Develop Strategic Leaders with Business Acumen Training in Madison, WI

How does it work?

Our Leading in Business Training focuses on Business Acumen Skills through experiential learning opportunities (better than business simulation training), customized cohort work projects, the collaboration between peers and mentors, business case development and capstone project presentations (a la Shark Tank presentations).

Note: Our programs are facilitated on or off-site for organizations. We do not offer public seminars at this time. While we have speakers and trainers that are available to facilitate and speak at public engagements, we do not offer public seminars.

Objectives

The learning objectives for the program include:

Organizational

• Strategic human resource development
• Align development with the Mission, Vision, and Values
• Increased competency
• Business competency development designed to impact the bottom-line
• Team projects with tangible strategic impact on the business
• Direct observational opportunities between executives, board members, and high-potential employees in support of future leader identification and succession planning
• Development aligned with strategic priorities

At the Cohort Level

• Encourage participants to routinize the sharing of best management practices
• Expose leaders to cross-functional problem solving with minimal risk to the business
• Build alliances across functions that can develop into concrete linkages for future collaboration
• Healthy competition and collaboration, a la “Shark Tank” type challenge and capstone projects

At the Individual Level

The program delivers a business simulation experience with real-work projects for a holistic and immersive, active-learning program. Participant learning objectives include:

• Develop strategic and critical thinking skills
• Develop quality decision-making skills
• Learn how to make a business case
• Gain an understanding of all areas of a business’ operations
• Ensure foundational confidence in financial analysis competency
• Comprehend the importance of strategic agility
• Build financial acumen and budgeting skills
• Develop the ability to ask questions that generate new thinking and solutions
• Set effective team goals
• Practice negotiation and influence skills
• Develop insight into the interconnectedness of business functions and operations
• Collaborate with their team to establish plans
• Presentation skills development
• Evaluate and Improve work processes
• Align organizational systems
• Engage in systems thinking and a continuous improvement focus
• Develop risk management skills
• Understand the builder mindset vs. the protector mindset

What sets effective leaders and high-potential employees apart from others? Why are some employees more likely to make intelligent decisions than others? And, how do some supervisors skyrocket their careers, while others never move up? After technical competence, and effective influence and interpersonal skills, the answer is business acumen and strategic thinking competency.

Business and financial acumen, strategic and critical thinking, analytical thinking and complex problem solving, and the ability to make a compelling business case are skills that can predictably forecast an organization's success. Unfortunately, most company's reserve business acumen expectations for their C-Suite. They fail to cultivate an environment whereby managers, at all levels, are inspired and encouraged to think critically about how their actions impact the bottom-line, let alone ponder deeply how they might improve a process, or save the company money with a simple change or innovative idea.

Leaders who are skilled and possess business acumen demonstrate an acute sense of how business works and an even deeper understanding of how their business (company/organization) works. They are knowledgeable and informed about current policies and pending regulatory changes. They stay abreast of industry trends and pay attention to economic, political, environmental and even social factors that may affect the business. Furthermore, they know the competition and study the innovators, always considering how they may contribute to their role and the company with a complimentary idea or innovation. They seek to be skilled and knowledgeable of how different strategies, tactics, and technology is impacting the marketplace.

Do your leaders and high-potential employees understand the company's business strategies? Do they really understand the financial, customer, marketplace, competition, and employee components? How often do your managers engage in a collaborative, strategically focused conversation that they self-initiate? Have you offered a business acumen workshop or strategy for managers training program that engages them in real-word business simulations and/or business-case-building opportunities?

A well-designed "leading in business" program will enable leaders to make quality business decisions with confidence, and ensure your succession plan includes a strong bench of ready-now "business-minded" leaders.

Experienced, self-aware CEOs and Executive Directors, know that if all decisions must come from them, the business is doomed, as year-over-year growth cannot be obtained when there's a singular source of directives. When a team of executives guard the strategic plan and hold the keys to all strategic-thinking in the organization, they cripple the company's ability to grow, adapt, and innovate. There's more to a strategic plan than documentation and data visualization. A strong strategic plan is intentionally cascaded throughout the organization, inviting every employee to consider how they can strategically contribute to the goals. When strategic and critical thinking skills are actively developed, employees begin to think in terms of how their actions either make the company money or save the company money; how their decisions either ensure a safe place to work or increase the likelihood of an injury; how their behaviors either encourage a great place to share ideas or a terrible place to work.

Learning and development managers who build strong business acumen and strategic thinking for managers course or training program, enable leaders to grow and drive business results through sound, quality decision making.