Management + Leadership Training

Mangers and leaders face new challenges and responsibilities. They challenge the status quo and set a course for organizational success. The skills and thought process required for success are drastically different than that of an individual contributor. Leaders set a vision and inspire others to follow them and thrive. They challenge the status quo and set a course for organizational success. Leadership is a skill that can be learned and nurtured. Our programs are designed to help new and seasoned managers and leaders work more effectively with their teams, their co-workers and their constituents to achieve results. At Executive Essentials, we provide custom-designed training and coaching programs in these essential skills including:

11 Laws of Likability: Relationship Networking

Relationships are the basis of all business dealings. Simply speaking, we work with people we know and like. In order to increase business, we first must know how to meet those contacts. The next phase is developing and building those relationships. This course takes you from approach and introduction to follow up and the creation and maintenance of a lasting relationship.

You Will Learn:

• What networking can do for you
• Resources for networking
• Ideas for your approach and introduction
• How to create commonality quickly
• Methods to maintain communication
• How to create a relationship development plan and make it part of your ongoing activities

Accountability for the Real World 

The Relationship Driven Leader Program: Because People Do Business With People They Like

We all know that networking is important, and that forming relationships with others is a vital part of success. Your ability to create meaningful and lasting relationships will directly impact your success regardless of your role – from corporate executive to company employee to business owner. The connections we form lead to improved engagement, productivity, morale and profits. Understanding the drivers of likability will enable you to build an authentic network that accelerates results.

You will learn: 

• Discover what to do before, during, and after an interaction to create lasting connections
• Identify your unique attributes and create a brand that boosts your visibility and impact
• Uncover people’s preferences to improve collaboration, increase your influence, and lead with confidence
• Improve productivity, engagement, and retention through reduced employee conflict and increased loyalty
• Influence a buyer’s perception of your product through their perception of you
• Allow relationships to close the deal, not price
• Learn simple ways to add value to your network and stay top of mind

Develop Your Presence + Personal Brand

Delivering strong results is not enough to build a successful career. Presence is a key building block in career management. It is not just for Executives. Presence is required at every level in every organization. This training focuses on understanding the impact of your interactions on your Presence, how you can proactively manage your Presence and how to develop your own personal brand. The training is designed to include journaling activities for self reflection and awareness as well as creating an action plan identifying specific behaviors to adopt to build Presence.

You Will Learn:

• Why Presence matters
• How to leverage communication skills to increase your Presence
• Storytelling skills
• How to develop your Brand
• How to market yourself

Leading Virtual Teams

Virtual teams are more and more common, and can offer many benefits to organizations. However, there are also new risks and challenges that come with geographic separation that need to be managed.

You Will Learn:

• Why virtual teams are so popular
• How to maximize the benefits of virtual teams
• How to select the best communication option for the situation
• How to minimize the risks that virtual team members will not feel a sense of cohesion

Managing Chaos: Increasing Your Productivity

We are living in a world of ever shifting priorities and needs. Every time you turn around there’s a new project to do and new factors to be considered. Add to that the impact of less administrative support and yet somehow you’re still expected to do it all. It’s no wonder that we’re living in a sea of chaos and you find yourself running around all day from one thing to the next and never feel like you accomplish anything. This session is designed to help you assess the projects coming in, evaluate priorities, create action plans and get them done.

You Will Learn:

• How to prioritize the tasks you have to do so that the important ones get done.
• Why assessing your own work style will enable you to work through and finish projects with more ease.
• When to say “Yes” to a new idea and when it’s best to stay the course.

<li”>How to assess projects so that the key components are <li”>The three keys to eliminating (or at least managing) the chaos and increasing your productivity.

Situational Leadership

As a leader you have broad responsibility across function and people. Focus is often being vied for in numerous directions. Therefore, a leader must master multiple managerial skills. This course combines the leadership skills focused on in more detail in other classes.

Course Topics:

• Understand different leadership styles
• Match your style to the situation and employee
• Understand the components of an effective delegation
• Determine what work can and should be delegated
• Match tasks to employee’s skills and motivation

Team Leadership

Creating leaders in today’s business environment requires a broad set of skills. To be considered a leader, a manager must exercise influence, solve problems, communicate confidently, manage conflict, and inspire employees. Leadership is about knowing yourself, how your behavior affects the actions of others, and identifying your team’s preferences. Understanding their goals and values, needs and wants, comfort and stretch areas can lead to more effective motivation, delegation, conflict resolution and overall team performance.

What You Will Cover:

• Understand the differences between staff, manager, and leader
• Create a shared team vision
• Use delegation to increase performance and individual growth
• Align motivation with work and personal goals
• Empower your staff to get the work done
• Increase dialogue and constructive feedback
• Create accountability while increasing motivation and morale.

The New Manager – What you need to know

As roles change so do the expectations of your peers, your staff, and your new reporting line. Your success is now dependent on the success of those you supervise. The “do it yourself” philosophy no longer applies. You must grow, develop, and motivate your staff to meet the increased expectations. This course is designed to create a smooth transition to the manager role.

You Will Learn How To:

• Understand expectations of boss, peers and yourself
• Understand communication and leadership styles
• Communicate clearly up and down the line
• Present yourself as a qualified and credible presence
• Know your role and learn to delegate effectively
• Motivate your staff and build a team
• Manage employee conflicts

Time + Priority Management

Time is money. We have all heard the phrase, yet we don’t treat our time like the limited resource that it is. To be efficient, we must not only be productive with your time but limit the time spent to achieve those results. This is the essence of time management.

You Will:

• Consider the results of poor time management
• Understand your relationship to time
• Determine your goals and priorities
• Plan your time effectively
• Select appropriate prioritization methods
• Consider delegation opportunities
• Eliminate time wasters

Tools for Effective Project Management

The ability to handle multiple projects, ambiguity, and competing deadlines are all criteria for success. Mastering these skills leads to more efficient use of resources, reduced stress and frustration, and higher morale. This interactive workshop starts with the project management life cycle and uses real examples to work the participants through planning tools, prioritization techniques, time estimation strategies, ambiguity approaches, and concludes with a discussion on the effectiveness of various influencing strategies.

You Will Learn:

• The importance of project management
• The project management life cycle
• Prioritization techniques and pitfalls
• Project planning tools
• The 5 guidelines to estimating work

Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is the process of attempting to resolve a dispute or a difference of desires. Successful conflict resolution occurs by listening to and providing opportunities to meet each side’s needs, and adequately addressing their interests so that they are each satisfied with the outcome. This course aims to find ways to promote the positive outcomes and minimize the negative outcomes of conflict.

You Will:

• Learn the value in conflict
• Determine your conflict style and tendencies
• Assess conflict situations
• Select the appropriate style for your conflict
• Practice using different conflict modes
• Develop techniques to improve conflict communications
• Develop an action plan to enhance your skills with other styles

Effective Delegation + Motivation

There is a difference between delegation and dumping. Delegation requires that we first understand our employee’s motivations and then we can effectively delegate tasks to better engage them. Miscommunications and confusion are common when making assignments. These delegation strategies will reduce misunderstanding, work redundancies, and your stress level. Effective delegation will empower your staff, foster greater teamwork, cooperation and collaboration, improve employee effectiveness, and build morale.

You Will:

• Understand the relationship between motivation, delegation and goals
• Learn three theories of motivation
  – Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
  – Herzberg’s two-factor theory
  – McClelland’s motivational needs theory
• Determine how to discover what motivates others
• Realize the repercussion of poor delegation on performance and how to avoid common mistakes
• Discover delegation basics: what to assign, whom to select, when to start, how to maintain control and give feedback

Team Building

In order to get anything accomplished we must work productively with others who may have various skill sets, education levels and personalities. To build a productive and efficient team, you must allocate responsibility based on desires and strengths. This course will focus on methods to determine the strengths and weaknesses of your team and distribute responsibilities to increase productivity and team morale.

You Will Learn To:

• Manage employee conflict
• Identify appropriate skills set to meet goals
• Delegate fairly and effectively
• Increase employee morale
• Create team vision and purpose
• Adapt your communication style

Giving Results-Oriented Feedback

This course will provide methodologies for each phase from goal setting to coaching to feedback. Exercises offer an opportunity for participants to begin developing their personal objectives as well as imparting techniques to manage the monitoring, coaching, and appraisal feedback phases of the process.

You Will Learn:

• The components and benefits of the performance management cycle
• The characteristics of effective feedback
• Techniques for each phase of the process:
  – Goal Setting
  – Employee Monitoring
  – Coaching & Development
  – Feedback & Discussion
• How to prepare for the evaluation dialogue
• A conversation model

Hiring Right: Effective Interviewing

Companies with high turnover and poor employee retention rates experience lower employee morale and increased expenses in recruiting and training. Hiring the right employee for the job will result in increased employee productivity and a bigger bottom line. This course provides the foundation for understanding the characteristics that lead to success in your organization and how to interview to identify those traits. Exercises will provide practice in each phase of the process from writing the job description through documenting the interview.

You Will Learn To:

• Understand the job requirements
• Prescreen applicants: the resume & the phone interview
• Learn the types of interview questions and what they reveal about an applicant
• Create questions that uncover skill and fit
• Develop an interview structure and style
• Learn techniques to avoid bias and get your questions answered