Blog Archives

Influencing and Persuading for Results

When ideas are met with hesitation, influence bridges the gap between being heard and making things happen.

Description

In today’s dynamic work environment, success depends on engaging others, building trust, and moving forward together. Influence is the ability to guide people through credibility and integrity, while persuasion turns ideas into cooperation by connecting logic and emotion to shared values.

This one-day program equips you to influence and persuade ethically and effectively. You’ll learn how to strengthen relationships, communicate with purpose, and navigate resistance with confidence, enabling collaboration and meaningful results.

Audience

Employees at all levels who need to effectively influence others up, down, and over in order to achieve personal, team, and organizational goals.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Build credibility and trust that encourages others to listen and follow.
  • Adjust your approach to influence different audiences and situations.
  • Listen to understand, not just to respond, so you can address real needs.
  • Present ideas in ways that motivate action and support.
  • Handle resistance constructively, transforming disagreement into progress.

Time Management and Productivity

Days only have 24 hours but to-do lists are getting longer and longer—how does one keep up and complete all of their tasks?

Description

In today’s dynamic work environment, productivity is not simply about getting more done—it’s about doing what matters most with clarity, efficiency, and purpose. Each professional approaches work with different styles, habits, and strengths; therefore, productivity isn’t one-size-fits-all—it’s about finding the tools and strategies that work best for each individual.

This interactive program blends personal productivity principles with Lean thinking processes and tools to help participants streamline their workflow, manage their energy & focus, and reduce inefficiencies that can lead to burnout. Participants will explore how to differentiate between being busy and being productive, maintain healthy boundaries with technology and colleagues, and cultivate accountability that drives consistent follow-through and goal achievement.

By developing both the mindset and systems needed for sustainable productivity, professionals will leave equipped to focus on meaningful contributions—both individually and as part of a team.

Audience

Professionals at all levels in any industry who want to discover better methods of managing their time and learn ways to hold colleagues and themselves accountable.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Differentiating between being busy, being productive, and making meaningful contributions by focusing on the most important—not just urgent—work.
  • Managing time, energy, and attention using customizable productivity strategies and Lean thinking tools.
  • Leveraging AI and digital tools to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, communication and prioritization.
  • Maintaining healthy boundaries with technology and in workplace relationships to protect focus and well-being.
  • Building accountability practices that create momentum, ownership, and follow-through across teams and individuals.

Fostering Teamwork and Trust

In today’s fast-paced and interconnected workplace, true success thrives on collective trust and collaboration—because when people depend on one another, the team becomes stronger than any individual effort.

Description

Fostering Teamwork and Trust is designed for professionals at all levels who want to contribute to a high-performance team rooted in trust, shared purpose, and mutual respect. Beginning with a pre-program assessment, participants learn about nine distinct clusters of team-oriented behaviors—ranging from creative idea generation to practical implementation—that, when balanced, help teams work more effectively together

This program empowers individuals to become catalysts for effective collaboration, strong working relationships, and positive team dynamics. Participants will gain tools to enhance communication, navigate conflict, strengthen accountability, and build trust which is the essential thread that connects and sustains high-performing teams. Whether you’re leading a team, working within one, or building new connections across departments, this program helps you create the kind of environment where teams thrive and people want to contribute.

Audience

Professionals at all levels who work in or with teams, across functions and industries.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Understand the key attributes of high-performing teams
  • Build trust with colleagues across roles and responsibilities
  • Identify behavioral strengths and areas for development in the workplace.
  • Foster open, productive communication and feedback
  • Navigate team dynamics and strengthen collaboration
  • Apply strategies to maintain connection and accountability under pressure

Difficult Conversations

Whether you’re a leader, teammate, or aspiring professional, mastering difficult conversations is essential to long-term success.

Description

When we avoid a needed conversation—or find ourselves repeating the same conversation without resolution—it’s a sign that we’re talking, but not truly communicating. This interactive, discussion-driven program equips participants with practical tools to shift that dynamic.

Drawing on principles from Crucial Conversations, behavioral decision-making practices, and organizational theory, participants will learn to confidently navigate challenging interpersonal dynamics and high-stakes conversations. Through real-world application and engaging exercises, they’ll build the skills needed to foster trust, reduce conflict, and create stronger workplace relationships.

Audience

Professionals at all levels who want to improve communication, resolve conflict, and strengthen team dynamics.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Identify roadblocks to managing relationships and resolving conflict
  • Recognize and address disruptive behaviors in the workplace
  • Apply structured frameworks for initiating and sustaining difficult conversations
  • Use specific language and listening techniques to increase effectiveness
  • Improve personal effectiveness, reduce stress, and enhance collaboration

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Social Skills for Professional Success

Harnessing social and emotional intelligence to strengthen leadership, relationships, and team collaboration.

Description

Social and Emotional Intelligence (SEI) is a cornerstone of professional and personal success, promoting enhanced self-awareness, improved communication, stronger relationships, and improved personal health. This program leverages a four-quadrant SEI model based off of Daniel Goleman’s research to explore how SEI fosters inclusive leadership, encourages conflict resolution, and builds trust and rapport within teams. Participants will discover how SEI impacts essential skills like stress management, resiliency, empathy, and effective teamwork, driving both personal and team growth.

Through a comprehensive assessment, participants will identify their SEI strengths and areas for growth. The program offers actionable strategies and tools for improvement, empowering participants to promote team engagement and create a culture of collaboration. Optional follow-up coaching is available to support ongoing development and success.

Audience

Appropriate for any professional who wants to enhance their creative problem-solving skills.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Gain an in-depth understanding of the four-quadrant SEI model.
  • Explore the business case and health benefits of strengthening SEI.
  • Learn how SEI fosters improved communication, inclusive leadership, and team engagement.
  • Develop actionable plans for stress management, resiliency, empathy, and teamwork.
  • Enhance skills to encourage personal and team growth while promoting effective conflict resolution.

One-Hour Virtual Coaching Session

This one-hour virtual coaching session provides tailored guidance to help you navigate your workplace interactions, build strong professional relationships, and communicate with confidence.

Maximizing Productivity

As responsibilities increase and feelings of burnout grow, professionals must find the ideal balance between personal needs and professional performance.

Description

In today's dynamic work environment, the ability to maximize productivity is crucial for individual and organizational success. This program offers participants a comprehensive toolkit rooted in waste elimination and process streamlining to optimize productivity across various work settings. By integrating Lean Thinking Principles with productivity challenges, participants will be empowered to drive meaningful change and achieve sustainable success within their organizations.

The session will begin by defining productivity, exploring post-pandemic and current workplace trends, and addressing burnout. Then, critical elements of workplace and workforce success are discussed. Tools to enhance communication, coordination, and cooperation will be presented such as the Place-Time Matrix. Finally, participants will develop plans to implement these new tools and measure their success.

Audience

Professionals at all levels in any industry who want to improve their productivity and efficiency.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Differentiate between being busy, being productive, and making meaningful contributions
  • Explore strategies for maintaining healthy relationships and boundaries with technology and colleagues
  • Understand and apply Lean Thinking tools to any workplace environment
  • Create unique action plans for adopting new tools and techniques in specific business settings
  • Identify opportunities for continued improvement

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Presenting with Impact

Confidently and effectively presenting work to others is a must-have skill in today’s competitive and ever-changing environment. Yet, almost 3 out of 4 people feel anxious or afraid when publicly speaking.

Description

It can be guaranteed at some point in someone's career, they will be asked to present their ideas in front of people. This could be speaking during a team meeting with colleagues, delivering an elevator pitch at a networking event, or reporting data for higher management. No matter how intimidating speaking in front of others may be, confidently sharing your ideas is key to success.

This one-day program will help participants prepare and deliver formal, informal, virtual, and in-person presentations. They will learn best practices to present with impact and control any anxious or nervous feelings they experience.

Participants will be asked to bring a real-world example, either an upcoming or previous presentation, to directly apply many of the program's concepts to their work.

Audience

Professionals at all levels in any industry who want to become effective presenters will benefit from this program.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Customizing a presentation for various audiences
  • Understanding the differences between presenting in person and virtually, and how to prepare and deliver both methods
  • Recognizing the importance of practicing before delivering a presentation
  • Identifying the best use of visual elements
  • Knowing the importance of body language and non-verbal cues
  • Saving a presentation if nerves or anxiety get in the way
  • Responding to questions from your audience

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Elevate Leadership Certificate Program

Effective leaders continuously enhance their skill set to make an impact on the people and organizations they lead. The journey is defined by experience, self-awareness, and personal development. As leaders rise in organizations, they must elevate their skill sets to see the organization from a higher viewpoint, entrusting their colleagues and reports to manage everyday tasks.

In this interactive learning experience, participants will explore the characteristics of great leaders from a human centered and business acumen approach. They will learn new tools to help them grow into more senior roles, lead teams through change, inspire a workplace built on collaboration, and develop actionable plans to achieve long-term success.

Description

Program Components:

The journey begins with a virtual group introductory call to meet the program facilitators and cohort members. Participants will have reflective work in between each in-person session to encourage learning, skill development, and reflection outside of the classroom.

Session 1: Engaging Strengths

  • Recognize existing leadership strengths and development opportunities
  • Identify what a good leader looks like and how to present oneself as ready for a senior role
  • Navigate difficult or critical conversations
  • Create a plan to build a board of advisors and network with other senior leaders

Session 2: Empowering People*

  • Determine ways to coach, mentor, and develop others
  • Clarify team roles
  • Implement best practices for effective delegation
  • Explore a leader’s role in decision-making

Session 3: Embracing Change

  • Develop a holistic perspective of an organization and realize the overall impact change can have
  • Become familiar with the phases of change
  • Explore strategies for leading oneself, individuals, teams, and organizations through ongoing change

Session 4: Executing Forward*

  • Articulate the organization’s strategy
  • Identify opportunities to align departmental-level strategic plans with the organization's strategy
  • Establish a framework for succession planning and apply it to direct reports’ growth plans

*Virtual Group Reflection Calls

After the second and fourth in-person sessions, the cohort will meet for a virtual group check-in session to discuss how they have incorporated their learning into their lives and how they can continue to improve and sustain their new practices.

Audience

Upper-level managers preparing for the next level or those new to senior leadership roles who are responsible for a division or the overall organization.

Outcomes

  • Shift from a task-oriented management mindset into a “big picture” perspective
  • Capitalize on prior leadership experience to develop an authentic leadership aspiration
  • Effectively interact with all levels of an organization for maximum impact
  • Develop strategic and long-term thinking
  • Guide an organization through change
  • Establish habits and behaviors for continued improvement to retain leadership skills

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Maximizing Social and Emotional Awareness

“A workplace that encourages self-awareness is an environment where the most productive, curious, and innovative people thrive.” – Neil Blumenthal

Description

More than ever, professionals must develop relationships across a complex and ever-changing landscape in order to be effective and achieve success. Connecting over coffee in the office is not enough when a workplace is hybrid, virtual, or global. Relationship building is an important skill set that is often underdeveloped, resulting in unnecessary challenges and inefficiencies.

The best outcomes result from a highly connected team. In this program, participants will learn critical skills to help develop the human side of business—the social and emotional awareness to both develop and sustain great professional relationships. The importance and business impact of social, emotional, and self-awareness are discussed. Participants will then gain tools to maximize and enhance their existing awareness skills.

Audience

Professionals at all levels who want to improve their awareness skills in order to achieve better personal and organizational results.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Understanding self-awareness and how it impacts relationship building and the organization's overall success
  • Viewing leadership through a human centered lens
  • Building capacities to demonstrate social awareness through empathy and stakeholder mapping
  • Becoming more situationally aware by considering various perspectives
  • Intentionally managing relationships with peers, direct reports, and leadership
  • Creating a positive and psychologically safe environment through language and behaviors

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094

Influencing in a Business Environment

Professionals become frustrated, aggravated, and discouraged when they feel like they are limited in what they can do, are not being heard, or their ideas are not grasped or appreciated.

Description

Organizations oftentimes have many different departments that work together to achieve the overall mission and vision. However, these departments can become siloed and develop agendas of their own. How does a professional get buy-in from colleagues at all levels of the organization in this type of business environment?

The key is influencing. This one-day program will provide strategies to influence others no matter their position or title to achieve common goals that will propel the overall organization toward success. Goal setting, preparation to be persuasive, and crafting an effective message for specific audiences will all be discussed through conversations and experiential activities.

Audience

Employees at all levels who need to effectively influence others up, down, and over in order to achieve personal, team, and organizational goals.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Understanding and leveraging various ways to be influential
  • Creating a plan to become a trusted advisor that colleagues seek out for guidance
  • Strengthening the ability to have a voice that is heard
  • Defining clear outcomes and identifying objectives, obstacles, strategies, and tactics
  • Responding to concerns and hesitations in an impactful way
  • Maintaining commitments to earn trust and credibility

Venue

Cintas Center
1624 Musketeer Drive
Cincinnati, 45207 United States + Google Map
Phone
513-745-1094