Leadership Development
- What traits do leaders need to build great teams, run their operations effectively and help grow the business?
- What does it take for leaders to successfully collaborate and learn from each other?
Organizations that wish to develop and sustain their organization's long-term competitive edge must provide opportunities for their leaders to stay abreast of new developments in their company, industry and functional competency. In addition, organizations must empower their leaders and build their skills to become effective change agents. At Applied Learning, we develop custom Knowledge Maps and eLearning VOLTs that help organizations achieve these objectives. In addition we design and deliver Executive Leadership, Manager Development, and New Manager programs to executive, mid-level and front-line management. We also help to design Leadership Events/ Retreats and create team-building activities and learning solutions that help leaders:
- Understand what a leader is... and is not
- Project a more dynamic image
- Determine which leadership attributes they already possess
- Apply lessons learned through leadership training to take on their first leadership position with greater confidence
- Find out what people expect and respect in a leader
- Apply lessons learned through leadership training to refine their skills in gaining and using power and influence positively
- Learn how to motivate their teams
Executive Leadership Development
To succeed in a world economy, executives need to develop a comprehensive view of global competition and market interdependence. Some of the most powerful learning can occur when leaders from different business units and functions meet face-to-face and spend time talking about the critical issues facing their business and industry. The trend of using world-renowned speakers and business authors is giving way to a structured dialogue-based process by which leaders can cross-fertilize thinking, and walk away with insights based on the experiences of their peers.
We work with Clients to integrate custom Knowledge Maps into leadership programs to renew intellectual capital and empower the executive to act as a change agent for achieving organizational effectiveness. Our executive leadership development solutions delve into effective decision-making, systems thinking, power and influence, altering behaviors, recasting mindsets, organizational change, personal negotiation styles, and investing in and managing relationships for greater impact.
Manager Development
The success of managers depends upon their ability to influence the actions of others. Managers play a significant role in communicating and deploying the plans of senior management. Furthermore, ensuring that managers instill the right work ethics, behaviors and leadership is often the determining factor of how well a team will function. Unless managers are equipped with the foundational knowledge of the company's strategies and tactics, it is unlikely they will be effective in engaging employees in a discussion of how each employee contributes to the future of the business.
We have the experience of working with organizations to develop managers and provide them the tools required to be better leaders. There are many ways managers affect your employees — positively and negatively. We provide managers practical tools and frameworks that help them lead their employees more effectively to achieve the results your company desires.
New Manager Programs
Improving operations. Making business trade-offs. Leveraging the skills and efforts of employees. These are just some of the issues new managers are likely to face. Becoming a leader involves setting the right goals, communicating ideas, and delivering results. A leader must be able to effective influence and inspire others to execute a plan.
According to a study by the Manchester Group, 4 out of 10 new managers fail in the first 18 months! The top 5 reasons cited:
- Not building partnerships or teams with colleagues and peers
- Unclear expectations
- Not enough political savvy
- Takes too long to learn the job
- Inability to balance work and personal lives
Every day new managers are hired or promoted because of "what they know". When they fail to thrive it's because of "who they are" or "how they go about getting things done". While there are many factors that contribute to these successes or failures, the bottom line is that unless organizations have effective new manager training programs, new managers are unlikely to succeed.
We, at Applied Learning, have the experience and ability to create effective learning solutions to be utilized in new manager training programs. These solutions can help organizations through the process of selection, training and building the required skill and mind set level needed in new managers. We can also work with your company to ensure new managers are equipped with the necessary information and skills or tools required to succeed in their new role. Some of the topics that our learning solutions could cover include:
- The roles of a new manager
- Their responsibilities as a supervisor or new manager as they relate to planning, executing, and monitoring their duties
- Gaining an understanding of the communication loop and how to avoid obstacles to effective communication
- Gaining the skills needed to master active listening
- How to communicate business issues and strategies in terms that front line employees can act upon
Leadership Events/Retreats
Bringing together a group of talented leaders for a leadership event/retreat is an investment in the success of an organization. When done right, retreats provide a powerful environment to gain alignment, make decisions and increase commitment. When done wrong, they reduce credibility and increase cynicism. At Applied Learning Inc., we play a critical role in creating the conditions for a successful retreat. We provide employees the opportunity to not only learn about current issues facing your organization but also enable them to voice their opinion and learn from each other. We have experience in helping to design the event, work with your leadership team in delivering the content and by utilizing Knowledge Maps engage employees in discussions around critical business issues. Knowledge Maps can also be utilized as a communication tool to change employee behaviors and actions to drive positive results following the event.