DeForest Windsor Area Chamber Leadership Series - Fall 2023

As we move away from the "dog-days" of summer and into the transitions that fall brings, there is no time like the present to take advantage of another Chamber professional development opportunity! The DeForest Windsor Area Chamber of Commerce is once again pleased to offer an exceptional educational opportunity to sharpen your leadership skills and network with fellow members from across the Chamber and our community. Our partners at Madison College have worked with us to create a short and impactful Leadership Development Series, highlighting the latest skills and behaviors associate with some of the most common leadership practices and competencies integral to the success of any business and organization.

Here's how it works: presented in a hybrid learning format, participants will have access to select foundational leadership material delivered in a virtual online learning module. Following the completion of this asynchronous resource, members will then be invited to share in a facilitated on-line LIVE coaching session with their peers, led by the leadership development instructional team from Madison College. The free-flowing roundtable narrative will leverage the material from the online module, and incorporate the working knowledge, experiences, and insight of the participants. We will dive deeper into the most effective actions and thought processes of great leadership; how to handle conflicts within the workplace; managing diverse generations and cultural nuances; and emulate effective communication strategies and practices, all thru interactive sharing and scenario-based situational leadership coaching.

· Interaction and contribution are key, as you get out of it what you put into it! Bring your thoughts, questions, ideas and experiences into the conversation as we address common themes in leadership and what works (or not) across a variety of industries and organizations.

· You may sign up for one, two or all five modules, whatever works into your schedule. Topics will be made available every few weeks, starting with the release of the online learning module. Links to the online modules and roundtable narratives will be sent to paid participants a few days before each scheduled release date.

Take a look at the schedule to see what works for you:

• Leading & Facilitating Teams - Examine the process of building and managing an effective, productive, and collaborative team. Explore the role of supervising a high-performing group, and how to leverage strengths and address performance opportunities. Learn about common dysfunctions within a team and how to alleviate challenges within a cohesive work unit. Learn to lead effective team meetings and manage to the needs and abilities of individual contributors.
• Stress Management - Learn to recognize the signs, symptoms and triggers of stress and steps to manage it. Take a deeper look into your own personal triggers and those of others. Explore coping mechanisms and the effects that stress has on individuals, teams and others around you.
• Situational Leadership - Get to know the basic premise behind Situational Leadership and the tenets of Ken Blanchard's approach to leading. Accurately identify and apply the appropriate style of leadership based upon an individual's developmental needs and abilities. Talk to the progression of individuals through the stages and how a leader adapts and redirects their approach based upon various situations within the workplace.
• Difficult Conversations - Examine various scenarios creating, contributing to and resulting in difficult and critical conversations between peers, leaders and individual contributors. Examine the importance of preparation, anticipating progressions in the conversation and maintaining composure and focus. Determine approaches and adjustments so as to manage to a productive conversation. Move conversations toward positive outcomes and develop collaborative follow-up actions and accountability.
• Team-building - Explore the characteristics and various dynamics of teams, and learn to understand the stages of team development and the evolution of collaboration. Define team member rolls and visit how to leverage strengths and develop upon weaknesses. Be able to identify and diffuse disfunction and leverage it as a means to growth and enhanced performance. Speak to the ideas of empowerment, delegation, and accountability and how to build unity within a team.