Fleming College

P.E.A.K. Leadership

Positive. Effective. Applied. Knowledgeable.

Whether you are new to your role or a seasoned leader, this training program is designed to propel you to new heights in leadership performance.

Through a combination of applied projects, peer-to peer learning, and in-depth coaching by experienced facilitators, you will develop and grow. Content covers leading teams, managing change, and finance, among other foundational elements of positive, effective, applied and knowledgeable leadership - P.E.A.K. Leadership.

Integral to this program is the coaching process, which will support each employee in working toward a specific personal or professional goal. Throughout the program, coaches will provide positive support and direct feedback to deepen learning. Coaching is a proven way to develop valuable leadership competencies such as adaptability, self-awareness, collaboration and critical thinking.

Employees will have an opportunity to:

• Approach issues and problems creatively
• Listen and communicate effectively
• Build relationships that engender trust
• Learn how to lead by example
• Create positive working environments
• Overcome "analysis paralysis"
• Support change processes
• Apply critical thinking and decision making skills

The program features the following modules:

• Coaching Fundamentals
• Project Management
• Managing Change
• Employment Law
• Performance Feedback
• Creating High-Performing Teams
• Finance
• Leading Responsibly
• Creative and Critical Thinking
• Leadership Applications
• Presentation Skills

Modules

Module 1: Coaching Fundamentals

Coaching supports others in achieving greater personal and professional success. Often misunderstood, coaching is more than just a way of helping another improve a specific technical skill. Working one-on-one, coaching is a way to develop others by deepening their critical thinking skills.

This course will cover the underpinnings of a 'coaching mindset' and the fundamental coaching skills leaders will need to get started. Additionally, this course will dispel coaching myths and allow employees to develop a consistent approach of their own.

Employees will learn:

• To coach their direct reports based on yearly goals and objectives - and related to motivation and performance issues
• To practise using a standard coaching process and key coaching skills
• The self-management skills necessary to be a good coach
• The importance of listening and observing at a deeper level
• To practise creating and using powerful questions in coaching interactions
• About the role of 'advice giving' in a coaching relationship as they observe coaching demonstrations and participate in one-on-one and tag team coaching sessions

Module 2: Project Management

Today's leadership involves all aspects of an organization and multiple skills, duties and responsibilities. This module is designed to meet the needs of leaders who may be new to project management or those who have not had formal project management training. It provides practical knowledge, from a leadership perspective, on how to start and finish a project. Employees will learn how the elements of the Project Management Body of Knowledge are applied during each phase of a project’s life cycle and the implications of project management on leadership within an organization. This training will help employees learn to establish priorities and effectively manage their projects and project teams.

Employees will learn to:

• Describe the key elements of project management as defined by the Project Management Institute, including the project management life cycle and knowledge areas
• Apply the processes of Project Scope Management to prepare project purpose, objectives, stakeholder requirements, deliverables and work breakdown structure
• Apply the processes of Project Time Management to prepare a network diagram and project schedule
• Apply the processes of Project Cost Management to prepare a project budget
• Apply the processes of Project Risk Management to assess project risks and prepare risk management strategies
• Begin the preparation of a Project Management Plan for the employee's applied project

Module 3: Managing Change

Leaders are often called upon to implement and support the change process. As such, they must be able to identify and respond to internal and external factors that will determine when and what types of change initiatives are required. Environmental scanning, identifying trends, and implementing and measuring successful change are all essential to developing and managing change and will be covered as part of this module.

Employees will learn to:

• Identify the elements of change management
• Explain the roles and responsibilities of the leader in managing change
• Apply the tools and techniques for managing change to a workplace situation

Module 4: Employment Law

The workplace is highly regulated from the commencement of the employment relationship through to its termination. An examination of both statutory law and common law in both federal and provincial jurisdictions will be undertaken in this module. Employees will review employment standards, health and safety, labour relations, pay equity and human rights legislation as it applies to management and unionized employees and leaders.

Employees will learn to:

• Identify and describe relevant employment regulations and standards
• Identify and describe employee relations best practices

Module 5: Performance Feedback

Performance feedback is essential for organizational effectiveness. In this module, employees will work to understand the dynamics of performance management, motivation and feedback. Employees will focus on performance analysis, constructive feedback, personal development improvement plans and ways to develop overall strategies for enhancing employee performance in their organization.

Employees will learn to:

• Assess the impact of leadership on creating a performance culture
• Identify key employee motivators and non-motivators
• Explore the limitations of performance management systems
• Use various strategies to enhance performance

Module 6: Creating High-Performing Teams

In this module, employees will examine the leader’s role in the development and success of teams in the workplace. Employees will learn the differences between a group and a team, and learn techniques for creating team charters, vision statements and team values. Additionally, this module will focus on how to improve problem solving and decision making at the team level. Finally, employees will learn the skills necessary to be effective team players.

Employees will learn to:

• Distinguish between teams and groups
• Identify stages in team development and how to support members through the process
• Examine techniques to improve team problem solving and decision making
• Explore processes to improve team functioning

Module 7: Finance

Leaders in any organization must understand the cost of doing business. Financial documents demonstrate how money is used in a business and can be interpreted to predict an organization's success. The ethical and effective use of financial statements and ratio calculations for forecasting and budget preparation can ensure investments or withdrawals within an organization will produce a healthy return, or mitigate decline in other areas. Knowing the processes for assessing ROI, creating a budget and anticipating variances is critical to decision making.

Employees will learn to:

• Read and interpret financial statements/financial reports relevant to the workplace
• Explain the effect of workplace activities, efficiencies and waste on overall financial performance and financial statements/ financial reports
• Create a forecast, budget and budget variance analysis for a workplace initiative

Module 8: Leading Responsibly

Sustainability in business is often related to profitability. Organizations now need to incorporate a more holistic approach to the responsibilities they have to their communities and the environment. Leaders must be able to assess the impact of the business in an ethical and globally sustainable way, using measures such as Corporate Social Responsibility and triple bottom line accounting.

Employees will learn to:

• Explain ecological principles as they apply to sustainable workplace practices
• Describe the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the concept and practice of sustainability in the workplace
• Design a "green report card" suitable for use in the workplace

Module 9: Creative and Critical Thinking

Today more than ever, leaders need to be able to think both critically and creatively. In this module, employees will learn how to apply these thinking skills to interpersonal and professional situations and to their roles as leaders.

Employees will learn to:

• Define creative and critical thinking in relation to business and the role of a leader
• Compare and contrast creative and critical thinking
• Assess their creative and critical thinking skills
• Apply creative and critical thinking to a specific workplace situation or problem
• Develop strategies to improve creative and critical thinking skills in an individual or a team

Module 10: Leadership Applications

The application of concepts to typical workplace projects, situations and issues is an effective teaching technique for enhancing leadership learning and development. This module offers employees the opportunity to apply what they are learning in each module to a project and to their own workplace situations.

Employees will:

• Apply and practise what they’ve learned throughout the PEAK program, while enhancing personal and professional skills
• Receive professional mentoring and coaching on leadership skills
• Complete an applied project that incorporates the learning into a practical business application
• Present on the outcomes of the applied project

Module 11: Presentation Skills

Ensuring your messages resonate with your audience is important, and this module equips employees with the tools they need to make powerful presentations. Employees will learn about the elements that will help them be more relaxed, confident and skilled at delivering presentations, and relating to their audience.

Employees will learn to:

• Analyze situations before creating content
• Define the objective of the presentation
• Develop content using the Audience Questions Technique
• Create powerful openings and provocative closings
• Identify key elements to create visuals to support the presentation's message

Training Leadership Assessments

Return on investment of both time and money is a critical metric of training program success. The P.E.A.K. Leadership program begins as participants complete various self-reflective assessments. The results of these are reviewed with program participants at the outset to benchmark leadership performance. This information helps participants increase their self-awareness and identify some leadership development goals for the duration of the program.

The VIA Character Strengths instrument helps participants understand their own core values, as well as those of others. Participants identify their top five character strengths and examine how they can use these strengths more often to excel in the workplace, and how to ensure they don’t overuse their strengths.

The NEO PI-R instrument provides a systematic assessment of emotional, interpersonal, experiential, attitudinal, and motivational styles which are predictive of the work environment. It is a strong predictor of a worker's success on the job, and measures five core competencies related to job success.