5-day (40-hour) Course
The EMS Leadership Academy's 5-day (40-hour) format is called "Foundation in Leadership." The course is an initiation into leadership that lays the groundwork for the leadership journey.
Foundation in Leadership is designed for everyone in your organization with management and leadership responsibilities including supervisors, coordinators, managers, directors and executives. The program provides a solid foundation in the art and practice of influence and unites the team around a shared language, culture and leadership philosophy.
Foundation in Leadership approaches leadership development from a research-based and thoughtful perspective, drawing on our work with hundreds of organizations and several thousand leaders nationwide. The approach is aimed at helping organizations hardwire continuous leadership development, growth and learning into the culture of the organization so that leadership is prioritized as an essential ingredient to creating amazing cultures and high employee engagement.
Developing leaders and the practice of leadership is an ongoing journey. We have learned that, on both an organizational and individual level, leadership maturation never stops. Great leaders are always learning, trying, succeeding, failing and growing, and thus leadership development programs must continuously tap into and progressively adapt to change. While there are no effective and lasting one-and-done leadership development programs, how the leadership journey begins does matter.
The Foundation in Leadership program begins with a simple question: How does one effectively influence others? If the core of leadership is to see a destination and inspire others to move towards that destination, how is this done?
Beginning with the challenges and issues facing today's organizations, the program advances a deep understanding of the basics of human motivation, organizational culture and employee engagement to develop a foundation for leading (not just managing) these challenges. Participants learn to reflect on their own roots and their own current place in the journey to see the specific skills, talents, actions and behaviors each needs to develop and hone.
The primary goals of the program are to:
- Motivate and build enthusiasm in people to become leaders;
- Create a starting point for positive leadership that is grounded in building amazing cultures and workplaces;
- Inspire a new vision in leaders to see themselves as successful influencers;
- Help leaders cultivate a sustainable and healthy practice of leadership;
- Arm leaders with practical resources, skills and tools to start being positive and effective organizational change agents; and
- Unite the leadership team around a shared leadership approach and language.
In a dynamic, enjoyable, participatory and interactive setting we invite participants to become deeply immersed in leadership. No death by PowerPoint here; rather, we embark on a path of experiential learning using small groups and active role play. Specifically, Foundation in Leadership will:
- Show why good leaders are critical to success in today's emergency services organization;
- Create a practical definition and understanding of leadership and how it differs from management;
- Explore sources of influence and how influence actually works;
- Explain basic human motivation, how brains work and what people want from work;
- Review the differing approaches to leading and influence;
- Reflect on what we personally bring to leadership and how our personal leadership strengths and challenges show up;
- Analyze today's workforce and how to influence, motivate and actually satisfy a new generation of workers;
- Learn about creating organizational cultures of high employee engagement;
- Define accountability and how to cultivate real accountability without drama;
- Get crystal clear about drama and toxic employees and how to deal with them effectively;
- Demonstrate how to use storytelling as an essential and effective skill for motivation and influence;
- Find a new appreciation for imagination in seeing the way forward; and
- Learn how to maintain balance in leading amid fear, challenges, time constraints, difficult bosses and unexpected adversity.
