Developing Future Leaders: The Middle Manager Program (10 Days)

Introduction:

In middle-level management, many professionals are ready to step into higher leadership positions. Aspiring leaders often question what additional skills and knowledge they need to handle increased responsibilities effectively.

This Middle Management Leadership Training Program is designed to help participants understand the fundamental competencies required to transition smoothly from an experienced professional to an influential leader.

The Middle Manager Development Program provides insights into individual behaviors that influence performance and fosters cultural awareness by revealing the strengths and weaknesses within organizations.

During this course, participants will explore team dynamics, address both functional and dysfunctional behaviors, and learn how to avoid leadership practices that could inadvertently set employees up for failure.

The program covers three main areas: motivation, reward systems, and optimizing team performance.

Objectives:

Upon completion of this Middle Management Leadership course, participants will be able to:

• Acquire core middle management skills and leadership abilities.
• Understand the motivations behind individual behavior to lead effectively.
• Grasp the key elements that shape organizational culture.
• Navigate team dynamics and identify optimal roles in middle management.
• Manage successful organizational change initiatives.
• Discover their leadership style and adapt it to various situations.
• Analyze behavior to create a motivating work environment.
• Interpret behavior to foster a positive and motivational workplace atmosphere.
• Recognize their own and others' preferred team roles.
• Assertively influence upwards within organizations.
• Develop strategies for efficiently implementing change initiatives.

Training Methodology:

• Mentoring/coaching sessions
• Self-assessment tools
• Action planning workshops
• Video analysis
• Collaborative projects
• Brainstorming sessions
• Real-world problem-solving exercises
• Sharing best practices
• Peer-to-peer learning activities
• Panel discussions

Course Outline:

Unit 1: Core Skills Required for Managing a Team

• Efficient delegation
• Goal setting with S.M.A.R.T objectives
• Effective performance appraisal techniques
• Onboarding new employees
• Coaching and on-the-job training
• Giving effective praise
• Skills for constructive confrontation
• How to say “No” nicely
• Counseling for better performance
• Understanding the formal discipline process
• Managing grievances in a structured way
• Discipline procedures
• Managing difficult colleagues

Unit 2: Understanding People

• Determinants of individual behavior
• Assessing personality styles and traits
• The interplay between attitudes and behaviors
• Perception in the workplace
• Analyzing causes of behavior
• Variations in workplace behavior

Unit 3: Organizational Culture

• Organizational cultural web
• Corporate culture types
• Developing organizational culture
• Managing organizational culture
• Changing organizational culture
• Identifying unhealthy cultures and how to avoid them
• Signs of a healthy corporate culture
• Effects of a healthy organizational culture

Unit 4: Team Dynamics

• Understanding group dynamics
• Personal inventory of team roles
• Acknowledging complementary team roles
• Stages of team development and dynamics
• Handling dysfunctional vs. functional group attitudes
• Preventing the set-up-to-fail syndrome
• Building positive inter-team relationships

Unit 5: Getting the Best from Your Team

• Understanding what people seek in their jobs
• The primary motivational process
• Motivational ironies
• Ten essential behaviors for managing people
• Assessing your ability to motivate others
• Effective motivation strategies for enhanced commitment and output
• Reward systems in high-performance work environments
• How to reward and inspire your team
• Team rewards
• Creating energy within the team
• Knowledge workers and the psychological contract
• Receiving feedback and criticism
• Tips for providing effective feedback and criticism

Unit 6: Influencing Upwards in the Organization

• Utilizing the individual needs framework
• Mastering essential methods of influence
• The six critical weapons of influence:
  • Constancy and escalating commitment
  • Reciprocation
  • Social proof
  • Authority
  • Scarcity
  • Liking

Unit 7: The Five Styles of Decision Makers and How to Distinguish Them

• Charismatics
• Thinkers
• Controllers
• Skeptics
• Followers
• Identifying various decision-maker archetypes
• Tailoring strategies and dialogue for each decision-making style
• Corresponding persuasive principles with decision styles
• Employing trigger words for each style

Unit 8: Leadership That Inspires

• The difference between management and leadership
• Leadership and emotional intelligence
• The effects of different leadership styles on organizational climate
• Comparing management with visionary leadership
• Characteristics of creative leaders
• Characteristics of a good vision statement
• Communicating your vision effectively
• Leaders who excel at inspiring others through communication
• Ethical political behavior
• Trust orientation profile

Unit 9: Managing Change Successfully

• Sources of resistance to change
• Preventing resistance and encouraging effectiveness in coping with change
• Choosing strategies for implementing change
• Steps in a successful change program
• Building and leading a change team
• Communicating change – the necessary steps
• Mastering the art of speaking as a change leader
• Sustaining change efforts

Unit 10: Action Planning

• Reflecting on leadership lessons and preparing for application
• Envisioning and communicating successful outcomes
• Strategy implementation
• Anticipating obstacles and devising countermeasures
• Building a network of allies and securing support
• Establishing timelines for execution