Effective Leadership

Course purpose

Leadership is not a style - it is a set of choices and actions that can be learned. This seminar is designed to challenge and assist everyone striving to improve leadership skills by clarifying both what these skills are and how to use them. In addition to outstanding management skills, leaders bring values and vision to the workplace, creating an atmosphere of energy, excitement, and involvement. This type of leadership is required at all levels of an organization. This seminar will look the choices leaders make and the atmosphere they create, examining in depth eight qualities of effective leadership.

Target audience

• All levels of management from front line through CEOs and owners
• Department heads, team leaders, and project directors
• Staff responsible for communicating and enacting company procedures
• Project teams, boards, and committees with leadership responsibility

Participant outcomes

Participants at all organizational levels will gain a clearer understanding of the difference between management and leadership, enabling them to go beyond simply directing their organization to leading. They will also acquire greater confidence and effectiveness in leading their departments or organizations by having:

• A more profound understanding of the task of leadership.
• The ability to infuse organizational and department missions with life and energy.
• The ability to stimulate employee commitment and contribution.
• Renewed excitement about their job.

Organizational benefits

Your organization will benefit from having:

• Energy and direction generated at all levels of the organization.
• Systems and procedures which more consistently reflect organizational mission and values.
• An environment that stimulates the enthusiastic efforts of all employees.
• An increased two-way flow of ideas and information throughout the organization.
• Qualities of effective leadership infused into management practices at all levels.

Presentation options

This workshop, which consists of lecture, group discussion, and exercises, can be presented in a 1, 2, or 3-day format. The one-day version is a dynamic, intensive presentation. Along with additional information, the multi-day format allows more time for exercises and discussion groups designed to reinforce new skills and develop real-time applications of the material to existing circumstances. Participants will receive a specially designed manual containing a review of the seminar content, guidelines, check sheets, and questionnaires, as well as valuable additional reading material on leadership.

Topics covered

• Choosing leadership
  Going beyond just being "the boss" - the choices effective leaders make and the atmosphere they create. Why leadership rests on attitudes and behavior, not just titles and positions. How leaders choose to use their authority.

• Leading the way effectively
  The leader's first task - developing and sharing a vision of excellence. Valuing, protecting, and supporting your human resources. Asking the right questions, giving the right direction, and providing the right information. Listening - the other half of effective communication.

• Focusing group dynamics
  Forming committees that work and teams that produce. How management choices make work groups hum or go sour. Harnessing the excitement groups can generate. Creating group vision and team spirit.

• Identifying the "hidden" groups
  The organizational chart vs. what's really going on. How hidden dynamics can contribute to an organization's performance or destroy it. Guiding the powerful forces of informal groups to shape attitudes, motivation, and behavior.

• Creating high performance organizations
  Why the leader makes all the difference. Mission, objectives, and feedback - providing what successful organizations need. How effective leadership impacts productivity, quality, morale, customer relations, and profits.

• Generating commitment
  Energizing work groups. The key to commitment - aligning values, attitudes, and perceptions. Building a climate of trust and mutual respect. Creating a sense of ownership and enthusiasm. Involving employees: tapping skills, ideas, and energy.

Praise from executives, managers, and supervisors

"A dynamic, enthusiastic, thought-provoking presentation. All the topics were helpful and exciting. The seminar rekindled a part of me that got lost along the way." - Senior Vice President, Peoples First National Bank, Paducah, KY

"The approach was very appropriate, creative, and practical. Helped me to take an introspective look at my leadership style and apply knowledge to implement an effective leadership plan." - Executive Director, United Way of Lebanon County, PA

"A wonderful surprise. This seminar gave me specific guidelines for promoting a productive and quality leadership style. I've been to leadership workshops that couldn't compare with Effective Leadership." - Police Sergeant, Gainesville, FL, Police Department

"This gave me ideas on leadership versus management that I had never thought of before, especially ways in which to implement the leadership concepts presented." - Administrator, Mankato State University, Mankato, MN

"Probably the best, most meaningful seminar I've attended in the years I've been in management. The entire seminar was thought-provoking. It was helpful conceptually and practically in focusing my attention on the management of nursing staff." - Head Nurse, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Martinez, CA

"This seminar showed me that leadership doesn't have to be from the top down - I can still have an impact on the work done." - Supervisor, Bureau of Land Management, Roseburg, OR

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