Learning is Lifelong

Leadership Delaware expands training program

BY JENNIFER COHAN

DELAWARE—AND THE NATION—are experiencing a workforce shortage in almost every business sector within all ranks of organizations. Employees have more options now than at any other time in our history as available jobs outnumber those available to fill them.

On top of this, we are facing another epic managerial challenge—one of age diversity as we now have five generations in the workforce. Each generation brings with it a unique set a strengths and challenges, which is requiring leaders to adapt how they manage their teams. Leadership and communication strategies that worked five, ten, twenty years ago, are not always effective in the workplace of today.

To make things even more challenging, technology continues to evolve and remote work is taking center stage in many employment decisions. Being nimble on work location and hours is no longer a perk employers offer; it is a necessity to compete for top talent. Managing remote employees requires modern performance management skills and communication styles. These newly needed skills, knowledge, and abilities are all people centric, not management centric.

All factors combined are creating an emerging workplace environment, one where employers have a front row seat as they strive to create and maintain positive and productive workplaces. One thing we know for certain is that a new set of leadership skills are required. Leaders must be compassionate, flexible, and emotionally intelligent.

Leadership Delaware prides itself on its award-winning annual leadership emergence program, which has produced hundreds of amazing young leaders since 2009. Many fellows have gone on to make significant impacts in their communities. The program offers a series of issue-oriented forums and experiences, which are based on the belief that knowledge is a key element and prime motivator of leadership. An intensive, fast-moving program, Leadership Delaware is described by fellows as “an MBA on the subject of Delaware!”

Recognizing that learning is lifelong, Leadership Delaware expanded its program to adults of any age in efforts to address the gap in training offerings focused on the challenges facing leaders in the current work environment. The newly launched Leadership Development Series focuses on teaching the leadership skills needed today by honing knowledge and developing competencies in understanding people and organizations. The series consists of six modules of classroom-style education: Leadership and People, High Performance Teams, Workforce Communication, Leading in a Hybrid Workplace, Public Policy, and Public Speaking. The units discuss new and emerging leadership styles, performance and conflict management, communication styles, organizational and human behaviors, and much more. Each session builds on the next, culminating in a wholistic leadership approach centered around people. If you are interested in this new program, please visit LeadershipDelaware.org to learn more.

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Jennifer Cohan is CEO of Leadership Delaware, Inc.