ISU Leadership Development Series

Cultivate your leadership skills. Develop your team. Advance the University.

As a team leader or team member, your success is measured by the success and productivity of the team. Your ability to inspire, empower and motivate team members is critical totheir development. Supporting team members reach their potential, creates a culture of success and helps maintain a high level of productivity and morale.

Throughout the program, participants will be able to discover their leadership strengths, build on those strengths to create value for their team and organization. You will develop strategies to enhance employee engagement to create a culture of collaboration and commitment. In addition, you will enhance your ability to create, influence, and foster organizational change.

The Four Core Courses Required for ISU Leadership Development Include:

Essential Skills of Communicating: 

Utilize an empowering and dynamic communication process to increase team members’ motivation and commitment. • Construct and express clear and concise messages in both written and spoken communication. • Deliver messages that address the interests of the listener. • Make verbal and nonverbal communication congruent to reinforce the intent of messages. • Use Reflecting, Probing, Supporting, Advising to demonstrate active listening to others. • Provide the rationale for your feedback, whether to reinforce or improve performance.

Essential Skills of Leadership:

Achieve specific leadership tasks by deploying a problem-solving discussion method to lead meetings and empower others. • Acknowledge contributions, results and accomplishments to enhance self-esteem. • Base discussions about performance and work habits on behavior rather than on personalities and attitudes. • Involve team members in goal setting, problem-solving and decision-making. • Deploy meeting management skills to meet the goals of the meeting in the available time.

FMLA, ADA, and Workplace Injuries:

As a supervisor, you will occasionally want to know basic legal information which could potentially affect your employees' well-being. This course gives you a brief policy overview of three very important topics to help you make necessary decisions and act accordingly to the immediate needs of your employees.

Improving Work Habits:

Understand that unsatisfactory work habits must be dealt with quickly before requiring disciplinary action. • Distinguish between a team member performance issue and a poor work habit. • Describe the team member’s poor work habit objectively and factually to address the issue collaboratively and avoid personal attacks. • Ensure the team member takes ownership of the poor work habit and takes responsibility for solving the issue. • Respond with empathy to team member reactions and concerns to maintain team member self-esteem. • Use the Improving Work Habits Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with your team member.

Then Select elective Courses from the Following:

Managing Complaints:

Recognize that all team member complaints must be dealt with, rather than ignored or dismissed. • Identify the potential underlying issues of the complaint to determine the reasons or causes for the complaint. • Determine and address the underlying issues of the complaint to resolve the problem. • Use active listening skills to maintain control, verify understanding and determine the facts of the situation. • Use the Managing Complaints Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with your team member.

Providing Performance Feedback:

Identify when to provide performance feedback to the team member. • Use observable behaviors, facts and data to support your performance feedback. • Provide S.M.A.R.T. performance feedback (specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented and time-framed). • Use positive feedback to motivate team members. • Involve the team member in the evaluation and discussion of his/her performance. • Use the Providing Performance Feedback Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with your team member.

Supporting Change:

Understand the phases of change and what to expect in each phase. • Identify the common reactions to change and strategies to best handle each type of reaction. • Involve team members in the change initiative by promoting their understanding and ownership of the change and its benefits. • Ensure that you have addressed team member concerns, questions and reactions to change. • Use the Supporting Change Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with your team member.

Solving Workplace Problems:

Solving Workplace Problems presents a step-by-step process that combines a variety of methods to provide an effective approach for improving the current process being done and to solve complex organizational problems. 

Coaching Job Skills: Delivery Method Options: 

Identify team member performance issues. • Determine when to train new skills and when to coach existing skills. • Address team member performance issues quickly to improve individual performance and increase individual and team productivity. • Prepare for a coaching session by using observation and analysis to build a plan for a successful dialog. • Use the Training New Skills and Coaching Existing Skills Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with your team member.

Communicating Up:

Identify the medium, frequency and amount of detail needed to successfully communicate with your manager. • Craft your communication with your manager to address his/her interests and fit his/her communication style. • Come prepared for the meeting with a clearly stated objective, answers to anticipated questions and potential solutions. • Support your objective with facts. • Use the Communicating Up Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with your manager

Delegating:

Understand the role of delegation in time management, resource utilization, job satisfaction and overall team productivity. • Use the delegation process to determine which tasks to delegate to team members. • Use the delegation process to decide the best team member to assign the delegated task. • Establish the team member’s responsibility and authority for the delegated task, creating a framework for accountability and personal growth. • Use the Delegating Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with your team member.

Developing Performance Goals and Standards:

Collaborate with the team member to create performance standards that align with the team’s goals and the organization’s strategic objectives. • Identify and set performance standards that are S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented and time-framed). • Use concrete, active language in creating performance standards. • Monitor team members’ progress toward their goals by holding individual review meetings. • Use the Developing Performance Goals and Standards Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with your team member.

Effective Discipline:

Take disciplinary action when a performance issue or work habit issue remains unresolved after previous discussions. • Follow a progressive disciplinary path that is consistent with your organization’s policies. • Document and communicate the performance problem specifically, objectively and factually. • Respond with empathy to team member reactions to maintain team member self-esteem. • Ensure the team member takes ownership of the performance problem and takes responsibility for solving the problem. • Use the Effective Discipline Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with your team member.

Resolving Conflicts:

Understand the impact that unresolved conflicts have on work, team members and the organization. • Identify the four phases of conflict and understand the appropriate time to intervene. • Distinguish between work-related and people related conflict to determine how to best handle the conflict. • Establish a collaborative conflict resolution process to encourage team member collaboration in conflict situations. • Use the Resolving Conflicts Skill Points to plan and conduct a meeting with two or more team members.