Professional Development

Continuing Education and Leadership Training Courses

Courses will be delivered in three (3) hour workshop blocks. Typical workshops are one (1) week, include two courses (of your choice) each day, and meet from 8:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m., including breakfast and lunch. Course content can be customized, as well as delivery mode. All courses can be broken out in more detail and over longer periods if desired.

Business Culture

This course recognizes the importance of organizational culture and seeks to define values, leadership, and culture in developing operational behaviors in the workplace. Topics include Measuring Culture, Developing Required Systems and Alignment, the Power and Impact of Values, Values-Based Interviewing, and the Skill/Will Matrix.

Creative Writing

This course is an introduction to short fiction writing and how it can function, not only as an art form, but as a tool and outlet across professions and businesses. Topics include ways to open a story, methods of character development, basics of narrative structure, pacing, and open versus closed endings.

Collaborative Leadership

This course introduces and compares the three primary leadership styles (Command and Control, Consensus, and Collaborative), and delves into when Collaborative Leadership is appropriate. Topics include Process-Driven Leadership, Creating Authentic Organizational Vision, Collaborative Problem-Solving and Decision-Making, and Contextual Leadership.

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the Workplace

This course discusses strategies for the effective and appropriate use of computer-mediated communication (email, text messages, video conferencing, and social media) in the workplace. Topics include examining the characteristics of CMC and exploring how to translate CMC best practices to your workplace.

Cost Control and Performance Measurement

This course explores the advantages of budgeting to promote coordination, enhance performance measurement and corrective actions, and control costs throughout a project's life. Topics include Selling and Administrative Expense Budgets, Unit Budgets, Flexible Budgets, and Interpreting Variances for Performance Evaluation.  

Dealing with Difficult People

This course covers conflict as an opportunity, how to navigate difficult conversations in the workplace, planning around difficult topics, and best practices for managers, from a legal perspective. Topics include Conflict Modes, Effective Conflict Resolution, Conflict Responsibility, Communication through Conflict, and Do’s and Don’t’s of Managing Conflict.

Decision Making

This course examines decision-making from the psychology of choice perspective, examining cognitive and social processes that influence people's choices and decisions, including implicit and explicit motivation. Topics include Implicit Decision-Making, Concept Biases, Neurological and Developmental Processes, and Cultural Differences in decision-making.

Leading Change

This course presents the principles and phases of change, how a successful leader can manage change, the motivational tipping points for employees and businesses, and effective change management activities. Topics include the Laws of Change, the Role of Change, the Rate of Change, the Change Activation Point, and Change Receptivity.  

Morale Building

This course explores the importance of understanding and sustaining employee morale, relying on proven military indicators of leadership, academic, and corporate strategies. Topics include Identifying Workplace Morale, Connections from Morale to the Bottom Line, Employee Engagement Best Practices, and Morale in a Competitive Workplace.

Project Management

This course introduces project management, using real-world examples and interactive exercises to promote an understanding of concepts and terminology for leaders managing projects within an organization. Topics include the Five Stages of a Project, Understanding Project Requirements, Managing Project Risk, and Managing the Human Factor of Projects.  

Public Speaking

This course will cover informative and persuasive speaking and better prepare attendees for successful communication strategies in meetings, presentations, and other workplace environments. Topics include Best Practices in Informative Speaking, Persuasion and Rhetorical Theory, and the Nonverbal Aspects of Rhetorical Speech Delivery, including presentational visual aids.  

Strategic Planning

This course focuses on the purpose and use of strategy in business, and works with attendees to understand how business mission and strategy work together. Topics include the five key elements of business strategy, Operational Effectiveness and Strategy, Strategic Planning Through Channels, and conceptual approaches to Strategic Planning.  

Team Building

This course focuses on the necessary team-building tools, including leadership training, motivating and coaching, and the elements that makeup highly effective teams. Topics include the Purpose of Teams in Business, Creating a Team Performance Agreement, Team Performance Development, and the Stages of Team Building and Performance Analysis. Technical Writing This course introduces the tenants of technical writing and professional editing and how these skills translate across the business and corporate landscaper—and not just in academia. Topics discussed will include accuracy, clarity, conciseness, readability, usability, and correctness.

Workplace Communication

This course examines the role of communication competence in the workplace and discusses ways to develop confirming communication climates. Topics include communication competence, interpersonal relationships, and approaches to developing confirming climates.