Advanced Leadership Skills

Advanced Leadership Skills

:Program Objectives

This workshop enables participants to: 

1. Set performance expectations for teams and individuals
2. Manage multiple, competing priorities
3. Plan efficient use of resources
4. Skillfully handle difficult conversations
5. Implement team/project performance measurements
6. Empower team members and delegate more work
7. Develop communication strategies and plans
8. Negotiate for win-win outcomes
9. Foster team member commitment
10. Achieve a high level of trust and respect
11. Develop and communicate vision and strategic objectives

:Course Outline

 Review of Leadership Fundamentals: 

• What is leadership?
• Differences between leadership skills and management skills
• What management skills are important for a non-manger in a leadership role?
• Five levels of leadership
• Developing trust and respect
• Balancing technical focus with essential leadership duties

Managing Projects: 

• Simple, but effective project management tools
• Project Manager or Project Leader?
• Critical Chain and Critical Path methods
• Commitment-based management
• Setting up projects for successful outcomes – why leadership competency is more important than project management skills

Managing Risks: 

• Risk management basics
• Identifying risks
• Risk classification
• Mitigation planning
• Scheduling high-risk tasks and milestones

Managing Priorities and Resources: 

• It starts with good "Portfolio Management" – identifying leadership gaps and holes in the process
• Setting realistic expectations
• Communicating resource concerns with upper management
• Pipeline Management systems
• The role of technical leaders in cost-benefit analysis

Process Management: 

• Who "owns" your processes?
• Should you invest in fixing broken processes, creating new processes, or process documentation?
• Process-in-a-Box
• Functional processes and work instructions

Applying leadership competency to process improvements

Managing Performance: 

• Team performance – setting expectations, goals and objectives
• Individual performance – expectations, feedback, and incentives
• Facilitating difficult conversations about poor performance
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and metrics for technical organizations
  Balanced Scorecard for technical teams

A Broad View of Leadership: 

• The "full spectrum" of leadership characteristics
• Ten critical leadership traits
• Straightforward actions vs. fuzzy territory
• The downside vs. the upside in a leadership role
• Prerequisites for top-notch leadership

Leadership Obstacles: 

• What is your leadership potential?
• Avoiding the Box of Self-Deception
• Time may not be "on your side"
• Dealing with difficult bosses, executives and customers
• Unique challenges with technical teams
• Overcoming the obstacles

Maxwell's Law of Reproduction: 

• Delegation vs. Inspiration
• Attracting followers
• Empowering others – it's not just a buzzword
• Enabling colleagues to share the leadership load
• Servant Leadership
   

Leadership Tools: 

• Leadership Assessments
• Development Plans
• Stakeholder Maps
• Reverse Dashboards
• Communication Plans
• Decision Matrix

Negotiation Techniques: 

• The negotiation process
• Strategy and preparation
• Negotiating for win-win outcomes
• Best alternative to a negotiated agreement
• The four key habits of skilled negotiators

Building High-Performing Teams: 

• The five dysfunctions of a team
• Overcoming conflicts
• Fostering commitment
• Roles and accountability
• Five simple rules for team meetings
• Teambuilding activities for technical professionals

Visionary Leadership: 

• What is your vision?
• Communicating your vision
• Vision vs. mission
• Why all leaders need to think strategically
• Influencing major change

"Level Five" Leadership: 

• Achieving the highest level of respect
• "Who are you" and what do you represent?
• The value of technical expertise
• The Law of Legacy

Who Should Attend?

• Technical Project Leaders
• Engineering Managers
• R&D Managers
• Software Development Managers
• IT Managers
• Scientific Managers
• Project Managers
• Prospective Managers
• Other technical professionals who can benefit from improved leadership competencies