Georgia Tech-Savannah is pleased to announce the addition of a new series of courses for today’s workplace leaders titled “Leading Well.” These courses were built to delve into developing outstanding leadership skills, foster visionaries, and tool area executives with actionable goals that will directly improve their performance as employees and their greater vision for their employers. This workshop series will begin in September and run through December with a spring session scheduled from January through April 2016.
 
“Our campus acts as a hub for professional education and economic development opportunities through regional partnerships,” said Diane Lee, director of Georgia Tech-Savannah. “When designing the Leading Well series, we wanted to engage the Savannah community and hear what our business leaders are looking for to advance their careers and foster their employee’s talents. Our team at Georgia Tech-Savannah reached out to large and small area employers to really understand their needs and then developed the curriculum to address the specific goals that matter most. Our workshops are designed to deliver the most relevant information in the most impactful format in the timeliest fashion.”
 
This series, “Leading Well,” consists of four, two-day workshops that address the following topics: performance and project management, ongoing improvement and innovation, relationships and team building. These sessions will provide a collective overview of the foundational skills and knowledge necessary to be an effective leader.
 
“It is refreshing for a university to reach out to the business community to address their specific training needs when developing curriculum. Georgia Tech-Savannah is at the forefront of developing relevant and much sought after training for the coastal region,” said Butch Krishnamurti, human resources manager at Brasseler USA. “These workshops will provide powerful tools for area business leaders and address real employee needs.”
 
The courses include the following:
 
●    The Foundation of Leadership: Relating to Others
September 22-23, 2015
Focuses on leadership fundamentals, such as critical thinking and emotional intelligence. The session explores matching various management styles to meet the challenges and needs of changing environments; the best ways to communicate with employees, senior leaders, and peers; and challenges such as leading multi-generational workforces and managing former peers. It also teaches students through hands-on exercises how to lead versus manage, conduct successful coaching conversations, and avoid “analysis paralysis” – a common frustration for executives. Cost: $895.
 
●    Meeting Goals Through Focused Performance Management
October 20-21, 2015
Focuses on how leaders can meet – and sometimes exceed – their short- and long-term results through careful planning, organizing and delegating. Topics include: designing and using scoreboards, the power and pitfalls of delegation, and providing feedback to teams and individuals. Students also use critical-thinking processes and a computer-based simulation to practice information analysis and decision making in a competitive business environment. Cost: $895.
 
●    Building and Leading High-Performance Teams
November 10-11, 2015
Explores various aspects of teams, including: team dynamics, the team life cycle, employee-motivation models, conflict-resolution models, and the power of celebrating team and individual successes. During the workshop, students gain hands-on experience through practice sessions and a team-based simulation. Upon completion of the workshop, students understand why some teams are successful and others aren’t, and know how to identify and leverage each team member’s interests, strengths and experience to support overall performance. Cost: $895.
 
●    Maximizing Innovation and Improvement
December 1-2, 2015
Positions leaders to be effective change agents through continuous improvement. It teaches them how to align continuous-improvement projects and innovation efforts with their companies’ business strategies. The session also explains the rationale for continuous improvement, the tools and techniques that support such efforts, and how to assess improvement projects’ return on investment. Additionally, it describes the difference between incremental improvement and innovation, and the need for both. Cost: $895.
 
The workshop series will be led by strategy and leadership development expert Ned Ellington. Ellington, a former research faculty at Georgia Tech, has a long history in executive education, having developed and delivered seminars and workshops on the topics of leadership fundamentals, transformation management, innovation management, lean enterprise thinking, leading change and total quality management.

For more information on the series, contact Bill Astary at 912-963-6976 or visit www.pe.gatech.edu/slw02.