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 spring 2023 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.

Critical Conversations for Managing Conflict:
Meaningful conversations yield better results. When we are stuck because we are avoiding a needed conversation or having a 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. Critical conversations can be applied anywhere with anyone. These skills improve relationships, reduce stress, minimize conflict, improve productivity, and, best of all, improve our ability to be effective.

Developing Your Personal Brand:
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 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.

Storytelling for Innovation:
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.

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

Storytelling for Innovation

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

Data-Driven Storytelling

Data provides the foundation for making smart and appropriate choices in many contexts. However, it is not unusual for managers to be overwhelmed by the amount of data available to them within their organization and the marketplace. To tell an effective, data-inspired story, it is important to find and use the most applicable information.

Description

This session first aims to aid participants in understanding what question is at hand, differentiating between the types of data available, and pinpointing the data source that best explains the narrative behind the numbers. Discussion on what makes a good data-driven story will follow. Then, the program will explore the interpretation of relevant data to convey an effective narrative and visual story, guiding more informed business choices.

Broad discussion related to the type of statistical analyses needed for the data interpretation will be incorporated where necessary to aid understanding. However, the scope of the session does not cover data analysis in detail. Instead, emphasis is on telling a better story with the right data.

Audience

Professionals in any industry wanting to improve data-driven storytelling practices.

Outcomes

Participants will walk away with these skills:

  • Identifying the story that needs to be told as well as the needed data
  • Understanding how to interpret the collected data.
  • Translating the data into an effective story for the desired target audience.
  • Incorporating relevant visuals to support the data's story
  • Persuading an audience with a narrative inferred from data

Venue

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

Business Acumen Certificate

XLC’s Business Acumen Certificate gives you skills to manage with a strategy that is understood and can be implemented at all levels, along with a strong foundation of how business operates, makes money, and sustains profitable growth.

You will learn tools to effectively manage and engage the workforce. You will gain knowledge in planning, organizing, directing, and controlling the activities of an organization in order to satisfy customers’ needs.

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

Description

Change Leadership:
Change Leadership includes more than just looking at what change is needed, but how the change will affect people. This program will provide participants with practical tools to assess and manage change, successfully identify the role and phases of change, and walk through how to create action plans to overcome challenges and reach desired outcomes.

Creative Problem Solving:
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.

Data-Driven Storytelling:
This session first aims to aid participants in understanding what question is at hand, differentiating between the types of data available, and pinpointing the data source that best explains the narrative behind the numbers. Discussion on what makes a good data-driven story will follow. Then, the program will explore the interpretation of relevant data to convey an effective narrative and visual story, guiding more informed business choices.

Effective Decision Making:
In this fast-paced world, a person’s and their team’s effectiveness in getting things done at work depends on decision-making. How a person manages their time, what meetings they go to, and the work their team focuses on are all based on effective decision-making methods. In this one-day program, participants will explore various ways and methods to make decisions as both an individual and as a leader. Then, the program will focus on how to build a culture of effective decision-making within an organization. Real-world examples and interactive activities will guide discussions and showcase examples of great and not-so-great decision-making skills.

Executing Business Strategy:
In this program, you will learn how to define a business strategy and communicate it to peers, supervisors, and reports. Once participants can capture the elements of a strategy, they will explore the strategy’s execution. Creating a cohesive and comprehensive strategic plan will be guided by the OGSM method while also referencing other approaches. Filled with small and large group exercises, case studies, and concrete examples, participants will be able to immediately identify and advance their organization’s strategy.

Finance for Non-Financial Professionals:
In this one-day program, you will develop an understanding of 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 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.

Audience

Professionals at any level who want to increase their business acumen.

Venue

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