Presented by David Gatewood, Dean of Career Technical Education &  Workforce Development, Irvine Valley College, Irvine, California; and  Lane Glenn, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Northern Essex  Community College, Haverhill, Massachusetts

If you are like most leaders in academia—whether faculty, staff, or administrator—part of your responsibility is effectively managing individual and organizational conflict. In some cases, the conflicts directly involve you; in other cases, you’re mediating the conflicts between students, staff, faculty, and administrators. Conflict is an inescapable part of change and growth, and yet most of us avoid it if given a chance.

Is it possible to find satisfying resolution to conflict that meets individual needs without compromise?

Based on Nonviolent Communication and the research of Marshall Rosenberg , you will have the opportunity to engage in a variety of small group activities and group discussions while reflecting on, experiencing, and practicing the basic NVC components of managing conflict:

• Observations - Separating what is known from judgment and criticism.
• Feelings - Empathizing and choosing how to receive what others say and do.
• Needs - Sensing and expressing needs with a better chance of getting them met.
• Requests - Offering strategies and making requests in clear, positive, action language.

Written and experiential exercises throughout the day will provide you with an opportunity to focus on your own actual conflict situations and prepare you to begin using your new skills immediately in your work and personal life.

To read Dave Gatewoods' and Lane Glenn's biographies, click here.

Presented by Bill Lamb, Vice President, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

The workshop will present a variety of strategies for new front line administrators, including chairs, directors, deans, and other organizational leaders. Activities throughout the day will help participants to define their role as leaders and to develop cohesive teams. Topics will include:

• understanding leadership versus management in organizations
• understanding yourself and how you work with others
• time management
• dealing with conflict
• adapting to constantly changing organizations

The activities will be directed to small group interaction with time for sharing strategies as well as applying new methods to real world examples. The afternoon session will encourage the sharing of "best practices" learned from the group. Participants will receive a variety of written materials to use as guides and references, and additional opportunities provided through the academy institutes will be discussed.

To read Bill Lamb's biography, click here.

Presented by Pam Bergeron, President, P.D. Partners, East Lansing Michigan and Ann Krause, Dean, Health/Human/Protective Services, Blackhawk Tech College, Janesville, Wisconsin

Typically, leaders do 2 types of coaching with people: Coaching before a situation or during the early attempts at a project (proactive) or coaching for improvement and managing performance problems (reactive). The focus of this workshop will be on the elements of proactive coaching allowing the leader to spend less time reacting to problems because the team is prepared to succeed.

Participants will leave this workshop with the ability to:

• Identify the elements of ongoing coaching
• Diagnose situations, measure results, and discover ways to provide timely guidance and feedback
• Prepare for and conduct effective coaching discussions
• Expand the capabilities of a team
• Handle challenging situations with immediate success

To read Pam Bergeron's and Ann Krause's biographies, click here.

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Presented by Scott Geddis, Health Enhancement faculty and Director of Athletics at Phoenix College, Phoenix, Arizona, and Elsie Elford, Dean of the School of Business at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

You have heard about the “Strengths” movement. You have read books and articles explaining how playing to your strengths can increase productivity. You may even have taken the Gallup survey designed to identify your unique, enduring strengths. Now discover methods for leading others using a strength-based leadership model.

Marcus Buckingham writes in Go Put Your Strengths to Work, “While there are many good levers for engaging people and driving performance--levers such as selecting for talent, setting clear expectations, praising where praise is due, and defining the team's mission--the master lever is getting each person to play to his strengths. Pull this lever, and an engaged and productive team will be the result. Fail to pull it, and no matter what else is done to motivate the team, it'll never fully engage. It will never become a high-performance team.”

Through small group activities and group discussion this workshop will explore a variety of strategies and skills for all leaders and managers to help others “play to their strengths.”

• Learn to design work environments that play to the unique strengths of each team member you lead
• Learn ways to work with individuals and teams to identify each person's strengths
• Learn how to effectively organize a team using the unique strengths of your individual team members

To read Scott Geddis' and Elsie Elford's biographies, click here.