Key Executive Leadership Certificate Program Courses

Diagnosis of Current Leadership Skills and Creating a Plan for Future Development
(ECQ: Leading Change)

In this course, participants build a safe, supportive, collaborative learning community and are challenged to replicate it with those they lead. Participants explore, who am I as a leader, and, who do I want to become as a leader? The role of a 360-degree assessment from a wide range of coworkers, which provides insight into how others perceive the leadership skills of the participant, will be discussed.

In addition, participants will learn how to leverage their emotional intelligence competencies in self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness to enhance social skills such as influencing others, building consensus, handling conflict, and leading change in pursuit of agency goals. Finally participants develop confidence to pursue the path of becoming an extraordinary leader, learn about inquiring leadership and the benefits of leaders asking questions of themselves and others, and about action learning and how to use it.

Transforming from Managing to Leading
(ECQ: Leading Change)

This course is organized around three roles that are essential to increasing leadership capacity: coaching, leading, and brokering. In the coach role, the individual values people as resource to be developed. The leader role is expected to reposition and adapt the organization to respond to external environmental factors and forces. The broker role advocates, protects, and promotes unit effectiveness by maintaining external legitimacy and by working in a politically astute and persuasive manner. In addition, participants will discuss the importance of building trust in government by operating with civility and high personal integrity.

Leader as a Team Builder and Facilitator
(ECQ: Leading People)

A leader must understand who he/she is in relation to the team and what it will take to leverage the potential of the team. Participants learn different aspects of team and group dynamics, levels of systems and their impact on teams, overt and covert processes, political dynamics, and stages of group development.

The major methodology used in the module is to learn how to become team builders and facilitators by working in smaller teams where participants take turns at facilitating the group. Specific content areas include communications, decision-making, group dynamics, group development, diversity, conflict resolution, leadership, and managing transitions.

Leading in the Context of Constitutional Government
(ECQ: Leading People)

Public sector leadership in the U.S. takes place within a democratic-constitutional framework defined by constitutional and administrative law. Legal requirements may be consonant or at odds with achieving mission-based results, cost-effectiveness, motivating employees, and serving customers. However, they are binding on all public managers and employees.

This course shows how and why constitutional-legal requirements and the values underlying them must be integrated into general administrative processes, practices, and systems. It explains the structure of individual constitutional rights, such as equal protection and procedural due process, as well as the rationale for administrative law’s commitment to public participation, representation, open government, and fair treatment of individuals. The module demystifies constitutional and administrative law, improves non-lawyers’ communication and understanding of lawyers, and illustrates how to think about law in the context of leadership.

Leading Organizational Change to Improve Results
(ECQ: Being Results Driven)

This course addresses the importance of managing change effectively to successfully implement public policy. Participants will explore their strengths and areas for development as a leader of change. In addition, participants will understand (1) the stages of the change cycle, (2) how to set the stage for a successful change effort, (3) how employees react to change and appropriate management responses (4) strategies for anticipating and moving beyond resistance (5) how to implement a successful change effort (6) how to build a strategic partnership with your boss, and (7) how to manage yourself in the midst of organizational change.

Leadership Skills for Program Goal Setting, Monitoring, and Evaluation
(ECQ: Being Results Driven)

This course will provide exposure to the history and methods of program evaluation and the relationship of program evaluation to performance measurement in the context of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and Results Act of 1993 and the Government and Performance and Modernization Act of 2010. The use of program evaluation to inform leadership and decision-making challenges in several different federal organizations will be highlighted, with opportunities for participants to offer their insights (or hindsight) based on their own experiences.

Leading Through Strategic Communication
(ECQ: Building Coalitions and Communication)

This course discusses how to bring the strategic planning and marketing principles that have long been successful in the private sector to public policy work. Topics explored include how to 1) create a strategic plan to determine your communications objectives; 2) develop an audience-based communications strategy; 3) test concepts and materials; and 4) develop integrated media plans.

The course also looks at how to create a marketing communication strategy that goes beyond informing, and begins transforming audiences. Finally, as a government entity or an organization with a social mission, participants need to become depositories of public trust in order to be effective in their work. To achieve this, participants talk about how good branding can allow clear speaking in the midst of competing efforts and a cluttered marketplace.

Leading Effective Public Policy Implementation
(ECQ: Demonstrating Business Acumen)

This course focuses on creating internal collaboration between career executives, political appointees, employees, and union representatives to successfully integrate technology, organizational design, and human capital development to achieve organizational results. In addition, there is a focus on creating external collaboration with OMB and Congress to ensure implementation of plans created.

Participants use individual reflection exercises to build insights and helpful perspectives on issues they are presently facing. Participants are encouraged to build networks and support systems among themselves, faculty, and coaches.