Virtual Leaders Learning Journey

Session 1: Laying the Foundation

Building and Maintaining Psychological Safety (3-hours)

A work culture of psychological safety fosters true learning, critical thinking, innovation, and growth. It creates an environment of “rewarded vulnerability,” where candor and creativity are embraced and mistakes are opportunities to grow. What does it take to create and sustain psychological safety at work? What behaviors cultivate mutual respect and trust, and what actions and norms erode it? In this session, you’ll learn how to stimulate productive conflict while strengthening relationships and enhancing team performance.

Topics Covered

• The Importance of Psychological Safety
• Fear or Safety? Transforming Your Culture
• Four Stages of Psychological Safety
• Making Space for the Learning Zone
• Setting the Stage
• Inviting Participation
• Responding Productively

Key Takeaway

At the end of this session, you will be able to identify concrete behaviors that create — and take away from — a positive, productive, and healthy work culture.

Session 2: Managing Self

Increase Your Energy and Productivity Using the Science of Timing and Focus (3-hours)

Do you find yourself distracted throughout the workday, quickly hitting the point of diminishing returns with energy and mental clarity? Before you can successfully manage a virtual or hybrid team, it’s important to “get your own house in order.” In this session we explore concrete tools and techniques for sharpening your focus and structuring your day to maximize your productivity, your time, and your energy.

Topics Covered

• Dealing with Distractions
• Interruption Science and Productivity
• The Varied Costs of Disruption
• Embracing Mindfulness: Silencing the Noise
• Finding Your Best “When”
• Determining Your Chronotype
• Structuring Your Day for Success

Key Takeaway

At the end of this session, you will be able to identify your chronotype and learn how to schedule your day to match tasks to the fluctuating pattern of energy and focus.

Session 3: Managing Others

Managing People: SLII® Concepts (3-hours)

Turning our focus to managing others, we’ll utilize the SLII® Concepts framework to explore the importance of matching your leadership style to meet task- and goal-specific needs of team members. You’ll learn how to assess an individual’s level of competence and commitment to determine their development level. You’ll also build the skills to match your leadership style to best meet their needs, tailoring and aligning the right amount of supportive and directive behaviors.

Topics Covered

• The Impact of Too Much or Not Enough Leadership
• The Three Skills of SLII®
• Setting SMART Goals
• Diagnosing Developmental Level
• Matching Your Leadership Style
• Scenario Practice

Key Takeaway

At the end of this session, you will be able to use a proven model for developing others based on their task-specific level of confidence, competence, and motivation.

Session 4: Driving Engagement and Inclusion

Designing and Facilitating Effective Hybrid Meetings (3-hours)

Effective facilitation is both a science and an art. Unfortunately, poor facilitation is all too common, and it’s also very costly to an organization — wasting time, energy, and money. To facilitate successfully in a hybrid environment — whether you’re running a team meeting, a brainstorming session, or a strategic planning workshop — requires a sharpening of your skill set and your processes. In this highly interactive session, we will learn how to leverage the 5 Ps of preparation to drive engagement and momentum. We’ll explore higher level facilitation techniques, giving you insight into new ways to design and facilitate more effective meetings that are shorter, more focused, and more productive.

Topics Covered

• Defining Goals, Roles, and Process
• Designing for Inclusion
• The Four Stages of Meeting Facilitation
• Important Considerations for Hybrid Teams
• Dealing with Common Challenges
• Scenario Discussions

Key Takeaway

At the end of this session, you will be able to design and facilitate more productive meetings.

Session 5: Enhance Your Presence

Honing Your Virtual Presentation Skills (3-hours)

Very few skill sets are as valuable in business as the ability to create and deliver a powerful presentation. In this session, we’ll explore best practices for: showing up virtually with credibility; structuring for interactivity; and exploiting the features (and avoiding the pitfalls) of the platform and technology you’ll be using. You’ll learn how to demonstrate “presence” in the virtual space and ways to utilize strategic storytelling to captivate your audience. Lastly, we will examine techniques to address challenges unique to hybrid delivery, from both a content and a relational perspective.

Topics Covered

• The Five Deadly Sins of Presenting Virtually
• Showing Up with Credibility
• Structuring for Success
• Resonating with Your Audience
• Using Strategic Storytelling
• Enhancing Your Delivery

Key Takeaway

At the end of this session, you will be able to utilize best practices to create and deliver more powerful virtual and hybrid presentations.