Leadership Academy

Working in teams is a critical piece of the culture in contemporary organizations. Highly functioning teams are more efficient, more productive, and enjoy higher levels of success.  This course focuses on the fundamentals of team building. Issues such as personality preference styles, group synergy, attitude, perception, trust, and competition are examined, and strategies for improving team functioning. Special attention is paid to common blockers that hinder leaders from working well together.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Identify the characteristics of good team players
• Identify behavior/personality preference styles
• Demonstrate how preferences affect teams and the work environment
• Describe how highly functioning teams can increase productivity and efficiency
• Apply team communication strategies and techniques
• Recognize barriers to teamwork
• Identify ways to create a positive team attitude
• Initiate action plans for improvement

The quality of leadership an employee receives is critical to employee retention, development, and productivity. People leave leaders more often than they leave companies or jobs. Ineffective leadership can cost the company resources, time, and talent. This Program is designed to provide new leaders with the knowledge and skills to be highly effective.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Discover how leadership relates to human behavior
• Identify a personal leadership style
• Examine leadership blockers
• Explore different management styles
• Describe different styles of interaction
• Build trust
• Apply strategies and techniques

Managers manage; leaders inspire and motivate. This course focuses on the differences between managing and leading while maintaining consistency in all areas of business operations.  Motivation, leadership style, delegation, and fostering a positive work environment are addressed.  Emphasis is placed upon building a variety of leadership skills.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Identify the differences between managers and leaders
• Identify team leadership styles
• Explore leader behavior
• Recognize the elements of building positive relationships
• Discover what motivates people and how to create a motivating climate
• Explore ways to delegate
• Explore and understand common approaches to discipline
• Practice a non-punitive approach to dealing with negative behavior

Employee engagement, motivation, and performance management are critical drivers in high-performing organizations. Today’s leaders are responsible for achieving corporate objectives by motivating their associates to work at the greatest efficiency while promoting personal growth.  This program is designed to equip leaders with the essential coaching skills necessary to create a positive environment fostering optimal performance.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Establish an environment for being both “directive” and compassionate to bring out the best in people
• Help people through critical learning opportunities
• Create an environment for open, risk-free communication
• Develop listening strategies and skills
• Navigate effectively in difficult or uncomfortable conversations
• Apply a variety of communication strategies
• Identify different types of coaching

Research has shown that Social-Emotional Intelligence (SEI) contributes more to a person’s success in life than raw intelligence (IQ).  Leaders and employees with a high SEI are the ones who make the best decisions, manage people more effectively and contribute most to the overall success of the organization. Emphasis is placed on the development of specific skills that strengthen SEI.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Define social-emotional intelligence (SEI)
• Recognize the role of SEI in the workplace
• Describe an SEI model
• Build an intuitive muscle
• Better manage emotions
• Improve social awareness
• Practice and enhance social and empathy skills
• Listen and respond with empathy

The Harvard Business Review stated in a recent article: “More than education, more than experience, more than training, a person’s level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails.” In a constantly changing workplace, resilience is defined as how well everyday job pressures are perceived and managed and obstacles overcome.  This course focuses on building skills to strengthen a leader’s resiliency.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Identify forces of enterprise-wide change, stress, and resiliency
• Master new skills and techniques to strengthen resiliency
• Recognize change as a natural force in organizations
• Assess personal resiliency quotients
• Identify reasons people resist change
• Create a flexible, engaged, and open work environment
• Effectively manage the change process
• Put an action plan together that will be shared with their manager for future development talks
• Identify the ramifications of their business decisions
• Gain appreciation of the corporate mission and plan and where they fit into it

Negative conflict in a business setting can be expensive, counter-productive, time consuming, and labor intensive. Constructive conflict can bring about new ideas and problem-solving methods. This workshop focuses on providing the skills necessary to manage negative conflict and promote positive working relationships.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Recognize how and why conflict exists
• Realize conflict represents differences in opinions and beliefs
• Identify blockers that hinder the resolution process
• Identify constructive and destructive responses
• Identify “hot buttons” responses
• Recognize and practice the CAREfront Model

• A professional brand is a critical component to reputation in the workplace.
• Professional branding is the way people market themselves to others, and can help increase positive visibility and advance career goals.
• This program focuses on skills needed to create and maintain a clear, consistent professional brand.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of this course, participants will be able to,
• Recognize the importance of brand creation
• Identify the benefits of a successful brand
• Avoid obstacles that may hinder the “re-branding” process
• Use a BRAND model to create a personal brand
• Recognize how perception creates reality
• Create ways to successfully present and promote a personal brand

• How successful you are in your professional and personal life depends on your ability to influence and persuade others?
• When applied with integrity to create positive changes in a person, group, or an organization, influence and persuasion are two critical skills.
• Although used interchangeably, influence and persuasion are two different and distinct terms.
• Participants who wish to inspire and motivate others need to understand how influence and persuasion works.
• This course explores the psychology/science of influence and persuasion along with the skills and techniques to bring about cognitive and behavioral changes in others.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the difference between influence and persuasion
• Identify blockers that hinder influencing and persuading
• Review lessons from neuroscience
• Recognize that people are influenced by their hearts, then their minds
• Identify the ELP Model
• Establish skills to build rapport
• Apply skillful communication skills and techniques
• Identify the six influencers to yes
• Recognize how to manage emotions
• Enhance social awareness and connection
• Identify and practice skills to manage resistance and objections

• Employee retention, especially of the best, most desirable employees, is a key challenge in organizations today.
• Employee involvement, recognition, advancement, development, and pay based on performance are all essential elements in retaining great producers.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Identify why employees leave a company, 
• Recognize a variety of strategies to create a motivating climate,
• Identify strategies to engage employees, 
• Identify reasons why people stay with a company, 
• Recognize motivational drivers related to the four generations in the workplace.

• There are currently four generations operating in today’s workforce.  
  • Contemporary managers and leaders must juggle both the needs of the organization, with the varying strengths and weaknesses of generational groups. 
• This course provides communication, motivation, engagement, and management tools and techniques designed to leverage the leaders’ strengths in effectively managing each generation.  
• Special attention is paid to developing strategies designed to increase productivity through harnessing the power and special attributes of each generation.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Recognize differences between the four generations represented in today’s workforce 
• Identify main motivational drivers for each generation 
• Determine specific communication, motivation, and engagement strategies for each group 
• Recognize how technology influence each generations
• Determine the importance of  workplace balance

• Today, more than ever before, diversity, inclusion, and cultural sensitivity are critical pieces of an organization’s business strategy.  The poisonous tree of “ism’s” has old roots. Unfortunately, new branches keep growing. Training and conscientiousness are twin ways to deal with this persistent disease.  

This 4-hour neuroscience-based workshop on Valuing Diversity, Inclusion, and Cultural Sensitivity is specifically designed to address implicit and unconscious bias issues. Additionally, the workshop covers other relevant diversity subjects, such as the anatomy of “isms,” the neuroscience of unconscious bias, and how to assess and respond to diversity-driven situations effectively.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:  

• Define diversity 
• Identify the components of a diverse workforce 
• Recognize diversity challenges
• Define implicit/unconscious bias
• Identify three types of implicit biases
• Explain how the brain works to discourage implicit bias
• Identify a 5-step process to combat implicit bias
• Reflect on personal awareness of cultural diversity 
• Recognize six tips on building an inclusive and culturally intelligent environment

• The focus of this class is to enhance and raise the consciousness of individuals in the workplace to issues of sexual harassment.  
• Every employer of choice should have a policy on what constitutes harassment and what actions will be taken should inappropriate behavior occur.  
• This workshop teaches the legal definition of harassment including the various types of harassment behaviors, and offers prevention techniques to minimize future problems.

Learning Objectives:

The program offers participants the opportunity to:

• Learn the legal definition of sexual harassment
• Identify their own reaction, and the reactions of others, to sexual harassment
• Learn ways to protect employees and prevent sexual harassment
• Identify potentially offensive behaviors
• Discuss how harassment harms employees and the company 
• Learn ways to create a positive work environment