More than 100 participants from 35 different companies reconvened last week for the final seminars of the Executive Leadership Program. Participants in the Engaging Leadership, Advanced Business Development and Strategic & Branded Executive courses came together to discuss and develop leadership skills needed for current and future roles.
The 2022 Executive Leadership Program, sponsored by GD Energy Products, prepares future leaders for the responsibilities they will face and the qualities they will need as they successfully advance in their organizations.
ENGAGING LEADERSHIP
The Engaging Leadership course allows exploration of the participant’s sphere of influence in their organization and understanding of how to leverage that influence to create positive organizational change.
The group started by revisiting the “Living Above the Line” model from the previous session, sharing how it’s being implemented into the participant’s daily routines.
When asked if anyone has been able to use the model, one participant shared, “I think a lot of frustration comes from when we stick to below the line, making excuses and trying to figure out who did what. It’s not about that. It’s about taking accountability, being responsible for owning the problems and recognizing that. I love this tool. It’s so needed, and I’m glad I was able to share it with my other managers for them to encourage employees to do the same.”
Engaging Leadership participants discussed new topics such as critical steps to delivering feedback and worked on practical approaches to corrective feedback in various situations. Breakout groups gave the participants the opportunity to implement the five steps of positive feedback, then the group discussed using the feedback model when giving corrective and developmental feedback.
Additional topics of discussion were active listening and influence mapping.
ADVANCED BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
The Advanced Business Development course helps participants develop the skills, behaviors and confidence to address client needs and develop long-term relationships while growing a business. The training gives participants a range of business development and sales techniques to adopt a confident consultative and solutions-based approach when selling.
The session kicked off with review of assignments from the previous session and key take-aways from completed exercises.
“Since the last session I have been working with my executive coach and have started to develop an assessment for some of the opportunities that we have to grow the business. I’ve really been going through this step by step, with different opportunities that are coming up, and it’s been very helpful.”
Program Participant
Topics discussed during the half-day session were preparing and planning for negotiation, understanding personal return on time invested (ROTI), the value of delegation and how to utilize an influential conversation planner.
Participants joined breakout groups to discuss the importance of time management, share best practices and tools used when trying to prioritize deliverables, and optimizing time throughout the day/week/month/year.
STRATEGIC & BRANDED EXECUTIVE
The Strategic & Branded Executive course helps participants build their credibility, improve appearance, develop and solidify networking skills, and enhances their ability to communicate effectively. The course aims to develop participant’s executive presence, confidence and making a positive first impression.
Participants reviewed a few fundamentals from the last session. Breakout groups discussed refining personal mantras by explaining everyone’s function within their organization and the benefit of that function.
First impressions, professionalism, the principles of influential conversations were also topics covered in the half-day session. The day closed with discussions around influence mapping.
“I feel like in my career, being in Human Resources, naturally I love building relationships. That’s why I went into HR. But I never thought about all the steps that are taken to get there, especially the more difficult ones. This is going to help me line out all of the steps around how I can build those relationships and gain influence on key stakeholders in my career advancement.”
Program Participant
Pat Lipovski, Founder & CEO, Envision Group, a leader in corporate advising and coaching, led the seminars with co-facilitators.
Participants from each track of the Executive Leadership Program are scheduled to join their counterparts from the other sessions for a graduation on January 17, 2023 hosted by the Emerging Executives Committee.
Registration is now open for the 2023 Executive Leadership programs. If you are interested in sponsoring or attending any of the programs and have any questions, contact Vice President Programs & Events Peggy Helfert.
REGISTER NOW FOR 2023
- Advanced Business Development
- Engaging & Influential Leader
- Engaging & Influential Leader Permian Cohort
- Strategic & Branded Executive
- Inclusive Leader
Peggy Helfert, Vice President Programs & Events, writes about the Energy Workforce’s sector-specific best practices and leadership. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Workforce newsletter, which highlights sector-specific issues, best practices, activities and more.
