Principles of Leadership Excellence Plus

Principles of Leadership Excellence Plus provides opportunities to adopt the skills, behaviors, and knowledge needed for effective, successful people leadership. Participants unlock their understanding of self to connect with others and then apply their leadership within the context of the organization, the business environment, and their communities.

Leaders aren’t born, they do the inner work of self-analysis, reflection, and behavior change to grow their own skills so then they can help develop others. Leaders know that results don’t come from spreadsheets, they come from people. They focus on people’s strengths and understand their team members’ opportunities for growth. In this way, they can lead with more integrity and authenticity. Leaders who plan for success and confidently employ emotional intelligence are more successful in today’s global economy.

Who Should Attend: This series is designed for supervisors with ideally at least 1-2 years of experience. Individual contributors who have high potential for a leadership position or those new to their roles also find this series invaluable to their growth and development.

Begin your PLX+ Journey What you need to know!

• Pre-series meeting with the managers of the participants.
• Coaching guides to help managers of participants reinforce and leverage their newly acquired knowledge and skills.
• STAR 360® leadership evaluation, which includes comments and insights from the participant’s manager, peers, and direct reports.
• 8 full days of in-person or live online classroom training.
• 1 full day or 2 half days of electives to customize the learning experience.
• Peer learning circles for series graduates 3 months and 6 months after completion.
• Engaging, expert instructors with real-world leadership experience in multiple industries.
• Updated content that incorporates the latest research in adult learning and leadership skills, including emotional intelligence, trust building, coaching, and resiliency in change.

The most effective leaders have a clear understanding of themselves. MRA’s model looks inward first, then at others. This inside-out approach focuses on:

• Self-discovery—Each module contains at least one self-assessment.
• Applying skills and knowledge immediately to your role.
• Unlocking your understanding of self to connect with others within your organization and community.

Based on adult learning principles, the PLX+ series empowers you to:

• Become a better leader through interactive learning such as self-assessment, skill practice, group discussion, and application to day-to-day work.
• Create invaluable connections with fellow participants.
• Engage with our instructors, who have real-world leadership experience in a variety of industries.
• Enhance communication and collaboration to build a resilient and flexible team focused on individual and organizational goals.

PLX+ Core Leadership Competencies:

Trust & Authenticity, Managing Relationships, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Performance Management, and Change Management.

PLX+ Related Competencies:

Self-awareness, Accountability, Diversity, Adaptability & Agility, Resilience, Team Building, Conflict Management, Motivation, Delegation, Problem Solving, Political Savvy, and Innovation.

Session 1: Building Trust and Relationships

As a leader and manager, your relationships are the foundation of your success. Building and maintaining trust and emotional intelligence are keys to successfully influencing those you work with (your manager, peers, and direct reports). In this session, you will identify strategies for building trust and respect for yourself and with your direct reports. Trust takes a long time to build but can be lost in an instant, even when your actions are well intentioned.

Learning Objectives:

• Differentiate leaders and managers, and determine which role is situationally appropriate.
• Describe the effective uses of influential and positional power.
• Assess the state of your work relationships (manager, peers, direct reports), and plan to increase their effectiveness.
• Examine the impact of the four emotional intelligence factors.
• Use four essential elements to design a plan that builds greater trust and respect for you and your team.

Session 2: Communicating Clearly for Results

Excellent communication skills—you can’t be an exceptional leader without them. In this session, you’ll work to hone your skills for listening, asking effective questions, and giving clear directions, while adapting your messaging to the communication styles of others, using DiSC®. You are always communicating, whether through your words, tone of voice, or body language. This course helps you effectively send the message you intend.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore the communication model and why clarity is critical.
• Identify elements that give nonverbal communication meaning.
• Demonstrate keys to active listening, questioning techniques, and telling to reach desired outcomes.
• Apply the DiSC® model to recognize differences between styles and adapt your style for more effective communication.

Session 3: Navigating Communication and Conflict

Conflict. It’s a word that can strike fear in even the most self-assured leaders. Building on strong communication skills, in this session you will explore the root causes of conflict, gain tools to manage it well, and deliver feedback effectively using disarming “I” messages that minimize defensiveness and resume smooth sailing. Successfully navigating conflict can be the difference between reaching your destination and sinking your ship.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply five strategies to minimize defensive responses.
• Create assertive “I” messages that help improve poor results or help get excellent results repeated.
• Contrast characteristics that distinguish unproductive from productive conflict.
• Demonstrate a six-step process for managing and resolving conflict respectfully.
• Compare the five responses to conflict and determine situations to use each.
• Explore the characteristics of generations in today’s workplace.
• Incorporate the results of your 360 Leadership Survey into your managerial development.

Session 4: Fostering Culture and Motivation for Engagement

Famed management guru Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for lunch.” What is palatable at one organization can cause serious indigestion at another. Understanding and strategically maneuvering within a culture can be the difference between mediocrity and excellence. In this session, you will combine the ingredients of your culture and the nine facets of personal motivation. With this knowledge, you can inspire your team members to create outstanding outcomes for themselves and your customers.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe cultural norms within your organization and workgroup.
• Dispel common motivational myths.
• Explore the use of nine human needs to create engagement.
• Use the motivational concepts of praise and consequences to increase productivity and foster engagement.

Session 5: Setting Expectations and Coaching for Success

Clarity. It’s what your team wants. It’s what your team needs. Having employees know what to do and what success looks like is critical to their success. This session will help you effectively set performance standards and SMART goals, while continually providing constructive feedback with those standards in mind. Using a proven formula, you’ll consider the best times to train, coach, reinforce, and designate assignments, with an emphasis on unlocking engagement and ownership through coaching.

Learning Objectives:

• Define the elements of a successful performance management system.
• Establish performance standards.
• Create SMART goals.
• Apply the three steps of MRA’s Diagnostic Direction® model to adjust your leadership style to an employee’s specific need at the correct time.
• Describe the leader’s impact on training transfer.
• Diagnose causes of performance problems.
• Implement the four-step coaching process.

Session 6: Managing Talent for Performance

Talented people have options. Leaders need to build up and retain their successful team members and guide those who struggle to achieve expected outcomes. In this session, you’ll discover how delegation isn’t just about getting tasks off your plate, it’s about creating opportunities for growth. You’ll also realize your role as a legal agent and the importance of documentation. Armed with a consultative method, you can get to the heart of performance problems while recognizing the vital steps when progressive discipline is required.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply delegation techniques to develop talent.
• Examine strategies to ensure proper documentation.
• Recognize the liabilities that poor or missing documentation can cause.
• Develop skills to hold team members accountable to expectations.
• Uncover reasons managers do not discipline employees for poor behavior.
• Describe the four steps of progressive discipline.
• Identify errors managers make with performance reviews.
• Design, prepare, and conduct an effective performance review.

Session 7: Creating Collaboration and Effective Teams

Teams are easy to form. But truly collaborative teams, as famed author Patrick Lencioni says, are so rare that when achieved, establish competitive advantages for your organization. In this session, you will obtain the tools to lead your teams from the early stages of discovery and growing pains, to becoming highly effective, innovative units. Teams centered around a unifying purpose, in alignment with the organization’s goals and mission, can launch collaborative outcomes that take your business to new heights.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the value of “diversity of thought” and expertise in team innovation.
• Decide which of five decision-making options will garner the best results for a situation.
• Categorize the characteristics in each stage of team development and determine the leader’s actions at each stage.
• Identify the four components of the team effectiveness model.
• Assess the strengths of your team and opportunities for improvement.
• Employ strategies for building consensus on your team.
• Create a departmental purpose statement using a three-step process.
• Develop a tactical plan that converts organizational strategy into aligned departmental goals, communication plans, and daily actions that advance the company’s vision and mission.

Session 8: Leading and Thriving Through Change

Knowing that the only constant is change, today’s leaders must keep change management at the forefront of their minds. Swirling with emotions and resistance, your team members need a strategic and empathetic leader. In this session, you will recognize what it means to be an agent of change, guiding yourself and your direct reports through the “messy in the middle,” helping them overcome their reservations. Change can then lead to innovation and growth, rather than fear and inaction.

Learning Objectives:

• Examine the major stages in the cycle of change.
• Contrast leadership behaviors resulting in positive or negative change outcomes
• Identify and develop strategies for being a leader in change.
• Explore the strategies for managing yourself and helping others in uncertainty.
• Develop a plan for discussing change clearly and successfully.
• Identify ways to become a more resilient leader.

Participants are required to take 1 full day or 2 half-days of electives to graduate from PLX+.

Contact MRA Registrations at 262.696.3319 or [email protected] to enroll in the electives, manager overview, and peer learning circles.

Business Skills:

• Business Email—Write it Right (Half Day)
• Business Writing for Impact: How to Write So People Will Read (Full Day)
• Effective Training Techniques (Full Day)
• Enhance Your Project Management Skills (Full Day)
• Finance and Accounting for the Nonfinancial Leader (Half Day)
• Negotiation Skills: Producing Win/Win Outcomes (Full Day)
• Presentation Skills (Full Day)
• Time Management: From Overwhelmed to Empowered (Half Day)

Leadership Skills:

• Career Conversations for Managers (Full Day)
• Enhance Your Critical Thinking Skills (Half Day)
• Increasing Your Influence (Half Day)
• Interviewing: Techniques for Hiring Top Talent (Half Day)
• Problem-Solving to Improve Work Processes (Half Day)
• Strategic Planning Essentials: Understanding the Process and Execution of Your Future Plans (Half Day)
• Supervisor and the Law (Full Day)

Adult learners retain training most successfully when:

• They immediately apply what they learn.
• They understand the training is an investment in their future.
• Their managers are involved in their growth and development by reinforcing what they learn through one-on-one coaching.

Because participants’ managers are so busy, consistent coaching can be difficult to fit in. To make the coaching process quick and easy, MRA has created the PLX+ Coaching Guide.

The PLX+ Coaching Guide helps make learning stick and provides participants’ managers:

• A synopsis of what is contained in each course and the specific knowledge and skills to reinforce.
• Relevant questions to ask participants before and after each course.
• Timely advice on how to strengthen the coaching experience for both coach and participant.

In addition, MRA provides participants’ managers the opportunity to attend a 1-hour live online Manager Overview before the series begins. Used in conjunction with the Coaching Guide, the Manager Overview equips managers with the knowledge and skills to use the guide most effectively. Managers are strongly encouraged to attend one Manager Overview session to maximize the experience and learning ROI of the PLX Plus participants they lead.

MRA strongly encourages participants to take the PLX+ series in sequence because skill sets in each course build upon what is learned in the previous courses.

Schedule

Check the MRA website for availability as some dates may change or reach capacity.

Register for the Entire Series

Questions: Contact MRA Registrations at 262.696.3319 or [email protected].

As a participant in the Principles of Leadership Excellence Plus series, MRA is pleased to provide quick links to your assignments and copies of forms you learned about in your classes.

We are also pleased to provide you with optional PLX+ bonus content! This consists of micro-learning courses, articles, books, and graduation photos.

Click below to access resources and bonus content.

PLX+ Assignments & Bonus Resources