Classes & certificates

This class will use the DiSC® assessment instrument to build self-awareness and explore the many facets that shape the way we see our world and function at work. By incorporating neuroscience and the DiSC® framework, we will learn to better understand our perspectives, identify and adapt to the perspectives of others, and to capture insightful synergies. We will discuss how to use tools and strategies to make this process easier so we can discover more options and solutions in our teams and projects.

There are many myths about what managers can and should do to support employee work performance, satisfaction and engagement. Learn what decades of real-world management experience reveal about best practices and tools, plus gain insights into today's diverse and fast-moving environments.

Gain an understanding of the mechanics of managing a meeting well. Learn to develop an agenda, manage meeting dynamics, deal with disruptive behavior, keep the meeting on track, track assignments and record the decisions and actions of the group. The session includes templates and models.

This class will help build foundational knowledge of Scrum and equip you with skills to effectively manage, lead or be a member of a Scrum team. You will learn what kinds of projects call for an Agile Scrum approach.

Examine the core aspects of servant leadership. Topics for the five-day program are: Servant Leadership Foundations, Personal and Organizational Challenges of Servant Leadership, Serving Customers/Clients/Citizens, Servant Leadership at the Team and Organizational Level and Connecting Servant Leadership to Community and the World.

Learn of the recent neuroscience discoveries that reveal how our brain triggers stress and poor interpersonal reactions. Exploration and practice of multiple methods for managing your brain will greatly improve your ability to lead others in today's organizations.

This class is three mornings, offered in a participatory live online format with brief prework and learning exercises between sessions. Conflict in the workplace is normal, even inevitable. We tend to avoid it despite the many benefits of resolving conflict effectively. Managing conflict can improve decision-making, strengthen professional relationships, increase employee retention and significantly contribute to organizational success. In this interactive workshop, you'll learn about your own conflict styles and examine the pros and cons of each as they apply to varying conflicts in the workplace. We'll review the 5 approaches to resolving conflict and how to strategize which approach best fits a situation. Learn how conflict can change from dysfunctional to a factor in growth and success. You will understand your role in working toward a resolution with others.

This specially designed class will focus on the how-tos of adopting a coaching style for giving work performance feedback. This is a class for leaders and managers who are ready to learn this approach and who want to understand and practice the key elements to utilize them right away.

This class will focus on the proactive approaches and tools for creating an EI culture that enables respectful, effective and creative collaboration even when the going gets tough. For this class, it will be assumed that participants are familiar with EI and want to lead or influence a team to become an extraordinary one. Participants will have the advantage of completing the EQi 2.0 self-assessment in advance of the class. The cost is included in the class fee.

Diversity drives innovative thinking and creative solutions in the workplace. Neurodiversity reflects the natural variation in human minds and how people interact with the world differently as a result. Companies that embrace neurodiversity, gain competitive advantages and facilitate an inclusive workplace allowing all talent to thrive. Improving systems and spaces to be more flexible and inclusive is key to maintaining an engaged and successful workforce. Before an organization can embrace neurodiversity, it must first understand how neurodivergence appears within it, and examine the workplace culture around it. Create a culture of appreciation, accountability, and trust by addressing some of the most common recruitment, selection and career development obstacles for neurodivergent employees. Leverage the talents of all employees through greater sensitivity to individual needs. Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach to neurodiversity, simple adjustments and accommodations (often at little cost to the employer) allow every team member to feel safe, supported and able to showcase their unique talents.

A key challenge for today's leaders is helping employees to understand the need for change. They must help employees discover new ways of working and embracing these new ideas. We explore strategies for communicating the need for change and building employee commitment to that change.

Advance your project management skills by diving deep into some of the critical components of managing a project. Going beyond the basics of project management creates a culture of learning, accountability, transparency, high performance and successful delivery.

We're seeing more organizations with employees who work from home, live in other states and often live in other countries. "Lead from a distance" by understanding the challenges and best practices. Build trust, navigate conflict, make decisions and conduct engaging meetings with virtual staff.

Master the skills necessary to communicate effectively with internal and external audiences in today's professional environment. Learn techniques of document structure, grammar and style proven to enhance credibility and influence. Learn credibility-damaging errors and tips for avoiding them.

Explore leadership characteristics and ways to strengthen your organization and support others' work. Learn about different leadership styles, public perceptions of leadership by sector and servant-leadership basics. Develop a personal leadership philosophy that contributes to your mission.

Identify behaviors, create strategies that help you manage multiple priorities and handle interruptions so you are more effective at work. Cover the myth of multitasking, how daily goals and objectives lead to success, strategies and best practices in putting out fires and doing more than one job.

This highly interactive class will be held on two mornings separated by a week with some prework. Great workplace teams don't just happen. Leaders build them. A helpful tool for team leaders is Gallup's CliftonStrengths™. This well-researched and established assessment instrument enables individuals and groups to identify and explore 34 themes that describe the diverse talents we all have. Discover the strongest talents within yourself and your team members. Gain important insights and leverage potential that could go untapped. Use knowledge of team member strengths to assign tasks or projects, facilitate collaboration, improve decision-making, and more. Build your strategic awareness so you can leverage your team's talents and lead with authenticity and confidence.

Handle difficult conversations at work and to listen and be assertive without weakening relationships. Better understand the complex nature of interpersonal communication and explore why misunderstanding is so normal. Apply the skills learned to conflict resolution and give performance feedback.

Gain foundational knowledge and explore best practices in project management to build the personal knowledge, skill and confidence you need to effectively lead projects. Whether you're leading your first project or looking for strategies to ensure project success, you will benefit from this class.

Studies are revealing that a large percentage of adults nationwide suffer from abusive childhoods, PTSD, grief from loss and/or other traumatizing events. The ability of individuals to recover from trauma varies widely, and the impacts often carry over into the workplace; affecting performance and reactions to stress. Right now, employees are also dealing with a "quademic" — the combined effects of the pandemic, widening social inequality and injustice, the polarization of political discourse and the rise of global warming. As a result, the prevalence of workers experiencing genuine trauma is surging. This class will focus on what individual managers can do to recognize and respond to members of their team who are struggling. We will navigate through how to be compassionate without running afoul of employment laws or abandoning work standards and job descriptions. Participants will learn how to deal with worker trauma in ways that go beyond simple expressions of empathy while protecting confidentiality. Specific how-to approaches and what to avoid will be explored. Leaders themselves may need to recognize their own trauma and find ways to strengthen their resilience and find resources for support. The two class instructors are an expert in organizational well-being, and an employment law attorney. They will be your guides to navigate effectively in this important new area.