the game
- Leveraging customer relationships
- Paying attention to today while thinking long-term
- Thinking and speaking strategically
- Communicating vision
You Still Can't Run Away
Conflict Management Elevated
The stakes are higher. The personalities are stronger. The decisions are more important. Don't blow it! Your ability to resolve conflict will impact the entire organization. This course assumes the manager has taken the TKI Assessment and understands that process. Now, how can we combine that knowledge with leadership acumen to create the framework for a "win-win" solution?
Primary Objectives:
- Review TKI
- Communicating a clear vision
- Uncovering the politics of conflict
- Knowing when to pull rank
Dealing with Uncertainty
Making Decisions in Unchartered Waters
The higher up you go in an organization, the more you will have to deal with ambiguity and risk. You will have to shift gears more often and constantly re-chart your course. The goal is to make more good decisions than bad, and learn from your mistakes. This program gives leaders strategies they can use to better handle uncertainty along with an understanding of how personality style can help or hurt the process.
Primary Objectives:
- Getting organized
- Tools for defining and visualizing the challenge
- Understanding and utilizing an incremental approach
- Managing stress
- The role of personality style
CSP II
Coaching for Sustained Performance Revisited
Now you are coaching the coach. You are no longer the first influence on front line performance; your direct reports play that role. So the impact you have on them is even more crucial to sustained performance. You become the mentor and the example to follow, so you had better get it right. In this learning experience, middle managers and above use the skills developed in CSP I to empower, motivate, and create passion for the vision of the organization.
Primary Objectives:
- The humbling power of middle management
- CSP review
- The mentoring coach
- Using CSP to create pride and commitment
- Creating passion for the mission/vision/values of your organization