Blog Archives

The Business of Employee Engagement

Management of the people side of business is essential to the success of any organization. The role and responsibility of leadership includes retaining and developing their human capital.

Employees are engaged when they have measurable goals, constructive and relevant feedback, relevant training and professional development, and are connected to the mission of the organization.

Description

This program provides key resources and tools for leaders to create an environment of employee engagement, connect employees to the mission, and communicate their department’s impact on the bottom line through successful employee development and retention.

Audience

Professionals in a manager role or leaders of all kinds will benefit from this program.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Matching talent with roles
  • Coaching and mentoring methods
  • Assessing development goals and strategies
  • Providing relevant feedback to create a feeling of value
  • Maximizing employee performance
  • Retention strategies
  • Utilizing data to communicate employee engagement success on the organization’s bottom line

Venue

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

Skills for Building a Collaborative Mindset

As leaders, we move others through emotions. Emotions are contagious! It takes self-awareness, self-control, empathy, and the ability to build collaborative relationships to be a great leader. We call these behaviors Emotional Intelligence. They are the personal and social competencies that differentiate star performers from average ones.

Description

This workshop will assist you in becoming more self-aware and provide insight into how to strike the right balance of relationships and task orientation to achieve high performance. You will learn techniques on self-regulation and how to align “your intent with your impact.” You will discover how to develop and demonstrate trust and empathy, key ingredients in collaborative relationships.

All of these skills will help to foster a collaborative mindset that leads to more effectiveness, which ultimately will result in higher levels of engagement, customer service, and higher performance.

Audience

Professionals at all levels who want to become more self-aware and develop their emotional intelligence.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Leverage self-awareness and recognize “triggers” that impact self-control
  • Learn ways to influence teams and individuals
  • Cultivate an environment of trust and tools to create a collaborative workplace
  • Become familiar with the Emotional Intelligence model and competencies
  • Build capacities to demonstrate social awareness through empathy
  • Create a positive environment through language and behaviors where others will choose to be

Venue

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

Influencing in a Cross-Functional Organization

A cross-functional organization is one where multiple reporting lines exist. This may involve direct line or indirect reporting to one or more individuals.

At their best, cross-functional structures can be creative and high-performing. At their worst, they can be a confusing labyrinth of changing players who lack accountability. The skills and behaviors needed to make management a success require a new emphasis on exceptional people skills and methods for influence.

Description

This one-day program will address:

  • Self-awareness and preparation
  • Establishing clear goals upfront
  • A cohesive narrative for persuasion
  • Anticipating or dealing with pushback
  • Systematic follow through to ensure positive outcomes

Audience

Employees at all levels who need to effectively influence others in order to achieve personal, team, and organizational goals will benefit from this program.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Identifying personal influencing style, testing out new tactics, and mapping out a territory and relationship blueprint
  • Defining clear outcomes and identifying objectives, obstacles, strategies, and tactics
  • Learning the art of emotional storytelling, elevator pitches, the hook, and how to avoid the curse of knowledge
  • Demonstrating how to test for alignment through listening and responding to concerns and neutralizing defensive and positional responses
  • Utilizing approaches for regular check-in to maintain commitment and anticipate obstacles

Testimonials

“I have never been so engaged in a training program! I am going to suggest this program to use at my agency’s retreat. The facilitators were fantastic! Everyone at all levels of my organization can benefit from this course.”

“With the negotiation techniques I learned in this program, I will be better equipped to handle conflicts. Overall, I think this program will definitely help me be a better manager, which will ultimately result in a stronger more effective team.”

“This is the best program—EVER. And I work in sales training. The facilitators were great and their experience and perspective from ‘outside’ the business world was new, refreshing, and I would even say, more valuable.”

— David, Cisco

Venue

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

Critical Conversations for Managing Conflict

When we are stuck because we are avoiding a needed conversation, or having the same conversation more often than we want, it is a sign that we are talking but not really conversing. Learning the proven skills that help frame how, when, and what we say can yield amazing results. These tools improve relationships, reduce stress, minimize conflict, improve productivity, and best of all, increase our ability to be effective.

Description

This fast-paced discussion-based program will feature interactive exercises that allow participants to gain critical conversation tools, such as:

  • Identifying roadblocks to managing relationships and conflict
  • Learning to practice and apply specific skills geared toward effectiveness
  • Recognizing and addressing individuals displaying disruptive behavior
  • Focusing on interactions common to the corporate environment

Audience

Anyone who is a member of a team, small or large, or is a leader that manages one or more teams within the organization.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Developing the ability to communicate effectively, even in difficult situations
  • Using strategies to create and maintain good working relationships
  • Learning strategies to remain calm,respectful, and rational during heated discussions
  • Applying different communication methods to achieve maximum results
  • Practicing in a variety of communication styles that may be used in specific situations

Venue

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

Communications Excellence Certificate

Sharpen your leadership voice and gain skills to become an excellent communicator by earning this certificate. This certificate provides techniques that will allow you to create clear written and verbal messaging, engage confidently in critical conversations, provide impactful presentations, and develop a clear leadership presence. The requirements to earn this certificate and digital badge are:

Participants must attend 4 of the following one-day programs within the same semester:

Digital Badge:

Xavier Leadership Center is proud to offer each participant a digital badge once participants have met program completion criteria. Digital badges include a direct link to view program credentials and can be utilized by participants on social media and digital resumes.

Description

Building Trust in the Workplace:
XLC’s Building Trust in the Workplace program will give participants the skills they need to effectively gain the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity. They will be introduced to topics such as emotional intelligence, interpersonal savvy, openness, flexibility, and adaptability. Participants will understand what trust looks like, what behaviors assist leaders and managers in building trust, and what leadership methods and actions might hamper confidence and trust with colleagues.

Business Communications:
The first part of this interactive workshop focuses on improving verbal communication skills including providing meaningful feedback, resolving conflict, and meeting everyday workplace challenges. The second portion of the class emphasizes effective written communication in the digital age, including crafting clear and concise messages, being other-centered, and increasing the professionalism of your writing.

Business Storytelling:
More than ever, there is one thing that truly separates many brands and companies today—that one thing is STORY. When it comes to creating powerful brand connections, engaging innovations, and inspirational business strategies, a good story can make whatever brands share more impactful. For this full-day workshop, presentations include surprising insights, engaging personal stories, fun movie references, hands-on exercises, and “Hollywood-esque” tools. Participants will leave with a series of inspiring story fundamentals, examples, and methods that can be applied by ANY role within an organization and in ANY industry. Using the building blocks of storytelling, participants will be able to develop strategies to bring innovative ideas and methodologies back to the organization.

Feedback and Conflict Management:
This program begins by exploring the major causes of conflict in the workplace. Then, strategies are discussed for building psychological safety and managing emotional reactions during difficult and critical conversations. Next, participants will gain the confidence to deliver and receive feedback in a respectful, yet honest, way. Through experiential learning and real-world examples, participants at any level will be able to alleviate conflict before it becomes a serious issue.

Elevating Your Professional Image:
Developing and demonstrating an intentional personal brand identity will create a more positive reputation, foster better and lasting impressions, and may bolster the influence you have upon others. Participants in this highly interactive course will begin by studying human psychology, their own biases, and how others perceive them. Building upon this foundation, participants will then identify the skills, characteristics, and abilities that make them unique. The program will combine all of these facets of one’s persona, showing how a personal brand is made and utilized. Participants will create an action plan to acknowledge the areas they want to develop so that their personal brand can evolve into the version of how they want to be perceived in the world long-term.

Influencing in a Business Environment:
A cross-functional organization is one where multiple reporting lines exist. This may involve direct line or indirect reporting to one or more individuals. At their best, cross-functional structures can be creative and high-performing. At their worst, they can be a confusing labyrinth of changing players who lack accountability. The skills and behaviors needed to make management a success require a new emphasis on exceptional people skills and methods for influence.

Presenting and Public Speaking with Confidence:
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 during a team meeting with colleagues, at a networking event, or 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 how to control any anxious or nervous feelings they experience.

Audience

Professionals at any level who want to increase their communications skills.

Venue

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

Business Communications

The goal in nearly every communication situation is to connect with others in a way that ensures the intended message gets received accurately, fosters rapport, and builds trust. Communicating in professional environments takes on many forms, each requiring different techniques and approaches.

Description

Participants in this course will learn a 5-Point Framework that will enable the effective delivery of messages in the following settings:

  • One-on-one conversations and formal presentations intended to inform and persuade the listener
  • Written communication such as emails, internal documents, training materials, and external-facing messages
  • Delivering feedback in situations such as performance reviews, project updates, and customer service
  • Remote meetings such as Zoom or Teams

This course is highly interactive and is presented through a series of examples, discussions, activities, and games that reinforce the material being presented. Participants will continuously practice the techniques being taught in the course in small and large group settings.

Audience

Professionals at all levels who wish to foster better communication skills.

Outcome

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Identify the audience, and how to effectively reach them
  • How to develop proper messaging to drive response and results
  • Write and communicate with a remote workforce in mind
  • Tools to enable successful collaboration across internal and external audiences
  • Steering difficult or negative conversations to beneficial conclusions

Venue

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

Metrics that Matter

Practically all organizations have metrics, but in most cases, they don’t provide the information we believe they provide, they are constructed improperly, and they are difficult to comprehend and manage.

This course will help you understand how to create metrics that truly matter and avoid the pitfalls of poorly conceived metrics.

Description

This highly-interactive, fun, and fast-paced session provides a framework for understanding and applying tools to meet real business needs. You will walk away from this session with increased confidence to generate creative ideas, techniques to recognize/replace unproductive thinking patterns, and a methodology to foster creative potential and innovation.

Participants are encouraged to think about real-life organizational problems and bring these situations to the program to discuss and brainstorm together. By walking through these problems together, participants will learn the steps to creatively solve problems.

Audience

Supervisors and managers at any level can benefit from a better understanding of metrics.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Understanding the difference between measures and metrics, and how/when to manage each
  • Identifying bad metrics
  • Learning the basics of operational and financial performance, and what metrics to use for each
  • Learning to design key operational and financial metrics to provide managers insight and improve organizational performance
  • Creating examples of metrics that matter for your organization

Venue

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

Business Storytelling

More than ever, there is one thing that truly separates many brands and companies today—that one thing is STORY. When it comes to creating powerful brand connections, engaging innovations, and inspirational business strategies, a good story can make whatever brands share more impactful.

Description

For this full-day workshop, presentations include surprising insights, engaging personal stories, fun movie references, hands-on exercises, and “Hollywood-esque” tools. Participants will leave with a series of inspiring story fundamentals, examples, and methods that can be applied by ANY role within an organization and in ANY industry. Using the building blocks of storytelling, participants will be able to develop strategies to bring innovative ideas and methodologies back to the organization.

Audience

Any professional within any industry can benefit from developing storytelling skills.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Defining and leveraging the most distinctive quality of the brand idea in the stories
  • Understanding how empathy serves as the foundation for both the story and innovation strategy
  • Knowing where to look to find the best “stories” to learn from
  • Utilizing story principles to ensure data and analytics are delivered in the most powerful and compelling way
  • How to use a story sequel plan for the brand’s strategy and long-term pipeline
  • Creating focused and clear presentations by leveraging a powerful story theme
  • Crafting and using an elevator pitch to leave the audience wanting more

Venue

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

Women’s Business Leadership Certificate

Women offer unique skills and values in the workplace that create success in any organization. Having diverse organizational leadership increases innovation, creative thinking, and well-rounded decision-making.

To help organizations and individuals capitalize on developing women leaders, the certificate focuses on:

  • Personal Authentic Leadership
  • Business Acumen; Finance, Strategic Thinking, Negotiation Skills
  • Communication
  • Creative Problem Solving

This program provides an opportunity for mid-level managers to develop the necessary business acumen and leadership skills and to learn with a select group of leaders from across the region. It is facilitated by Xavier Leadership Center’s nationally recognized and experienced practitioners. These subject matter experts integrate knowledge with practical application to real issues and opportunities. The program is multi-layered and highly interactive.

Assessment: You will complete an assessment to help discover your personal management style, insight into directing, delegating, and motivating, and strategies to support long-term development.

Program Dates: Participants are expected to attend each session in order to complete the certificate. If participants have known scheduling conflicts, they are encouraged to let XLC know and an alternative can be planned, if necessary.

  • Sep 13, 2023 (5pm-8:30pm)
  • Sep 14, 2023 (8:30am-3:30pm)
  • Oct 19, 2023 (8:30am-3:30pm)
  • Nov 16, 2023 (8:30am-3:30pm)
  • Dec 14, 2023 (8:30am-12:30pm)
  • Jan 18, 2024 (8:30am-3:30pm)
  • Feb 15, 2024 (8:30am-12pm)
  • Mar 14, 2024 (8:30am-5pm)
  • Apr 18, 2024 (8:30am-3:30pm)
  • May 16, 2024 (8:30am-4pm)
  • Jun 13, 2024 (8:30am-6:30pm)

Description

Certificate Topics:

This certificate program will feature a different topic for each of the 10 program sessions. Topics are chosen using attendees' feedback, workplace trends, and various opportunities. Topics for the 2023-2024 cohort include:

Kick-Off Event
The Women's Business Leadership Certificate program begins with an informal dinner event where participants can learn more about the program and their fellow cohort members. This kick-off event lays the foundation for relationship-building and networking throughout the program.

Authentic Leadership
How do you use your unique thinking and behavioral preferences to provide effective leadership to others while being authentic to who you are? How do you most provide value to your team and organization? In this program, you will develop an understanding of the key considerations that determine which leadership approaches will be most effective to accomplish your goals. Upon completion, you will create your own plan for applying insights from this transformative journey to becoming a more effective leader in your organization.

Strategic Thinking and Planning
While strategic thinking and planning are the roadmaps to success, implementation is the vehicle that gets you there. Leaders must decide the most important things that need to get done, execute the key to-dos, and know when to say "no" to achieve your organization's strategic goals. Participants will leave energized and ready to be more strategic thinkers and implement their strategic plans. They will also discover ways to effectively communicate their strategies to colleagues at different levels of the organization.

Mastering the Unwritten Rules at Work
American business was designed centuries ago. Women are now fully participating in the workplace, yet only 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. By mastering the unwritten rules and learning to negotiate, you will have new tools to help you be your successful best. This program discusses topics not covered during orientation including how decisions get made and how work really gets done in the office. You will leave with a number of concrete actions you can use immediately.

Exploring Enneagrams
To become an effective leader, you must first understand your natural tendencies and what strengths you inherently have. Participants will complete the Enneagram assessment to learn key insights into their own personalities. Then, they will explore how people with different traits interact with each other to be successful and where they need to become more intentional. Strategies to lead a cohesive team will be presented, and participants will create an action plan to put their newly formed skills into practice.

Critical Conversations
When we are stuck because we are avoiding a needed conversation, or having the same conversation more often than we want, it is a sign that we are talking but not really conversing. Learning the proven skills that help frame how, when, and what we say can yield amazing results. These tools improve relationships, reduce stress, minimize conflict, improve productivity, and best of all, increase our ability to be effective. This discussion-based program will feature interactive exercises that allow you to gain critical conversation tools, such as: identifying roadblocks to managing relationships and conflict, learning to practice and apply specific skills geared toward effectiveness, recognizing and addressing individuals displaying disruptive behavior, focusing on interactions common to the corporate environment.

Building Trust for Leaders
Part of a leader's responsibility is to create a culture and environment where all team members are comfortable speaking their truth and trusting one another. Participants will explore the skills they need to effectively gain the confidence to build trust with colleagues and direct reports through honesty, integrity, and authenticity. Interpersonal savviness, openness, flexibility, and adaptability will be examined through the lens of a leader. Finally, participants will be able to identify what behaviors, methods, and roles they need to incorporate into their own leadership to be the most effective with their teams.

Keynote Speaker - Learning From Failure
Success depends largely on how the idea of failure is viewed and treated. In this brief conversation and keynote speech, participants will discuss what failure truly is, and how they can learn from it to achieve greater success.

Leading with DEI and Inclusive Mindset
It takes many different strengths, experiences, and types of diversity to make an organization successful. Leaders need to understand the elements of creating an environment that welcomes and includes each employee. These environments both feel good and make good business sense. Participants will explore how to create leadership behaviors that model inclusivity, create safety in the workplace, and truly understand and promote individuals’ strengths.

Managing Change
There are few guarantees in the workplace today. However, change is one of them. More than ever, organizations and their environments are in a state of flux as processes are streamlined, technologies are upgraded, new products are introduced, and organizations increasingly compete in the global market. In some cases, these changes are planned. In others, they are not. Sometimes the forces for change are internal to the organization, and sometimes they are caused by external conditions.

Finance for Leaders - Simulation Game
As a leader, no matter what area of the organization in which you work, decisions need to be made with an understanding of the financial impact on the company. Finance for Leaders is a simulation-based program played in teams that helps you build confidence in understanding finance, the language of business, so you can speak with your peers using the correct terms, concepts, and appropriate foundational knowledge. You'll also develop an understanding of all of the key financial documents, how to interpret them, and why they are important. Financial terms and calculations will be explained in a way that makes sense for both financial and non-financial business professionals. Finally, you will also be challenged to apply what you learn in class by analyzing how your work and your decisions are related to the overall performance of the company.

Moving Forward as a Leader
This interactive, engaging, and thought-provoking session will help yo understand yourself and others in order to build strong, productive relationships as a leader. Not every team member can be managed and developed in the same way, so leaders must understand how to be effective in many different situations, such as meetings and brainstorming sessions. You will learn how to connect better with colleagues and employees whose priorities and preferences differ from yours - saving you time, energy, and money.

Audience

Women in mid-level manager positions looking to develop the necessary business acumen and leadership skills to advance to organizational leadership positions.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Utilizing a leadership style that is valuable to themselves, their teams, and the organization
  • Mastering the unwritten rules of work
  • Thinking and behaving strategically
  • Creating conditions for innovators to thrive
  • Communicating with clarity and confidence to achieve leadership goals
  • Practicing in a variety of communication styles that may be used in specific situations
  • Understanding key financial documents, how to interpret them, and knowing why they are important
  • Using the language of finance
  • Effectively negotiate with others
  • Demonstrating how to test for alignment through listening and responding
  • Leading with inclusivity and creating a culture for people to thrive
  • Unlock deep customer understanding to reveal customer pain points
  • Projecting a strong executive presence that builds trust and value in the minds of others

Venue

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