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Preparing to Lead
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Attention New York Engineers:
This course cannot be taken to fulfill your
continuing education requirements in the state of New York since the course does
not fall under the category of "Areas of Practice" or "Law/Ethics".
For more information, check the
New
York State Board Requirements.
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Richard "Dick" Grimes, CPT
Overview
Human Resource professionals
know that the quality of the relationship between employees and their immediate
supervisor is the primary factor that determines the employee’s performance,
productivity, and morale. The best way to recruit and retain employees is for an
employer to develop the organization’s leadership skills from top to bottom.
This course will be an
essential tool for those employers who understand the value of developing and
retaining their internal talent while not creating more problems than they
solve. The concepts presented here will get the learner off to a safe start
while gaining experience regardless if the organization is public, private, or
volunteer. We say “safe” as in avoiding errors that can create problems now or
in the future. The model for this course is the typical high school drivers’
education program where (in theory) you learn just enough to start driving
safely with minimal risk to yourself and others while you gain experience.
Many employers do not even
attempt the basic learn-to-drive-before-you-get-into-traffic concept when making
promotions into first level supervisory positions. They select the best
technician in a particular job function on the false assumption that the person
who knows most about the work is the natural person to lead the work.
Unfortunately, very few employers are willing to invest the resources necessary
to develop their new leaders but are willing to risk the expense associated with
high turnover, low morale, minimal productivity, and poor customer service,
which inevitably result. This on-the-job-training approach to developing
leadership skills usually leads to disaster.
Completing this course is like
having an experienced mentor to help you understand the workplace from a
position of “been there, done that” to guide your employees' development in a
logical sequence of looking inward at themselves, then outward at the people
around them, and finally, at the subtleties of the work, itself. While we do
not pretend it will guarantee success, we will promise that the learner will
address many of the key issues that business authors and thinkers have
identified as critical for professional growth. There is a suggested reading
list at the end of the course for those who want to delve more deeply into the
topics presented here.
The
student must take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of sixty-three (63)
questions at the end of the course to obtain PDH credits.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Attained
Participants in this course will learn to:
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List three essential elements of self-development
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Develop a plan for building alliances with others
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Examine their behavior to determine if there are “qualifiers”
associated with them that may restrict career development.
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View their performance through the eyes of their supervisor
looking for improvement opportunities.
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Analyze their daily performance to determine if they are
actually productive or just “busy”
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List some unwritten job expectations their supervisor may have
of them
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List some unwritten expectations their coworkers may have of
them
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Explain if they connect authentically with others
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Analyze themselves to determine the extent of their orientation
toward reality
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Analyze their daily behavior to discover their potential for
self-inflicting wounds
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Prioritize those elements of their behavior to ensure the most
successful interaction
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Identify their personal working style to maximize their
effectiveness in the workplace
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Identify clues to other working styles so they can act flexibly
for an effective interaction
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Analyze and modify as necessary their typical emotional
reaction to unsettling events
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Explain the value of managing their reaction to an event when
they cannot control the event itself
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Explain the value in maintaining a sense of proportion when
encountering disappointment so as not to harm their career plans
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List the key elements necessary for their personal development
plan
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Break out of behavioral patterns that may be limiting their
potential for career growth
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Identify and obtain a mentor if their employer does not have a
formal mentoring program
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Identify the key elements of motivating others
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Identify the clues associated with increasing levels of
conflict
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Get their way gracefully and pleasantly with others
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Analyze work patterns to determine what hidden obstacles may be
limiting performance.
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Identify the positions and interests of each side in a
negotiation
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Explain why a “win-win” outcome is not the best way to look at
a desired negotiation outcome
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Apply the Cheshire cat’s lesson to productivity
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Express desired goals with the critical trio of performance
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Explain the value of and design “feedback loops” for workflows
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Explain the differences between various simple statistical
collection methods and apply them appropriately
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Design an effective proposal for senior management when seeking
support for major initiatives
Course
Click on the link below to review the course prior to taking a quiz for
PDH credit.
Preparing to Lead (1.4 MB)
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To obtain PDH credits for this course, you will need to take a quiz for
credit. Click on the link below.
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