The most successful leaders are intentional about their growth and development by envisioning what type of leader they want to become and working toward that goal. But what does it mean to be a leader? And what type of leader do you want to be? To kick off this leader development course, we will begin by focusing on different ways of conceptualizing leadership and discuss ways to apply those frameworks to better understand the unique challenges of leadership. We will specifically explore the most essential leadership skills for motivating groups, mentoring others, and forming relationships with stakeholders at all levels. We will further delve into each leader’s unique leadership style, strengths, and opportunities for improvement.
The teaching segment respecting personal values and self-awareness is designed to enhance our leadership abilities. Managing oneself relates to personal character and its impact on others as we seek to influence and align our followers with our vision. Our enhanced self-awareness enables us to better think, evaluate, formulate, and communicate with others. Incorporated into our personal awareness are our values, morals, and ethics that encompass our character. Followers first look to their leaders for honesty and trust, and predicated on their impression of those values, they will become empowered and competent performers. Hence, our ability to become effective leaders depends in great part on our core values and understanding our strengths and limitations.
Emotionally intelligence (EI) involves the ability to actively identify, understand, process, and influence one's own emotions and those of others to guide feeling, thinking, and subsequent behaviors. EI has been found to more accurately predict more effective leadership, higher productivity, greater ability to influence others, and higher salary than IQ. While we know that having high levels of EI require understanding emotions and effectively responding to them, most of us do not know how to accurately identify our emotions or use them to their fullest purpose. It is the alignment of our emotions, thoughts, and actions that allows us to ultimately be perceived as trustworthy, credible, and influential to others. By the end of this workshop, participants will have the knowledge and tools to be able to (1) understand and appreciate the role that emotions play in providing valuable information/feedback, (2) accurately identify/differentiate their emotions, (3) interpret the correct message behind the emotions they experience, and (4) change their behavior in response to information gained from the emotion.
We are in the age of collaboration. The use of teams in companies only continues to increase as the amount of time spent working on collaborative activities has ballooned by 50% or more over the past two decades. By using teams, companies can become more productive and innovative—the caveat being that these teams must collaborative effectively. But what constitutes effective collaboration and how can you develop this in your organization? Most individuals know what teamwork is and that it is useful for achieving results, but have little understanding of the science behind effective teamwork, why this science matters, and how to use its principles to maximize team outcomes. During this segment of the program, you will be exposed to the robust science behind team building and its applicability to today’s business issues. The goal is to provide you with a foundation on what effective teamwork is and refine your team building skills so that you are able to leverage collaboration to advance your company’s competitive edge. The segment will begin with an overview of teamwork and team effectiveness models, then we will discuss team design and team member characteristics. Following this, effective team processes and emergent states will be presented along with mitigation strategies to reduce negative processes. We will end with a discussion on team outcomes (e.g., creativity, performance), as well as how to create a collaborative corporate culture.
The timeliness and importance of managing diversity is illuminated by statistics showing that workforces are becoming more heterogeneous due to immigration, globalization, and changing demographic trends in the general population. A scholarly understanding of how to manage diversity allows us to navigate common challenges that diversity can bring if mismanaged in organizations. During this segment of the program, you will be exposed to research on the topics of employee identity, maintaining business relationships across difference, the business case for diversity, and the role of inclusion. Overall, we will explore how we as business leaders can leverage diversity to create opportunities for organizations while supporting existing organizational goals.
Leadership is about influence. However, when seeking to influence others, potential leaders often fall back on tactics that are easy (e.g., invoking formal authority) or that are comfortable (e.g., rational appeals). In so doing, they leave value on the table by ignoring the full range of choices that are before them. In this learning module, we will review a broad set of influence tactics taken from expert business leaders. We then consider when each is or is not appropriate. Most tactics have a place, but the leader must be cognizant of the situation. We provide participants with a power guide that will help acquire legitimate power and increase their personal effectiveness.
Engaged employees approach their work with vigor and enthusiasm. They continually improve by seeing obstacles as challenges and opportunities to learn. Unfortunately, engagement is often compromised because of inappropriate supervisory behavior. Common occurrences, such as micromanagement, missing feedback, and an incomplete vision, confound employees’ efforts to be their best. As a solution, we present scientifically based techniques for boosting engagement. These include tight-loose leadership, learning versus performance goals, and strategies for delegation. More generally, we provide new approaches for managing a business unit in order to maximize productivity and employee well-being.
The Leadership Reaction Course was derived from military special operations assessment and selection courses. It is designed to place individuals in challenging situations that require leadership skills, decision-making, creative problem-solving, teamwork, and effective communication. Teams will move through different “missions,” rotating leadership positions with facilitators who provide feedback and adjust complexity to ensure students experience a safe, fun, challenging, and impactful learning experience.
If leadership were black and white, it would be as easy as following a playbook. Unfortunately, business and leadership are often grey and therefore leaders must constantly make judgment calls in new situations and unfamiliar environments. It is the role of the leader to manage this grey. In order to lead in this uncertain environment, it is critical that leaders and organizations are clear about who they are and what they believe. This clarity of purpose results in sound decision-making based on predetermined criteria such as values, ethics, and established priorities. In this program, we will explore how to create this clarity of purpose and alignment to assist both individuals and organizations in reaching their fullest potential.
