Strengthening Leadership Skills for Managers

Discover what the current research reveals about successful leadership. Look at new ways to influence, discuss leadership challenges and learn how serving others elevates leadership.

• Identify servant leadership behaviors and prioritize those that are most important
• Recognize challenges to apply servant leadership behaviors within an organization
• Discuss possible options to applying servant leadership in specific situations

Learn how to connect the organization’s vision with the daily work of the team to create an engaged workforce and provide more team motivation.

• Discuss what vision casting is and why it’s important to a team
• Identify how the components of an organization’s vision align to the daily efforts of a team
• Discover how to use storytelling to communicate vision and purpose to a team

Time is the most precious resource leaders have. Learn how successful leaders adapt their schedules to meet the needs of both the team and the organization.

• Recognize where time is spent and how it relates to a manager’s priorities
• Discuss examples of effective, empowering delegation
• Reflect on how to reprioritize time to meet the needs of the team

Identify where communication breakdowns occur and what can be done to remove barriers to effective communication. Discuss the skills identified for successful leaders and work on how to create a team culture of listening.

• Identify problems in the communication process
• Discuss the key communication skills needed to be an effective leader
• Explain the importance of being a listening leader and developing a team culture of questioning

Everyone makes decisions, but not all of them are good. Discuss decision-making traps and why using a decision-making process is more important than the decision itself.

• Discuss the options to reveal decision-making blind spots
• Identify how using a decision-making process improves how leaders help teams make decisions in today’s complex and uncertain environment
• Evaluate specific scenarios to make decisions with speed and effectiveness

Discover ways to encourage curiosity, creativity and innovation, and discuss how culture affects the engagement, creativity and innovation of teams.

• Identify ways to lead that encourage curiosity, creativity and innovation
• Discuss how to develop a team towards a curiosity mindset
• Recognize how to lead the use of rapid ideation to encourage creativity and innovation

Take a closer look at ways to motivate today’s employees, how to make continuous development a part of the team culture and the importance of each leader’s focus on supporting the professional development of others.

• List examples of how to set up and maintain a culture of learning and encouragement to take on challenges
• Discuss how to balance the needs of the organization with the development desires of each employee
• Identify ways to increase motivation and engagement

Coaching is much more than giving feedback when things are not going well. This module is about how to create a coaching culture by looking at the abilities leaders need to coach team members successfully.

• Discuss how mindset, listening, understanding and emotions maximize the benefits of coaching
• Identify core coaching skills coach to increase team engagement and motivation
• Recognize the importance of a coaching culture

Discover the key behaviors needed to be more adaptive in today’s ever-changing landscape. Learn how mindset matters, and how to develop resiliency to better handle whatever tomorrow brings.

• Identify differences in adapting to complex vs. complicated situations
• Discuss why leaders need to develop a growth mindset to adapt to today’s leadership demands
• Describe the importance of resiliency when faced with stress, uncertainty, setbacks and pressure

When change impacts individuals and teams, a leader’s ability to influence and become an agent for change is revealed. Use the change curve to anticipate possible emotions of team members and the impact change may have on each person.

• Discuss the importance in how leaders influence change
• Recognize how to balance the emotions of change
• Identify what leaders can do to be effective in leading change

Effective influence takes practice. Discuss the impact rapport has on influence, how to work on behaviors for positive influence and in what way influence affects meaningful conversations.

• Discuss how to build and maintain rapport
• Identify why influence requires planning ahead
• Explore how to use influence for more meaningful conversations

Building community outside the organization builds relationships and, ultimately, can affect influence inside the organization. This module looks at the roles of credibility and influence to make strong connections. Discuss how taking time to connect with others (including dormant ties) can be used to increase the skills and expertise for leading the team.

• Evaluate how to establish credibility through personal connections
• Discuss the importance of removing silos to connect others
• Identify how to be a connector for the organization and team