Course Descriptions 2018
Leadership & Teams
A Brain-based approach to Leadership and Teams
1-3 hours ($2,000 - $4,000)
Program Summary:
The one tool each of us utilizes everyday more than any laptop, notebook or smart phone is our mind. Paradoxically, it is the one tool we tend to know the least about, and have the least access to support in maximizing its potential. Understanding the basics of neuroscience as it relates to leadership and team dynamic creates a powerful foundation to not only increase one’s own performance, but also the contribution of those around them. Integrating the practice of coaching not only fits well with what we know about how the brain functions, but also adds a valuable skill into the organizational tool belt to leverage in a variety of projects and roles.
In this session we will take a look at:
- The benefits of applying a coach-approach as a leader and within teams
- Why coaching as a skill generates greater long-term results
- A coaching methodology to put into practice
- The experience of practicing coaching skills
- Fundamentals of cognitive neuroscience
- The integration between neuroscience and leadership
- Brain-based models for leading and working with teams
The Neuroscience of Goal-setting
1-3 hours ($2,000 - $4,000)
Program Summary:
Setting goals has become a more wide-spread practice in both athletics and the business world in the last decade. While different approaches resonate differently with each individual, approaching goal-setting from the perspective of how our mind operates creates a uniquely valuable conversation. Balancing research in cognitive neuroscience and psychology with the art of self-exploration, this session sets participants up to ask some big, important questions while giving them the tools to leverage their mind as a powerful tool (and perhaps equally important, to avoid common pitfalls within the practice of goal-setting).
In this session we will take a look at:
- What is goal-setting
- Why goal-setting is valuable and useful
- The brain in the context of goals (habit, change, bias & schema)
- Pitfalls/challenges in the world of goal-setting
- Practicing setting goals with the brain in mind (virtues, feeling, contribution, goals, inspiration)
Thoughtful leadership
1-3 hours ($2,000 - $4,000)
Program Summary:
Leadership matters, but what does it mean to be a high-performing leader? At times, the experience of thoughtfulness and performance might seem at odds with one another; this session is designed to enable participants to begin exploring and implementing valuable skills around thoughtfulness and leadership to drive tremendous performance within their teams. In order to create a more equitable and inclusive future of work, the cornerstone in generating momentum is to increase the capacity and quantity for thoughtful leadership in every organization.
In this session we will take a look at:
- Defining the role of a leader
- Distinguishing between leadership, management, etc.
- Analyze why leaders matter
- Understand the relationship between leadership & performance
- Define performance
- Thoughtfulness
- Mindfulness; what does that actually mean for a leader?
- Thoughtfulness vs mindfulness
- Why thoughtfulness matters in leadership
- How thoughtful leaders generate performance
- Goals
- How thoughtful leaders leverage and support setting goals in their team to drive performance
Healthy Teams
Brain-based approach to mindfulness
2 hours ($2,000 - $3,000)
Program Summary:
What does it mean to be mindful? Is it a process? A skill? An end-result? The biggest challenges facing the growing conversation of mindfulness are understanding what it is and why it is important. It is easy to think of mindfulness as being zen and sitting on a beach, but how can we develop our mindful capacity to help us with stressful jobs, challenging projects, or creating balance in our lives? Understanding approaches to mindfulness from a cognitive and applied neuroscience standpoint provides an accessible and impactful perspective into bringing mindfulness to our everyday lives. Yes, there will definitely be meditation and insightful neuroscience tricks.
In this session we will take a look at:
- Defining mindfulness
- Understanding mindfulness from a neurological perspective
- Application of mindfulness (tools, techniques and building habit)
- Why mindfulness matters (research, data, etc.)
Cognitive Bias + People Practices
2-3 hours ($2,000 - $4,000)
Program Summary:
Diversity, inclusion, and equity have become an important conversations in organizations; what is the role bias plays in our ability to understand these concepts? This session is designed to explore two conversations: bias and how it affects the functioning of our brain, and techniques and strategies around cultivating diversity, inclusion, and equity with an understanding of bias. This program is dialogue-based and explores the role of mindfulness in bias, creating useful working definitions that are specific to an organization around diversity, inclusion, and equity, and focuses on instilling measurable next steps and systems to allow an organization to generate momentum moving forward.
In this session we will take a look at:
- Defining diversity, inclusion, and equity
- Understanding bias from a neurological perspective
- Application of mindfulness to bias
- Research around the impact of bias on an individual level as well as organizational level
- Articulating a clear direction around creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable organization
Innovation + Thinking differently
Failure + Innovative Leadership
2 - 4 hours ($2,000 - $5,000)
Program Summary:
The three most common solutions offered to any organizational problem centre around three words: training, strategy, and innovation. This session is designed to go deep into our understanding of what innovative leadership is, and how to leverage it as a tool rather than a blanket “solve-all.” To do this, we first explore a necessary counterpart of innovation: failure. Once we are clear on the role of failure as a currency for innovation, we then dive into tools and approaches to thinking about, talking about, and leading through innovation.
In this session we will take a look at:
- The relationship between failure and innovation
- Defining failure
- Understanding our relationship with failure
- Tools to process failure
- Leading through failure
- Defining innovation
- Categorizing innovation into a usable and accessible concept for teams
- Why brainstorming does not work (and how to do it differently)
- Building an innovative culture as a leader