The Center For Leadership!

The Path to Leadership

As with any skill, learning to lead takes time ... and practice. Which is why the Center For Leadership is a series of five workshops spread over an 18 month time period, giving you the opportunity to take each new skill set back into the workplace and apply those skills in your everyday environment.

Workshop One - Leading Change

This critical first day introduces the entire Center For Leadership program. It begins by painting a clear picture of the power of vision and how successful leaders use vision, together with strategic planning to direct personal and organizational destiny. You will learn to distinguish between mission and vision, understand where the strategic plan fits in, and how these tools can help you to achieve your new and expanding roles as a CPA.

Later that morning we will discuss why businesses and organizations must either grow or die and how change itself evolves. You will examine the process of change and assess how to successfully transform a natural resistance to change. You will learn to recognize that past successes will not ensure future success and that staying ahead of the curve requires a strategic and aggressive approach to embracing and managing change. This session on leading change provides techniques to help participants; detect signals of impending change, identify where to look for fresh ideas in new or existing markets, and how and when to seek opportunities that champion change for your business or clients.

A discussion of paradigm shifts drives home the point that as a successful leader, you need to break from traditional problem solving modes, keep your options open, and explore new and different ways of critical thinking. The Center For Leadership supports these concepts by introducing you to personalized assessment instruments. These tools, which will be implemented in Day 2 will help you understand how your thinking patterns and self-concept motivate everything you say and do. By understanding your motivations, you can select the appropriate changes to improve your leadership effectiveness.

Workshop One Deliverables. You will be able to:

• Understand the critical differences between mission and vision
• Understand how change provides opportunities for personal growth and business invention
• Develop techniques to convert problems into challenges through greater creativity and diverse problem solving skills
• Capitalize on impending change by identifying opportunities and developing strategies that are responsive
• Identify real or imagined barriers that can limit personal and organizational success

Workshop Two - Establishing Organizational Leadership Goals

Workshop two of the Academy discusses the key differences between leadership and management and addresses why solid leadership skills are more critical than ever in today's changing business environment. You will identify common characteristics of successful leaders in order to assess your own leadership style.

Prior to attending Day 2, you and selected individuals from your organization will each confidentially complete an instrument that identifies your own thinking patterns. This exercise will help you to assess these thinking patterns and determine if gaps exist between your self perception and the perceptions of others. The instructor will help interpret the results so that you can use the information to create your personal development objectives and an action plan. Subsequently, you will complete two additional instruments in class that measure your ideal organizational culture and your current culture. These instruments will help you understand how your leadership behaviors impact the culture of your organization, which, in turn, directly influence productivity and profitability.

Workshop Two Deliverables You will be able to:

• Understand the differences between leadership and management and the importance of leadership for organizational success
• Appreciate the key leadership traits and skills of effective leaders
• Analyze personal leadership capabilities, diagnose strengths and weaknesses
• Develop an action plan to strengthen existing leadership capabilities and build new skills
• Keep your career on track by preventing foul-ups that can lead to career derailment

Workshop Three - Relationship Building

As CPAs expand their services to clients and form alliances with other firms, the need for relationship building through improved communication skills and effective meeting management is underscored. The morning of the third session focuses on overcoming obstacles and barriers to communication, demonstrating active listening techniques, and increasing awareness of gender differences. These skills help you to make others feel valued, solidify relationships, and build trust. Later in the day, we discuss meeting management and facilitation. This session highlights criteria for determining if the meeting is necessary and if so, how to effectively run it. The final segment includes a discussion of giving and receiving feedback. There you will recognize why feedback is truly a gift and the key to continued success. Additionally, you will learn how to coach others in their development. Lastly, you will be exposed to a variety of available tools used in providing 3601 (multisource) assessment and in what situations to apply them.

Workshop Three Deliverables-You will be able to:

• Recognize and diminish internal and external barriers to communications
• Demonstrate verbal and non-verbal behaviors that reflect active listening
• Understand that biological, evolutionary, and social differences affect interactions between men and women
• Identify when to hold meetings and how to optimize their value
• Create an individual development plan to gain the most from 3601 feedback
• Coach others by helping them to identify resources for continued development
• Select a 360° feedback tool that meets the needs of your organization

Workshop Four - Teams and How They Work

The purpose of teams and how they evolve is the focus of session four. We first address the type of work best suited to teams. Next, we review the characteristics that affect team performance and examine the natural evolution of the team development cycle. We discuss how teams learn as a unit, the typical obstacles they face, and what actions and behaviors team members must exhibit to achieve high performance. You will gain an awareness and understanding of different team member roles and how each role contributes to the team's overall objectives and goals, This knowledge helps you to broaden your perspective and appreciate the diversity of skills and contributions of others.

This session introduces participants to tools used to measure behavior exhibited in a series of team simulations. Teams map their behaviors to demonstrate areas where the group must improve to achieve greater synergy and improve group process.

Workshop Four Deliverables-You will be able to:

• Understand the type of work that lends itself to teams or individual contributions
• Speed up "team learning" by helping team members build upon their strengths and overcome weaknesses
• Improve quality and productivity by fostering team synergy
• Use facilitation skills to bring teams to maximum potential

Workshop Five - A Case Study: Putting It All Together

It's time to challenge your new skills and put them to work for you and your organization, Session five is designed to highlight how leaders truly apply their skills, present their ideas, achieve their visions and drive their organizations forward. This capstone workshop focuses on implementation of the practices and skills taught throughout the Academy. The critical leadership practices you have learned are integrated into a case study, allowing you to pull everything you've learned together and test how you'll do on the "leadership firing line."

You will work in a team to examine the case and engage in analysis that allows you to exercise the results of your learning. The Academy concludes by developing a plan of action to help you transition your new skills back into your organization, targeting the specifics of your future role.

• Implement strategies for continuous process improvement at your organization
• Analyze an organization facing change and make recommendations
• Present your ideas in a manner that increases their acceptance by others
• Work in a team environment to lead and facilitate change
• Translate personal leadership goals into organizational goals

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