K-State Olathe kicks off second series of premier leadership program
Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020
OLATHE — Grappling with how to take your career to the next level? Want to better guide your team through new challenges? Looking to better translate strategic vision into purposeful actions? Kansas State University's Olathe campus Leadership Essentials program is what professionals want to enhance and maximize their leadership skills.
Your Competitive Edge is a deep dive into hands-on leadership concepts designed to give attendees the edge at their organization. The noncredit program is designed for mid-level professionals at regionally-based companies and nonprofit organizations who want to develop their personal leadership skills.
The first workshop in the series, "Professional Presence for Leaders," is Sept. 17.
"Leaders and managers today function in increasingly complex organizational environments," said Judy Favor, Ph.D., assistant professor of adult learning and leadership and an instructor for the seminar series. "To be effective and consistently deliver results, leaders and managers must display high emotional intelligence and be able to establish trust, conduct difficult conversations, develop a professional presence, and communicate effectively — all with constituents from a wide variety of cultural and generational backgrounds," Favor said.
Findings from Gallup Inc.'s 2017 State of the American Workplace report — the most recent version of the report — reveal that only 33% of U.S. employees are engaged at work versus 70% employee engagement in other leading nations. Additionally, Gallup found that 82% of managers and executives are seen as lacking in leadership skills by their employees. K-State Olathe's leadership workshop series seeks to improve these numbers.
Leadership Essentials Series was first offered in 2019 and included 40 participants. Evaluations of the series showed not only a high level of satisfaction but also the strong ability to readily apply participants’ new skill set.
The series is comprised of four workshops that can be taken individually or collectively. Each workshop delves into the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of management and communication. Topics include maximizing personal and team performance, professional presence for leaders, critical communication skills for leaders, and engaging across cultural and generational differences.
Registration and more information about the program and each of series is at olathe.k-state.edu/edge. Discounts are available for groups as well as KSU employees. Find out more by contacting, Angela Buzard, manager of Training and Development, abuzard@ksu.edu.