Mel Brown and Associate’s 2022 Virtual Conference on Effective Leadership and Management

March 31st – May 17th

A “Flexible Schedule” Conference for Executives and Managers March 31 – May 17, 2022

$75 per webinar or $310 for all 7 Webinars

 

The goals of MBA’s 2022 Virtual Conference on Effective Leadership and Management is to provide executives, managers and upper level supervisors with quality training that is realistic, reliable, and relevant to their jobs in a “flexible schedule” format that fits in the schedule of busy leaders and managers.

 In order to provide training which fits in the schedule of busy leaders and managers, each webinar will be offered on a Thursday and repeated on the following Tuesday.  Participants may choose which sessions they attend for each of the webinars for which they register.

 

Conference Agenda

Each Webinar is scheduled from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm Central Time

 

March 31 // April 5     Using Vision, Mission and Values to Lead and Manage Your Organization, presented by Dr. Mel Brown, President/CEO, Mel Brown and Associates

Too often vision statements, mission statements and organizational values are things organizations develop because the they are required by an accrediting or funding agency.  While they appear in annual reports, planning documents, policy and procedure manuals, and employee handbooks, only lip service is paid to them.  By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Explain the differences between a vision statement and a mission statement,
2. Explain the difference between a vision statement and a vision,
3. List ways to get employees to buy into the organization’s vision, mission and values,
4. Describe how to use the organization’s vision, mission, and values to motivate employees,
5. Describe how to use the organization’s vision, mission, and values in addressing poor performance and/or non-performance.

 

April 7 // April 12       Effective Interpersonal Communication is Understanding and Acceptance – A New Look at an Old Primer,  presented by Mark Warren, Independent Consultant

 There is a wonderful story told by the legendary Bob Newhart about a new inmate that has just arrived in prison, being shown around by one who has been there a while. As they approach the dining hall, they hear uproarious laughter. At the doorway, they see a group of inmates at the dinner tables, and periodically one will stand up and yell out “17!” to huge laughter. Then another stands up and says “26!”, again to a big hee-haw. The new inmate asks what’s going on and the old one tells him that since their dinner time is so short, they’ve numbered all their favorite jokes in order to save time. The new inmate likes this idea and hollers out “39!” to stares then dead silence.

 So, what happened?

 The process of effective interpersonal communication is not as difficult as telling a joke well, but it IS a conscious skill. That means that it can be practiced and improved. The information in this program is designed to help participants re-learn some essential skills and practice them, so that even if they don’t always say the right thing, they can be “in the right” when they say it. By the end of the presentation, participants will be better able to:

1. Convey the meaning of seeking first to understand, then to be understood from words into actions,
2. Contrast the characteristics of “parent” and “child” with the characteristics and behaviors of “adult” under stress,
3. Utilize the three components of communication – sending, receiving and perceiving,
4. Ask better, more open-ended questions that compel, rather than repel engagement, and incorporate the characteristics of optimal, active listening, and know when it’s not always necessary.

 

 April 14 // April 19     Great Expectations: The Character, Competence, and Commitment of the Corrections Professional, presented by Major General (Ret) Mark Inch, Consultant with Mark 2.54, LLC

Drawing from his 37-year U.S. Army career, Major General (Ret) Mark Inch lays out a compelling argument for the importance of defining corrections as a profession, and then using that definition to establish expectations of performance for your organization. Every profession has three elements in common. They have a defined set of core values, that when practiced, demonstrate the character of their members. They have a defined set of performance measures at the individual, team and institutional level—a professional doctrine and vocabulary, if you will—that measures the competence of its members and organizations. They have an expectation of commitment of its members to maintain the character and competence standards for not only themselves, but to hold each other to those clearly established standards. Major General (Ret) Inch will demonstrate how he used this framework in the military and then carried it to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Florida Department of Corrections. By the end of the presentation, participants will be better able to:

1. Define the three key elements of a profession: character, competence and commitment,
2. Convey the importance of setting agreed upon shared values (Respect, Integrity, Courage, Selfless Service, and Compassion) in daily decision making,
3. Describe the importance of national, state and agency corrections standards for individual certification and organizational accreditation,
4. Make clear the importance of demonstrating commitment to the character and competence standards of the corrections profession and holding professional col-leagues to the same standards, and
5. Illustrate how the leader sets the organization climate through personal example, teaching, coaching and mentoring.

 

 

April 21 // April 26      Leading and Managing Change in an Organization, presented by  Major General (Ret) Mark Inch

 Drawing from his 37-year military career and subsequent leadership of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Florida Department of Corrections, Major General (Ret) Mark Inch will offer strategies and approaches to leading (i.e., doing the right thing) and managing (i.e., doing the right thing, right). Though this lecture will acknowledge the great work of John Kotter and his 8-step change model, Inch will emphasize strategies for joining an organization, gaining understanding, clarity and trust, then apply the principles and practices of systemic operational design to initiate strategic planning. Though many new leaders default to a belief that significant change is necessary, or change is good for establishing leadership authority, Major General (Ret) Inch will present a deliberate and measured approach to determining and directing a course correction before altering the structure and actions of the organization to execute needed course correction (managing), even to the point, if necessary, of significant change. By the end of the presentation, participants will be better able to:

1. Explain the importance of learning about the agency and its people, prior to determining the need and scope of change,
2. Describe the practice of tactical patience,
3. Define Systemic Operational Design and explain its importance in support of strategic planning,
4. Convey the importance of building consensus and ownership in change, and
5. List and explain  the 8-steps the change model introduced by John Kotter as a method for managing change.

 

 

April 28 // May 3            Relational Leadership – The Art of Developing Healthy Relationships with Staff, presented by Dr. Ken Maaz

As a leader we are often asked about our leadership style and most of us have a practiced answer that we hope conveys how we treat staff and get things done. Learning about Transactional and Transformational Leadership will help bring meaning to our answers and may change how we describe what we do and why we do it. It may even change how we lead. Who’s the better leader, Vince Lombardi, the strict disciplinarian, or Phil Jackson, the basketball Zen master. By a traditional measure of success it’s hard to argue against either one…or is it?  Upon completion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Define Transactional and Transformational Leadership and describe the differences between the two,
2. Determine when one is better to use than the other,
3. Identify the best blend of Transactional and Transformational Leadership for their organization,
4. Devise effective incentives to increase staff motivation to get the job done,
5. List the benefits of Emotional Coaching in the workplace,
6. Explain the characteristics of productive relationships between supervisors/leaders and their followers, and
7. Describe how to deal with Discipline within the relationship developed.

 

 

May 5 // May 10             Getting and Keeping the Best Employees: Decreasing turnover and increasing Morale, presented by Dr. Ken Maaz

It’s costly in every sense and often disruptive to efficiency, culture, and mission accomplishment. It’s hard not to hire out of desperation, but don’t do it. Aim for the best employees – attract them, welcome them, and make them want to stay. Here’s how.

Upon completion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Identify the employees they want,
2. Effectively screen for those employees,
3. Identify what really matters to employees,
4. Use standards and mission to enhance accountability and appreciation,
5. Use effective tools to identify reasons for turnover/retention and devise interventions to keep prized employees, and
6. Understand the changing market and workforce.

 

 

May 12 // May 17             A Performance Appraisal Process that Actually Improves Employee Performance, presented  by Dr. Mel Brown

In too many organizations, both the employee being evaluated and the person conducting the evaluation dread annual evaluation time and the process being used does not result in enhancing the performance of the employee. Participants who use the performance appraisal process taught in this webinar will be able to;

1. Enhance the effectiveness of the employee performance evaluation system being used by the organization in which the participant is employed,
2. Continue to use their organization’s current performance evaluation system and tools to appraise and raise employee performance rather than just evaluating performance,
3. Reduce the “dread” employees and evaluators experience during an annual performance evaluation,
4. Eliminate any surprises during the annual performance evaluation,
5. Increase the employees’ willingness to accept constructive feedback, and
6. Increase employees’ motivation to improve their performance