FOUNDATION AND SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
WORKSHOP SERIES
2011
LEADERSHIP
WORKSHOP SERIES
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
The Productivity Factor’s Leadership Foundation and Skills Building
Workshop Series is a set of sixteen (16), four-hour sessions. Each
designed to provide 15-30 participants with the knowledge, skills, and
tools they need to distinguish themselves in relationships, teams, or
organizations.
Ralph E. Jordan, Lead Facilitator
The Productivity Factor, Inc.
5/20/2011
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION AND SKILLS BUILDING WORKSHOP SERIES
INTRODUCTION
In today’s fast-paced world the only constant companion is change. Our most recent
financial crisis has forced us to recognize that we can no longer depend upon the permanence of
large government, business, industrial, and financial institutions to provide for our long-term
employment, investment, and insurance. More so than ever before, and regardless of our chosen
profession, we must be prepared to recognize, understand, and adjust to the constant change that
is going on around us.
Whether we are dealing with the continual
changes within our family make-up, community, or
workplace; and whether the changes are fostered
by new processes, systems, or products – we must
be ever alert for the next change coming at us. The
nature of today’s world is such that we are
becoming more and more of a global community a community requiring us to live, work, and play
together with people that may be different from us
in the way they think, look, or live their lives. For most of us to survive and thrive in this newly
minted “global village”, we will need to become proficient at quickly building harmonious and
productive relationships to get the important things done with and through other people with likeminded goals and sense of purpose.
The Productivity Factor’s Leadership Foundation and Skills Building Workshop Series is a set
of sixteen (16), four-hour sessions. Each is designed to provide 15-30 participants with the
knowledge, skills, and tools they need to distinguish themselves in relationships, teams, or
organizations. The goal is to develop participants into the “go to” people when a problem needs
to be solved or something needs to get done. Whether employed individually, or packaged into a
multi-workshop institute, they may be employed
to meet a skills challenge or a specific business
need. These workshops provide participants with
the tools they need to immediately make a
difference in performance as leaders, supervisors,
or individual contributors.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 2 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
SERIES AND LEARNING METHODOLOGY
This series of workshops will adhere to the Whetten & Cameron Five-Step Learning Model a learning model that provides participants with an opportunity to practice new behaviors and
exhibit new skills during the training event:
STEP NO.
1
LEARNING STEP
Assessment
LEARNING IMPACT
Data/Insight
2
Lecture
Information
3
Analysis/Cases
Cognitive Understanding
4
Practice
Affective Involvement
5
Application
Change in Behavior
In addition to the knowledge and skills being developed, there is a major element of
teambuilding underlining each workshop’s design. The focus of the team- building is to enable
each participant to gain a better understanding of the value of recognizing, learning and working
with people who may have identity, cultural, or cognitive differences.
ID
KPLB
CDIF
MBTI
MBTIT
BEI
CONF
CONV
CONT
MTD
TPFSP
MPM
SPCT
NFLU
SWA
DRV
SHO
NTRO
CAP
SESSION
Leadership Behaviors
Valuing Differences
Understanding Personality Differences
Managing Diverse Teams
Building Emotional Intelligence
Mastering Confrontation
Holding Difficult Conversations
Resolving Conflict on Teams
Managing Team Dynamics
Strategic Planning
Managing Projects and Meetings
Solving Problems and Critical Thinking
Managing Change and Organizational Culture
Sustaining Quality and Memorable Customer Service
Motivating Knowledge Workers
Presentation and Facilitation Skills
Development Institute Introductory Module*
Development Institute Capstone Module*
ORIENTATION
Leadership/Self-Assessment
Leadership
Leadership/Self-Assessment
Leadership/Team-Assessment
Leadership/Self-Assessment
Leadership
Leadership
Leadership/Self-Assessment
Management
Management
Management
Management
Management
Management
Management
Management
Organization
Organization
Note: *These team-building-oriented modules are designed to provide organization-specific context for
the subject matter. They “bookend” multi-session institutes.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 3 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Leadership Behaviors
Participants in this course will be introduced to the highlyrespected, behavior-oriented, Kouzes & Posner Leadership Challenge
Model. With its focus on easily monitored actions and commitments, it
offers a sound, memorable means of continually testing one’s own
leadership behaviors. Participants will come to fully understand their
own strengths and challenges as aspiring leaders.
This workshop is designed for all levels of high performing
individuals and leaders.
Valuing Differences
This workshop explores the identity, cultural, and cognitive
differences inherent in the formation of teams in today’s more
heterogeneous world. Participants will learn to recognize, appreciate,
and celebrate those differences while creating a workplace
environment conducive to employing those differences in order to
solve the most complex problems and arrive at the richest solutions.
With its focus on the importance of diversity, this workshop drives
Scott Page’s Cognitive Differences Model to explain why it is important
to have people that interpret, categorize, and see things differently as
part of any problem-solving or solution-building process.
This workshop is designed for all levels of high performing
individuals and leaders.
Understanding
Personality
Differences
Participants in this workshop will learn about their own and
other’s personality traits and tendencies. Utilizing the Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator Instrument as a foundation, participants will explore
cognitive differences among sixteen (16) standard personality types.
The instrument catalogs: 1) Whether we draw our energy from within
or from other people; 2) How we process information; 3) How we deal
with logic vs. relationships; and, 4) How we make decisions and relate
to the outside world.
MBTI is easily the most widely validated and respected
personality instrument available. Understanding our own personality is
fundamental to understanding and dealing with differences.
This workshop is designed for high performing individual
contributors being prepared for promotion.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 4 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Managing Diverse
Teams
This workshop, specifically designed for whole teams to be in
attendance, will enable participants to understand how the combination
of their own MBTI Personality Type with other team members can create
a team personality - a team personality that, if left undiscovered, can
negatively impact the performance of the team and the richness of its
solutions.
Enrollees in this course must have either attended the
Understanding Personality Differences Workshop or have otherwise
obtained their MBTI Profile.
Building Emotional
Intelligence
Participants in this course will be introduced to the concepts of
social and emotional intelligence (EI). Your EI or level of EQ (Emotional
Quotient) is now understood to have a higher correlation with the
likelihood of your successful leadership than the better understood
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) – importantly, EQ, unlike IQ, can be further
developed through commitment and practice.
In preparation for attending this workshop, participants will
complete the TalentSmart Instrument to measure their own Emotional
Intelligence via four quadrants: 1) Self-Awareness; 2) Self-Management;
3) Social Awareness; and, 4) Relationship Management.
This workshop is designed for all levels of high performing
individuals and leaders.
Mastering
Confrontation
In this workshop, participants will learn how to prepare for and
conduct those difficult conversations that are critical to confronting
broken promises, violated expectations, or bad behavior. Participants
will be provided with an easy-to-learn model that enables them to give
open and honest feedback to individuals, in close relationships, or at all
levels in the organization in a way that is clear, respectful and respected
– leading to mutually agreed upon corrective action plans.
Based upon the VitalSmarts Crucial Confrontations Model, the
workshop is constructed so as to allow each participant to observe and
safely practice applying the model in “real world” scenarios.
This workshop is designed for all levels of high performing
individuals and leaders.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 5 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Holding Difficult
Conversations
In this workshop, participants are provided with the tools they
need to manage those crucial conversations that must be held when
stakes are high, and emotions are likely to be volatile, as well. The
conversational skills learned and applied in this class will prepare
participants to effectively manage these conversations in a way that
enables mutual respect, clear understanding, mitigated emotions, and
satisfying outcomes.
The key to effective leadership is the ability to influence
followers. Mastering one-on-one conversational skills is a key
component to being able to coach and counsel individual team members
to consistently deliver high performance.
Based upon the VitalSmarts Crucial Conversations Model, the
workshop is constructed so as to allow each participant to observe and
safely practice applying the model in “real world” scenarios.
This workshop is designed for all levels of high performing
individuals and leaders.
Resolving Conflict
on Teams
The concept of team synergy (output equal to more than the sum
of the inputs) is a function of team members being able to confront and
challenge each other’s ideas and behaviors in a constructive and nonthreatening way. When well managed, conflict leads to more creative
ideas and more robust solutions.
Open and honest communication among people thinking
differently is fundamental to a team being able to arrive at the richest of
solutions. In this Oriel Incorporated’s The Team Handbook-based workshop,
participants will learn how to foster healthy and desired conflict while
successfully resolving or avoiding destructive personal conflict.
In preparation for attending this workshop, participants will
complete the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument to identify how
they tend to deal with conflict.
This workshop is designed for all levels of high performing
individuals and leaders.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 6 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Managing Team
Dynamics
This workshop explores the identity, cultural, and cognitive
differences inherent in the formation of teams in today’s world.
Participants will learn to recognize, appreciate, and celebrate those
differences in order to solve the most complex problems and arrive at
the richest solutions.
Participants will learn the recipe for the successful formulation
and launch of a team. They will be given tools that can be utilized to help
a team be much more productive and ultimately more effective. In
addition, participants will learn how to assemble, manage, and lead
groups to become high performance teams. In this Oriel Incorporated’s
The Team Handbook-based workshop the focus is on managing team
dynamics through its forming, storming, norming, performing cycles.
In addition, participants will learn why teams are not always
successful. Using Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team Model,
we will explore the importance of trust, conflict, commitment,
accountability, and results orientation to the likelihood of team success.
This workshop is designed for high performing individual
contributors being prepared for promotion.
Strategic Planning
The execution of the strategic planning process is just as
important as the resulting plan itself – when properly executed,
“organizational alignment” is an important by-product of the process. In
this workshop participants will learn both the terminology and the
relationships among the key “balanced scorecard” planning elements,
the internal and external considerations, and the “top down” and
“bottom up” negotiating nature of the strategic planning process.
This workshop, specifically designed for whole teams to be in
attendance, will enable participants to understand the importance of
teamwork and open, honest communication as a foundation for a
successful planning process.
This workshop is designed for an organization’s leadership team
and select key individual contributors.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 7 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Managing Projects
and Meetings
The effective utilization of scarce human resources brought
together in meetings and on project teams is essential for the long term
health and vitality of any multi-departmental organization. These multidiscipline forums to share information, solve problems, or capitalize on
opportunities are expensive and as such must be well managed on every
occasion. In this workshop, potential project leaders and meeting hosts
will be provided with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to make
these ventures as effective and productive as possible.
Participants will learn how to drive attendance, participation, and
follow-thru on all commitments. The importance of stakeholder
awareness, action planning, assigning roles and responsibilities, and
celebrating key milestones will be emphasized as a recipe for successful
ventures.
This Oriel Incorporated’s The Team Handbook-based workshop is
designed for all levels of high performing individuals and leaders.
Solving Problems
and Critical
Thinking
This workshop is designed to strengthen participants’ ability to
think critically while making decisions based upon the facts of any
situation. Participants will learn to apply Oriel Incorporated’s The Team
Handbook-based eight-step problem-solving methodology and a databased approach to selecting among proposed solutions.
Participants will learn to recognize and dispel more commonly
employed logical fallacies and data manipulation techniques.
Participants will be introduced to six sigma-type data gathering and
problem-solving tools and techniques.
This workshop is designed for high performing individual
contributors being prepared for promotion.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 8 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Managing Change
Organizational culture is often talked about, and yet seldom
and Organizational understood. In this workshop we will use Edgar Schein’s Organizational
Culture
Culture and Leadership to enable participants to better understand the
layers or elements of organizational culture and its continuous impact on
workplace performance. The focus of this workshop is on understanding
culture, and how to change the various elements deemed undesirable.
In addition, we will use The Influencer Model with its six sources
of influence as brought to us by TalentSmart to understand the rational
and emotional components of change in the workplace. We will learn
how to apply this model when changing culture and/or processes.
This workshop is designed for managers and high-performing
individual contributors being prepared for promotion.
Sustaining Quality
and Memorable
Customer Service
Over time, most organizations lose their edge and often among
the first to go is the outstanding customer service that may have been
their signature in the beginning. As more and more people, layers, and
managers are added, the message becomes more diluted.
In this workshop, participants will learn how companies such as
Southwest Airlines have managed to embed unwavering customer
service into its very core and keep the whole workforce aligned over a
long period of time. Participants will gain an understanding of the key
elements of a comprehensive program, and learn how to translate that
knowledge into a transformative program for his or her own
organization.
This workshop is designed for managers and organizational
leaders.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 9 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Motivating
Almost everything we know about motivation in the workplace
Knowledge Workers has been learned from experience with high volume production workers.
When these same motivation techniques are utilized with the knowledge
workers, and the creativity they bring to decision-making, the results are
not nearly as clear.
In this workshop, we will explore Dan Pink’s Motivation 3.0 Model
from his book Drive. We will learn how to foster and apply the concepts
of intrinsic motivation within today’s workplace and its more
knowledgeable and creative workforce. In applying this new thinking,
participants will learn how to integrate the elements of purpose,
mastery, and autonomy into the everyday work environment.
This workshop is designed for managers and organizational
leaders.
Presentation and
Facilitation Skills
The need for competency in group facilitation and giving effective
presentations go hand-in-hand. These are skills that enable leaders to
influence engagement and participation of diverse groups of
stakeholders.
Utilizing Peoples’ Presentation Plus, and Bens’ Facilitation with
Ease, participants will learn how to construct and conduct presentations
in a way that commands the audience’s full attention. The basic
considerations of verbal and non-verbal communication, and the creation
of compelling visual aids that assist in telling the story, are the focus of
this workshop.
In addition, we will demonstrate and practice the basic skills of
facilitation, and explore the various methods of group consensus-building
and decision-making. Participants will be prepared to facilitate diverse
groups of people in a way that maximizes participation, while minimizing
counter-productive conflict, all while assuring an effective use of time.
This workshop is designed for managers and high performing
individual contributors being prepared for promotion.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 10 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Development
Institute
Introductory
Module*
Development
Institute Capstone
Module*
The Introductory Module and the Capstone Modules are available
to “bookend” multi-module packages assembled together as a program
or institute for participants from the same company or organization.
These custom-tailored, two or four-hour modules are available to
provide a managerial framework around the several selected subject
matter-oriented modules planned for an organization’s participants.
For example, either module may be structured to accommodate
the appearance of company executives, guest speakers, team-building
exercises, shared meals, ceremonies or celebrations. Some firms will
structure an institute to include a two-hour “Kick-off Dinner” with guest
speaker(s) on the evening before the learning modules commence, and a
“Wrap-up Luncheon” with guest speaker(s) to close-out an institute.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 11 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION AND SKILLS BUILDING WORKSHOP SERIES
DAY ONE
AM
Leadership
Preparation for
High Potential
Employees
PM
Customized
Introductory
Module
Leadership
Behaviors
DAY TWO
Managing
Change and
Organizational
Culture
Valuing
Differences
DAY THREE
Managing
Team
Dynamics
Building
Emotional
Intelligence
DAY FOUR
Solving
Problems and
Critical
Thinking
Managing
Projects and
Meetings
AM
Understanding
Personality
Differences
Valuing
Differences
Managing
Diverse Teams
Resolving
Conflict on
Teams
PM
Leadership
Behaviors
Building
Emotional
Intelligence
Managing
Team
Dynamics
Holding
Difficult
Conversations
Senior Manager
Development and
Team Building
AM
Enabling Problem
Solving Project
Teams
PM
Managing
Team
Dynamics
Valuing
Differences
Solving
Managing
Problems and
Projects and
Critical
Meetings
Thinking
Understanding
Resolving
Quality and
Conflict on
Customer
Teams
Service
AM
Emotional
Intelligence
Mastering
Confrontation
PM
Leadership
Behaviors
Motivating
Knowledge
Workers
Advanced
Communications
Skills
Understanding
AM Personality
Strategic Planning
Differences
and Organization
Development
PM
Leadership
Behaviors
Motivating
Knowledge
Workers
Sustaining
Quality and
Customer
Service
Holding
Difficult
Conversations
Presentation
and
Facilitation
Skills
Managing
Change and
Organizational
Culture
Strategic
Planning
June 2, 2011
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
DAY FIVE
Presentation
and
Facilitation
Skills
Customized
Capstone
Modules
SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF
INSTITUTE CONFIGURATIONS
·
Institutes are assembled from
among sixteen (16) four-hour
workshops.
·
Institutes developed for a
particular company may be
bookended with two or four-hour
team- building modules.
·
Three-hour social modules are
available for pre-institute or
opening/closing night dinners with
keynote speakers.
·
For single company or private
institutes, participants may remain
in residence for the duration of the
institute.
·
Institutes can be constructed with
contiguous workshops or the
delivery of workshops may be
interspersed with live case work,
as team members complete an
actual project.
Page 1
Page 12 of 13
SKILLS BUILDING FOR LEADERS
ABOUT THE TRAINER
Ralph E. Jordan is the former Director of the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce
Development’s Office of Professional Development. Presently, he
is a Visiting Professor within the UMASS Lowell’s College of
Management. While fairly new to teaching at the undergraduate
level, he has a long history of training and facilitating colleagues
in various aspects of management skills, team building, problem
solving, and project management within the high tech and
communications industries. Jordan is adept at training and
leading teams in Total Quality Management (TQM), Business
Process Reengineering (BPM), and Six Sigma-type initiatives.
Jordan began his career as an Industrial Engineer in
Springfield, MA, and has held leadership positions in several high
tech companies. His leadership experience includes engineering,
manufacturing, marketing, sales, and sales support organizations.
In addition, Jordan spent several years serving the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts as the Undersecretary of
Economic Affairs where he led the state’s employment and
training service delivery system. He has led high tech business
initiatives in the Republic of Korea, Kuwait, and the Republic of
Slovenia. While living in Korea, Jordan was responsible for the
start-up of the new subsidiary’s manufacturing facility. Later, he
served as the Director of Wang Federal Systems Korea. In that capacity, Jordan was responsible for sales,
service, and support to the U.S. Military, and the various facilities of the U.S. State Department.
The Productivity Factor, Inc., with Jordan as president, assists companies and organizations in
increasing their productivity and effectiveness - improving the performance of sales, marketing, and
customer support organizations through operations
analysis, team building, re-engineering, and technologyenablement.
As a graduate of Northeastern University with a
Master of Science Degree in Leadership, he has third-party
certifications for sales and management skills training. Well
known as a quality and productivity programs facilitator,
Jordan is a six sigma-type programs trainer-of-trainers.
Long active in civic and community affairs, Jordan has served on numerous boards and
commissions. Among the organizations he has served are the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, stateaffiliated Community Economic Development, and Community Finance and Development Corporations. He
has served with chambers of commerce, social justice organizations, community health centers, and youth
development programs. He has been recognized for his contributions by all levels of government.
© 2011 The Productivity Factor, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Page 13 of 13