LEADERSHIP ACADEMY BENEFITS

• Measurable changes in individual leadership capability and personal effectiveness
• Broader, more skilled pool of internal candidates for leadership positions, as well as an enhanced ability to retain high potential employees and a committed workforce
• Improved relationships and personal networks that strengthen the organization’s capacity to work cross-functionally on important projects, initiatives, and requirements
• More collaborative behavior that supplants competitive behavior resulting in more successful outcomes for residents, their families, and other stakeholders
• Service innovation projects designed to improve current operations and/or strengthen the facility’s ability to thrive in an ever-changing environment
• All 2024 Leadership Academy participants will graduate and be honored during the Awards Luncheon on October 24, 2024 at the Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake.

ACADEMY APPROACH

Leadership is a complex competency which requires practice and development. This is precisely why Leadership Academy is a series of courses taught over a 6-month period and not just one week. We want participants to reflect on what they have learned, try it out and come back to discuss what they have learned. Actual lecture during the courses selected is limited because we want a majority of the class time to be taken up with discussion, exercises, and case study analysis. We also stress direct application to work situations in all academy exercises and discussions. Case studies, which are developed for each course, are created using the ideas of academy work teams. These teams are charged with generating problem scenarios that are relevant and ongoing for the Academy.

Leadership involves more than what you say; it’s about what you do. To keep aligned with this principle, the WHCA/WiCAL Academy begins with a leadership self-assessment designed to provide feedback in four key leadership practice areas. Participants are asked to develop a leadership goal early in the Academy. Participants report back during each session about the progress and challenges encountered in reaching their goals. Our focus in the Academy is on taking action, trying new things and pushing you to reach your personal potential, not just talking about leadership.

COURSE CURRICULUM

The Leadership Academy is comprised of five (5) separate courses, each focused on a different aspect of becoming an effective leader. Each course is a full day of education, interaction, and discussion, with built-in opportunities for action learning and time to address actual long term care issues, concerns, and problems.

WHCA/WiCAL Leadership Academy: What You Can Expect

Session 1: Strengthening Your Practice of Leadership

• You will assess your current leadership strengths and opportunities to grow
• You will better understand when to manage and when to lead when facing a problem

Homework Challenge:  Develop a new leadership habit to strengthen your effectiveness as a leader

Session 2: Leading Innovation and Change

• You will develop new problem-solving skills involving creativity/design thinking
• You will learn new tools and approaches for implementing and effecting change in complex environments

Homework Challenge:  Initiate an innovation or change project at your facility that will improve a process, improve employee engagement or impact resident satisfaction

Session 3: The Leader as a Master Communicator

• You will how common behaviors interfere with effective communication
• You will learn how to use the power of stories to communicate with legislators

Homework Challenge:  Apply your learning to have a candid conversation back at the facility with someone who is holding back the team

Session 4: Leading High Performing Teams

• Learn how to motivate your team to excel every day
• Learn how to give every day feedback that sticks

Homework Challenge:  Create a User Manual so team members know what you expect when they are working with you

Session 5: Leading a Focus on the Future

• Learn the principles of effective decision making and setting priorities
• Discover methods of aligning your team around goals that matter

Homework Challenge:  Demonstrate the leadership acumen you have developed through the academy by presenting your project story in a concise and impactful way

PARTICIPANT EXPECTATIONS

Participants are expected to attend all academy sessions and complete assignments provided at each. Participants will also be expected to complete a performance improvement project for their facility. Discussion of what kind of facility improvement project and how to manage it will take place and time will be allocated for discussing projects at each session.

TESTIMONIALS

“The Leadership Academy is one of the best leadership classes I have ever been a part of. I love that all the members of the academy are Wisconsin long-term healthcare providers so we are able to discuss our struggles and strategies as a very specified small group. The presenters seem invested in each of us individually and are ready to provide advice and guidance. I really look forward to attending the sessions every month!” Lori Post, LNHA

“The academy has helped me have a healthier view of failure – using it as a tool for success rather than something to fear or something that stops me from implementing change. Failure is inevitable so we must use it to learn from.” Jennifer Burklund, NHA Executive Director

MEET THE FACULTY

Brett Remington: Brett Remington is a true blue rock star at Blue Rock WI. Brett’s focus on enterprise-based performance improvement considers all the factors that drive outcomes in complex environments in order to achieve meaningful and sustained improvement. These include leadership effectiveness, organizational governance, strategy development and deployment, customer and market knowledge, information and knowledge management, work systems design, change management strategies and employee well-being, business process design and continuous improvement methods.

Jena Jackson: WHCA/WiCAL’s Vice President of Business Development has facilitated the Academy since 2019. Jena brings practical leadership experience and outside of the box ideas to the cohort, while reinforcing the curriculum developed by Brett. Jena is the cohort liaison and provides encouragement to the cohort for the duration of the academy. She supports the cohort during the Academy and continues that support after the program has concluded.