Developing Exceptional Transformational Leaders

Available Courses

• Class: Global Leadership and Management: Thriving in the East and West

  • Teacher: Prof Murray Johannsen

  

  This class looks at leadership across culture—with a special focus on Asian and Western, Chinese and American culture. Its focus is to develop more culturally flexible individuals so that they can successfully conduct business that crosses national boundaries. It serves as a practical introduction to the issues, opportunities, and complexities associated with working internationally. And it examines the transcendent business trends affecting nations and the key characteristics of the evolving international business culture. A key focus for this class is assessing one’s “cultural intelligence” and how to change one’s leadership style to influence others from different cultures. Participants learn about the knowledge and skills multinational corporations (MNCs) are seeking, common organizational characteristics of MNCs, and develop a greater ability to work in a global or multicultural organization. Students are expected to learn key Western and Asian business values to understand why behavior and thinking is so different when it comes to doing even the most simple business task. From this study one gets an important side benefit—a greater understanding of one’s own culture.

   

• Class: Communication Skills For Leaders

  • Teacher: Prof M. Johannsen

  

  When managers and other responsible persons in business organizations are asked how much of the work day is spent in communicating, the replies range from 85 to 99 percent." — Harold Zelko and Frank Dance (1965), Business and Professional Speech Communication, Holt, Rinehart, Winston Just because you have a mouth and two ears doesn’t mean you are effective at speaking and listening. This course focuses on essential leadership behavior and communication skills -- the kind of skills that help get a job and lead to increased levels of responsibility. Topics include: — Moments of Truth: Developing robust interpersonal communication skills. — How to use feedback to change behavior. — How to really listen -- a major problem with managers and executives. — How to more quickly development strong relationships. — Improving the flow of information inside organizations. — Skills useful in job interviews. — How to read another person’s nonverbal body language. — Using self-talk as a means of internal communication. — The elements associated with a persuasive presentation. — Using questions to gather information and to influence. — Communication techniques that work in group settings. This is for managers, supervisor's, and service professionals such as health care professionals, accountants, trainers, and consultants.

• Class: The Nine Spheres of Leader Influence

  

  The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority." — Ken Blanchard Many managers and executives depend too much on their authority—a limited source of power that doesn’t work well on peers and the boss. Consequently, they fail to get the results they want. Additionally, many individuals rely too much on positional influence, rather than developing personal influence. Positional influence is typically limited and constrained, but personal influence is something that can be grown and expanded. Another fact limiting influence, is that many tend to act selfishly like dragons hoarding their gold; rather than socially, like philanthropists who spread the wealth of their influence to benefit others. This class aims to expand one’s knowledge and provide practical influence techniques to increase one's influence to better match the scope of one's responsibilities. Participants learn influence techniques that work in the spheres of: Authority Positive Reinforcement Punishment Expertise Charisma Coaching Relationships Vision and Persuasion

• Class: Emerging As a Leader: What New Supervisors and Managers Need to Know

  

  There are no dead-end jobs. There are only dead-end people." — Thomas Sowell, writer Every field of learning has basics one must know—and it is the basics that we tend to forget and not do well. Just as a house cannot stand without a strong foundation, so it is with leadership. To lead, one must study leadership. This course increases leadership effectiveness by presenting:  — Good and bad leadership traits,  — The skills one needs, — A focus on ethics and development of wisdom — The types of influence one can exert, — The many varieties of styles or roles one can play, and — Assessments to determine strengths and weaknesses. It covers: — Why people follow good leaders, — Why they obey the bad ones, — How culture and the situation impact leadership, — Specific tactics useful in creating goal and path expectations, — What elements of culture impact leadership effectiveness. — The essence of success as a team leader, and — Characteristics of great transformational leaders. Finally, the course focuses on the differences between the two star roles one must play on the stage of business and government—that of leader and manager.