Walker College of Business

Through this certificate, attendees will gain valuable leadership skills they need to act strategically, lead their organization, and develop themselves as leaders. Through practice, reflection, guidance, coaching, and introspection, this certificate will enable aspiring leaders to develop the knowledge and skills they need to lead effectively.

Note: Certificate courses can also be offered as individual, stand-alone sessions.

Understanding Leadership and Yourself

There is no instruction manual for how to be a good leader, but having some background knowledge in leadership styles and behaviors can help determine styles for how to lead others. Successful leaders must also understand their values, motivations, style, strengths, and weaknesses. Through understanding oneself, leaders create a foundation for improving their abilities and leverage their strengths. This course will introduce attendees to conceptualizations of leadership along with the effective behaviors leaders engage in, and will provide attendees with the opportunity to increase their self-awareness and gain an appreciation for those who differ from themselves.

Becoming a Transformational Leader

To be effective, leaders must be able to influence others to carry out requests, support new ideas, and implement decisions. Transformational leadership is associated with greater employee performance and satisfaction across time. One of the most important characteristics of successful leaders are understanding the differences between power and control. This course will provide attendees with skills to become a transformational leader who effectively inspires, encourages, and enables employees to act.  

Communicating Effectively

Having positive relationships in the workplace leads to higher levels of information exchange, participation, and commitment from employees. Unfortunately, poor delivery can undermine the relationships leaders build with those around them. Accurately and honestly communicating messages without jeopardizing interpersonal relationships is an essential skill leaders can use to create and preserve positive relationships with their team.

Conflict Management

Conflict is a valuable, essential part of every workplace. Despite the potential positive outcomes that can arise from conflict, leaders may avoid or fear it and not manage it effectively when it inevitably arises. This course will give attendees a new appreciation for the power of conflict and provide them with tools to manage conflict.

Empowering & Delegating

Empowered employees work because they want to; not because they are told to. By empowering employees and delegating responsibilities to them, leaders can increase the satisfaction and effectiveness of their team. When teams are effective, organizations often see positive outcomes that may include increases in productivity, quality, and morale. The ability to realize these outcomes depends on how well the team works together and ultimately, how well the team is led. This course will provide attendees with tactics they can use to create a team of empowered employees via delegating responsibility, fostering a positive team environment, and leading effective team meetings.

Developing Employees 

Feedback is a powerful tool that can be used to motivate employees, reinforce desirable behaviors, improve performance, and provide opportunities for continued development. This course will provide attendees with strategies for giving employees effective feedback to increase employee motivation and advance employee development.

Leadership in Action

Putting leadership tactics into action to make a tangible difference in an organization takes practice and reflection. Without elaboration, practice, and feedback, skills are often lost. This session will allow leaders to enhance their skills by allowing them the opportunity to apply advanced soft-skill leadership tactics to address issues being faced in the workplace.

Strategic Planning and Problem-Solving

Leaders are frequently responsible for overcoming obstacles in their organization. When issues arise that are novel or rare, the ability to solve problems creatively is a hallmark of effective leaders. The key to successful problem solving is having a systematic process of developing solutions that align with organizational strategy. This course will provide attendees with techniques to improve their problem-solving capabilities by developing a strategic plan for their organization.

Developing and Changing Organizational Culture

The popular phrase “culture eats strategy for breakfast” is not far from the truth. Without the proper culture, even the best-intentioned organizational strategies can fail to have their desired outcomes. This session will teach attendees how to develop and shape organizational culture to align to the organization’s strategic goals.

Self-Management & Wellbeing

When a leader is stressed, it can affect their team and the organization as a whole. This course will provide attendees with skills to help them identify and remove stressors, be resilient in the presence of stressors, and cope with stress.

Interested in any of these sessions or the certificate?   Click here to find out next steps and view a schedule of our current offerings.