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Leadership Essentials Certificate Program

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The ability to communicate, inspire, and take action does not come easily to many. To be a competent leader requires insight into yourself, the context you operate within, and the people's dynamic behaviors around you. As technical professionals grow in their careers, and even those who aspire to roles of "chief engineer" or "chief scientist," the need for leadership skills are vital to be effective.

Caltech’s Center for Technology and Management Education delivers leadership skills that position savvy leaders to succeed in competitive and highly fluid business environments. Students learn from industry leaders how to formulate a unique vision for success – and how to implement transformational goals using critical skills: building high-performance teams, influencing others to action and negotiating strategically.

The “born leader,” well-represented in popular culture, rarely exists in the real world. Men and women grow into leadership through the acquisition of pertinent knowledge, relevant skills and practical experience. Caltech’s Center for Technology and Management Education catalyzes the development of emerging leaders by equipping them with essential leadership skills, such as understanding different leadership styles; communicating clearly and forcefully; providing clear direction and motivation; and cultivating effective and collaborative team culture.

This program is modular series that can help you build the right competencies at the right time. Choose from over ten short courses—complete any five to design your own experience, tailoring a certificate for your specific needs. Pre-recorded lectures are on-demand to fit your busy schedule. Instructors may host live office hours or reviews online, which you can attend at your option. Each course is available for four weeks and takes about 16 hours of effort to complete, including readings and assignments.

 

Course Descriptions and Registration

Crisis leadership is a very important part of leading in today’s world. Pandemics, domestic terrorism, cyberattacks, power outages, white collar crimes and other catastrophic events are just a few of the potential crises leaders face. A crisis puts to the test the decision-making skills of an organization’s management and employees.

Effective leaders adopt proven principles for leading decisively during a crisis. They develop effective response plans, continuously frame the crisis by embracing new information as it comes along, and adjusting their response plans as appropriate. They actively communicate up and down the organization, as well as to customers, clients and employees, serving as a source of honest, consistent information. They drive towards actionable intelligence, while be ready for unexpected challenges. And they effective use relationships to deal with limitations and determine, in advance, when and how external parties might be brought in to help.

In this 16-hour workshop, you will learn to:
  • Understand where crises arise, how they evolve, and how effective leaders control them
  • Determine a leader’s role during a crisis
  • Master techniques for leading through a crisis by successfully solving problems and effectively communicating in high-pressure and ambiguous situation
  • Develop tools and frameworks to help you prepare for unidentified threats, better equipping you and your organization for uncertain times.
Topics include:
  • The anatomy of a crisis (disruption response theory)
  • Addressing your cognitive biases
  • Developing recovery plans (in advance)
  • Gathering data for root cause analysis
  • Communicating effectively in turbulent times
  • Restoring trust with key stakeholders

As part of the course, you will prepare your own crisis response plan to help your team and organization cope in times of uncertainty and bounce back stronger.

August 7, 2023 release; completes September 3, 2023 Online (Course # 4280823)

David Shostak
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Learn to positively influence people at all levels in the organization. This hands-on workshop will increase your competence in the areas of communication, influence, and people problem-solving. The focus is on the real-life challenges you experience in the workplace.

In this 16-hour workshop, you will learn to:
  • Influence through trust, credibility, and respect... versus fear
  • Listen with empathy without giving up your position
  • Facilitate problem-solving in challenging situations
  • Exercise personal power to positively impact your team
  • Stay centered in conflicts to reduce tensions and set the stage for growth
  • Adopt and maintain new behaviors for personal change

August 21, 2023 release; completes September 17, 2023 Online (Course # 4140823)

Tim Boyd
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Build confidence as the leader who sees the possibilities for growth and can build trust and communicate the vision for purposeful execution.

Entrepreneurship is a demanding yet rewarding endeavor that transforms innovative ideas and self-motivation into impactful, real-world products. Entrepreneurial leadership requires an array of skills as you champion your idea through all stages of the development lifecycle. This course enhances your knowledge and sets you apart from your competition by encouraging you to see the world through an entrepreneur's eyes.

You will explore the foundations of entrepreneurship, directing a spotlight on the critical leadership skills required. You will learn specific tools to increase your power, influence, and empathy. Through cases and introspection, you will see the importance of taking risks and the power of learning from our failures to help reframe our perspectives.

In this 16-hour workshop, you will learn to:
  • Identify and understand the key stages of entrepreneurship
  • Leverage skills used by entrepreneurs in your everyday life
  • Understand your motivations for driving change
  • Enhance your emotional intelligence and understanding of cognitive biases
  • Build the right culture for your team or organization to enhance productivity effectively
  • Reframe your perspective when dealing with failure to maximize personal growth
Topics include:
  • Types of Entrepreneurs - Intrapreneurs vs Entrepreneurs
  • Entrepreneurial Motivation
  • Stages of the Entrepreneurial Process
  • Cognitive and Unconscious Biases
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Risk Management
  • Learning from Failure

September 4, 2023 release; completes October 1, 2023 Online (Course # 4230923)

Tim Boyd
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In this workshop, you will learn techniques for motivating and persuading your professional colleagues and customers in presentations and status reports. The course emphasizes techniques and exercises to overcome anxiety, define message content, control your voice and physical presence, and energize your presentations.

You will learn to:
  • Identify the key parts of a memorable presentation
  • Identify the purpose of the presentation
  • Determine your audience’s perspective
  • Layout an approach and content for the presentation
  • Use presentation techniques that wow your audience
  • Use storytelling to enhance the richness of your presentations

October 2, 2023 release; completes October 29, 2023 Online (Course # 4171023)

David Shostak
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The success of any organization is reliant upon how leaders respond to the inevitability of change. Change management requires many skillsets: anticipating an organizational need, creating a vision, enabling, managing and sustaining the change. This course enables you to enhance your personal leadership style in a changing environment.

You will learn to:
  • Evaluate your personal mindset regarding change
  • Identify the impacts of change – personal, project, organizational
  • Identify organizational needs and translate them into impactful result
  • Select and implement strategies to overcome pockets of organizational resistance
  • Build buy-in across all levels of your organization

October 16, 2023 release; completes November 12, 2023 Online (Course # 4191023)

David Shostak
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Creating highly productive teams that exceed organization goals.

Organizations need high performing teams more than ever now, when challenged with virtual workforces. The ROI of Amp Me Up! is a team that is highly productive and exceeds the expectation of organization and team goals. Your team members will learn to go above and beyond, with dynamics that produce amazing top quality work. Your teams will produce great work and will have fun.

The VPS (Visualize Personal Success) and OrGro (Organizational Growth) models used by organizations have produced successful long-term results. Both models are based on neuroscience, leadership and systems theory related to change, relationships, perspective and reducing stress. Amp Me Up! integrates VPS and OrGro, into one workshop addressing individual growth, organizational growth and the interplay between them.

In this 16-hour workshop, you will learn to:
  • Develop a deeper awareness of how you are impacted by and can impact the workplace
  • Expand your behavioral awareness
  • Acquire new skills for being inclusive versus exclusive
  • Enhance your skills for personal growth and participating in organizational growth
Topics include:
  • Leadership skills, e.g., managing stress, communication, conflict management, relationship building, team building
  • VPS model for Individual Growth
  • OrGro model for Organizational Growth
  • Productivity, Expectations and Perspective
  • High performing teams

The workshop is provided as a short series of on-demand videos, readings, and insightful exercises, designed to be accomplished at your own pace. You will meet and interact directly with your instructor, Galina Knopman, a certified life coach with dozens of individual and corporate clients throughout government and industry.

January 8, 2024 release; completes February 4, 2024 Online (Course # 4260124)

Galina Knopman
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When the going gets tough, the tough pivot.

"Pivoting" means shifting to a new strategy. To adapt in today’s fast-changing business climate, we must be able to pivot, both individually and as an team. Designed for remote delivery, this interactive workshop will energize you and teach you the keys to pivoting effectively and productively.

There are many demands in the workplace and virtual workplace. We all need the energy and focus to do our best work every day, to behave like a leader at work and home, to think ahead, to keep our immune system strong, and to keep our frame of mind in check. All of this can be exhausting, requiring more than we feel capable of. It’s normal to feel challenged right now – sometimes getting the workday started. This workshop will teach you how to pivot from where you are into a place of productivity.

In this 16-hour workshop, you will learn to:
  • Tap into your personal resilience
  • Distinguish between paralyzing and healthy fear
  • Adopt a growth mindset for constructively directed self-determination
Topics include:
  • Resilience
  • Dealing with uncertainty
  • Neuroscience of fear
  • Breaking out of fear
  • Growth from the inside out
  • Discovering and staying in your personal balance

The workshop is provided as a short series of on-demand videos, readings, and insightful exercises, designed to be accomplished at your own pace. You will meet and interact directly with your instructor, Galina Knopman, a certified life coach with dozens of individual and corporate clients throughout government and industry.

January 22, 2024 release; completes February 18, 2024 Online (Course # 4240124)

Galina Knopman
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Plan your next move with confidence and the tools to transition successfully.

The most challenging shift in the arc of a professional's career is moving from an individual contributor or subject-matter expert (SME) into a management role. While the change in accountabilities is significant and tends to be known, new expectations for behaviors, communicating, and ways of working, while profound, are often not explicit.

This crucial transition is doomed to fail without a full toolbelt and a little introspection. This course will shine a spotlight on the realities of the change and how to prepare a successful path forward. In addition, you will learn the practical practices essential for your new journey.

This short course is ideal for management candidates and emerging leaders taking an active role in guiding their careers.

In this 16-hour workshop, you will learn to:
  • Learn the language of leadership—spoken and unspoken
  • Understand the array of available leadership styles and which are most appropriate for certain situations
  • Identify your personal or default style for operating and interacting with others; become aware of how perceptions change when shouldering the realities of a new manager
  • Adopt the mindsets and practices for emotional intelligence, which is a critical skill for succeeding in your new role
  • Commit to a pathway of continuous reflection and improvement, which requires dedication and a support network

Coming Soon

Galina Knopman
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Fee:$1310 for each course. Payment is due (or credit card charged) on the Friday prior to first day of the course.

Hours and Credits: Participants will earn 1.6 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for each two-day course attended.

Grading: These courses are based on a Pass/Fail grading system.

Instructors: Tim Boyd; Galina Knopman; David Shostak

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