4-week Online Course

Required Text: O’Malley, E., & Cebula, A. (2022). Your Leadership Edge. Kansas City, KS: Kansas Leadership Center.

This course is based upon the five leadership principles and four leadership core competencies outlined in Kansas Leadership Center’s Your Leadership Edge. During the four weeks of this course, you will learn about, experiment with, and reflect upon these principles and competencies.

Specific Course Learning Objectives Include:

• Observe, explore and diagnose an issue from multiple perspectives
• Increase self-awareness and the ability to do things differently in order to make progress on vital issues
• Engage and motivate stakeholders with conflicting perspectives to work together with a shared purpose
• Intervene purposefully and skillfully to advance adaptive work

6-week Online Course

Optional Text: An Overview of the Public Relations Function by Shannon A. Bowen, Brad Rawlins and Thomas Martin, Business Expert Press, 2010.

This course is designed to help you gain an understanding and proficiency in using a standard planning approach to communication to ensure more positive results for your program and projects.

Participants will learn the necessary steps in this approach, from research and problem definition to expected outcomes and strategy development to evaluation and stewardship of communication results. This methodology works equally well for one person as it does for group use in addressing many types of opportunities and challenges. Students will apply principles of communication planning to a real problem of their choice, leaving the course with a completed draft communication plan.

Specific Course Learning Objectives Include:

• Become familiar with a basic communication planning approach and understand how communication can help a State Fish and Wildlife Agency be successful in various initiatives.
• Learn and apply the 5 steps by writing the relevant section of the communication plan that applies to an agency project through the weekly assignments.
• Take away a completed communication plan outline that can be shared internally and implemented.

4-week Online Course

Required Text: Say It Right the First Time by Loretta A. Malandro, Ph.D., McGraw Hill Books, 2003.

The MAT course entitled Leader as Communicator will help state fish and wildlife agency participants understand and value communication as a tool of leadership. Students completing this course will have a greater awareness of the role of communication in getting things done. Applying the techniques in this course can help to create a culture of communication in their organization that changes how people talk with one another, develop presentations, gather input, address challenges and make commitments that get results in changing times. From staff meetings to public meetings, leaders must have the skill to create clear, persuasive messages.

Specific Course Learning Objectives Include:

• Understand communication as a leadership necessity
• Learn skills for improving your personal communication ability
• Explore the role that credibility and values play in effective communication
• Learn how you can contribute to a culture of communication at work

4-week online course

Just how does one select the best candidate for a position, then motivate them to perform at their full potential? Management of employees can be one of the most challenging yet rewarding activities in any organization. This course can help perspective managers gain the skills and knowledge to ensure effective supervision. Thanks to a Gallup survey of the world’s top 400 companies and 80,000 managers, the secrets of effective management have now been revealed.

In this course you will be introduced to the keys of effective management that many of the world’s great managers employ. Whether you are an experienced supervisor, or recently promoted to a supervisory role, this course will provide critical information and practical examples to enhance your skills as a manager.

Specific Course Learning Objectives Include:

• Gain insight into the world’s great managers and how they cultivate excellent performance.
• Identify the principles (4 keys) to successful organizations.
• Learn practical techniques to implement the 4 keys to improve effective management.
• Explore the difference between being a manager/supervisor and exercising leadership.