Enhance your team’s leadership skills for the future!
Leadership Workshop Series 4:
This program is based on the USA-based ATD (Association for Talent Development) Workshop Series – Leadership Training by Lou Russell. The program is available in two-day, one-day, half -day and lunch session.
Why Does Leadership Matter?
Imagine two tall mountains. In between them lies a deep valley with a ferocious river. One person stands on each mountaintop. One is named Jo, and the other is Mo.
Jo faces away from the valley and looks down the back side of the mountain, sharing instructions with people below. Jo has managed to get to the top through hard work and creativity and has suffered lots of bumps and bruises from missteps. The rich resources on this mountain side are exciting, and Jo knows that with help the people below could improve their wealth by harvesting and selling these resources to others. Jo continues to share ideas and experiences to make this economic growth a reality. Jo does not notice Mo.
Mo, however, who is facing the valley and river, sees Jo. Clearly the same valuable resources exist on the back side of Mo’s mountain, and wealth would likely be possible in the short term. But Mo was fascinated with the river. The river could take people away from the mountains, away from the difficult climbing, and perhaps to a more habitable valley. Mo is convinced that the resources on the back of the mountain will be consumed quickly, and this will become a hard place to live. Mo walks back down to talk to the people about moving away. They could use the resources to build strong boats and bet it all on the future before the winter comes.
As you read this fable, which person did you identify with?
Which role seemed more sensible?
Which person had the right values and the right focus and would get the best results?
What were the best results?
Jo is a manager. Jo’s gift is to cope with complexity, driving processes and practices so that large groups of people can grow a better existence. Jo knows that order and consistency are keys to quality and profitability, and the mountain’s resources offer a controllable, low-risk opportunity to grow the wealth of all individuals while working together as a whole. Not many people can do Jo’s job well. Jo is all about how and what.
Mo sees the opportunity on the mountain but is not drawn to or interested in specifics. Mo wants to do something new. Worried about the changing availability of resources and the difficulty of living in a mountainous area, Mo looks for something bigger and better. Doing what has always been done, even doing it better, is not how Mo views success. Taking a big risk to use the valuable resources to go downriver makes perfect sense to Mo.
Mo is a leader. Mo’s gift is to see the future and inspire people to figure out how to get there, steering clear of the messy detail. Mo knows that change is a constant. Only motivation and inspiration can overcome inertia to drive the future plan’s implementation. Mo also knows that sometimes things won’t work out, and another plan will quickly become evident so innovation is also critical. Few people can do Mo’s job either. Mo is all about why and when.
This workshop is for both managers and leaders. Although rare, there may be learners who know how to jump between both roles effectively. Both roles, manager and leader, are critical to any organization. Both roles are difficult to staff—and when staffed with good people, magic happens. Managers usually grow up from within, coming up from a functional job to lead others in that functional job. Many of the leadership competencies in this workshop are as important to a manager as they are to a leader.
But the truth is, managers struggle to leave the day-to-day operations that have created success to jump into the unknown of leadership. While managers look “down” at their people, leaders more often scan “out” toward the future. Managers are tactical; leaders are strategic. Managers are about people; leaders inspire people to be all about the future of the organization. Both are needed for organizations to thrive.
This workshop is designed to help individuals see where they want to be. Do they want to be Jo or Mo? Are they willing to pay the price for the role they’ve chosen? Whether heading to leadership or management, experiencing and practicing the competencies in this workshop will move the learners on their journey. The goal is to take the learners from where they are, to where they can go. Each participant’s journey will be unique.
One small warning: growing management and leadership is not for the faint of heart. No one became a manager or leader by hearing only good news about his or her own behaviour. The workshop takes a deep dive into individual strengths, but they also explore weaknesses. This isn’t always fun, and we will keep the learners safe as they learn through pain. We will help them process without denying the cognitive dissonance (pain) that builds performance growth.
Enhance your Team’s leadership skills for the future!
Growing management or leadership is not a project; it’s a process. It never ends. Even the strongest leaders need to “sharpen the saw” and grow their innovation skills to drive performance. Even the most effective managers need new processes and tools to combine with their influencing skills for more efficiency. Facilitating learning for them creates greatness. Enhancing one’s leadership skills for the future never ends!
Growing leadership matters because it mitigates these universal challenges of “How to…”
- Engage, grow, and retain great employees
- Meet strategic organizational goals, no matter how challenging
- Translate strategic vision into tactical action
- Evolve and change organizational culture as needed
Two-Day Workshop Objectives
By the end of the two-day workshop, participants will be able to
- Inspire and lead staff by demonstrating essential leadership skill development
- Reinforce communication required to maintain trust and awareness
- Model personal awareness, regulation, and development
- Leverage TriMetrix EQ (or other) assessment results to align and collaborate with team
- Respond to others’ needs collaboratively
- Use feedback to refine own leadership
- Lead self and others through change and uncertainty
- Apply leadership skills to everyday decisions, not just big, emotionally charged events
- Combine specific strategies with big-picture thinking to help a team reach a larger goal
- Use negotiation skills to break down the barriers of silo mentality
- Make quick adjustments to initial plans when unanticipated situations arise
- Apply knowledge from self-awareness to learn how to respond to challenges
- Collaborate with team members and others to get the best solution.
The two-day workshop is completely skill based. Knowledge is acquired by applying skills in a simulation of actual leadership situations and then debriefing. The two-day workshop also includes a 360-degree assessment prior to the workshop and feedback from peers during the workshop.
Also available as a Facilitator-Led Online Learning Program.
Explore, discuss, experience our ATD Leadership Workshop Series!
Enhance your Team’s leadership skills for the future.
Send us a message to inquire or email us at [email protected].
