Dr. William C. Ronco, Ph.D.

December 8-9, 2008

Improving Leadership Effectiveness For Scientists, Researchers and Engineers
It’s no secret that scientists, researchers, engineers and computer professionals often struggle with leading, communicating and consulting.  People who are smart technically can fail or fall far short of expectations when it comes to communicating what they know.  And it can be difficult to lead technical people, they tend to not follow orders.   

At the same time, it’s essential for technical professionals to perform leadership and communications tasks at optimal levels.  Their organizations’ success and their own career development depend on the ability of technical professionals to perform at optimum levels in both the technical and leadership and communications aspects of their work. 

The Institute Advantage:  Technical Focus, 360 Survey, Individual Coaching
The Science and Technology Leadership Institute program provides the essential concepts, strategies and skills enabling participants to dramatically improve their communications performance and comfort.  The Institute program delivers much more effective results than other programs in part because it focuses specifically on the needs, issues and opportunities of scientists, researchers, engineers and computer professionals.

The Institute program also delivers excellent lasting results because it includes two follow-up activities that enable participants to apply program skills in their own situation:

1.   Our post-program 360 Survey provides participants with objective, valid survey feedback on their own communications style and effectiveness

2.   Two one-hour coaching sessions scheduled at participants’ convenience 1 – 6 months after the initial seminar, enables participants not only to learn concepts but to work on applying new approaches in their everyday work.  

Who Should Participate
Any manager or professional with a strong technical background will benefit from participating in the program.  People who achieve outstanding results include those who:

• Have reached a plateau in their own development
• Have, or are anticipating, new roles and responsibilities
• Want to add more value to their organization
• Are willing to try new approaches and methods

Outcomes, Benefits 

Training is intangible, but intelligent training delivers tangible results.  This Institute generates important outcomes both for participants and their organizations:

• Enhanced performance of key leadership and communications tasks
• Improved performance of groups and teams that participants lead
• Improved partnering and satisfaction between participants and customers
• Improved working relationships between participants and key managers
• Reduced turnover, enhanced job satisfaction and motivation
• Closer alignment between participant priorities and organization goals

Fee for the complete program including the two-day initial seminar, 360 Leadership Effectiveness Survey and two individual one-on-one follow-up coaching sessions is $2,400.  Program fee is $2,000 for members of the organizations co-sponsoring the program.  The fee is reduced if multiple participants from the same organization attend.

The Institute program provides one of the best investments you can make in your people and your organization.  Priced at the same level as other leadership training, the Institute delivers much more effective lasting results because of its clear focus on technical organizations.  The Institute’s inclusion of a 360 Communications Survey and One-On-One coaching further establishes the program’s value.

Agenda 

1.     Understanding The Technical Leadership Challenge

• What the Technical Leadership Gap is and how it impacts your organization and you.
• How scientists, researchers and engineers determine the success --- or failure --- of organizations.
• Six reasons technical professionals fail or fall far short as leaders
• “If I’m the expert, why aren’t people listening to me?”  The problems organizations have in getting the most from their technical professionals.

2.    Improving Technical Leadership Effectiveness

• What determines effective leadership anyway?  Four radical changes in the best practices views of technical leadership that impact you
• How the culture of technical organizations defines effective leadership
• Five ways technical organizations inadvertently undermine their leaders
• Can people really change?  How improvement occurs:  what’s easy, what’s difficult
• Charting your own course for learning and development:  challenging, realistic 

3.    Taking Stock of Your Strengths and Weaknesses

• Why improving leadership effectiveness must begin with objective self-assessment
• Pro’s and Con’s of the four tools that help you assess your effectiveness
• Accurately anticipating your own communications strengths, problems and blind spots
• Distinguishing between major and minor problems 

4.     Improving Your One-On-One Communications Skills

• Clarifying your own core communications tasks, responsibilities and opportunities
• Identifying and breaking the four destructive patterns that occur in leadership conversations
• Fully learning skills for giving feedback, exerting informal influence, telling people things they don’t want to hear, consulting and coaching
• Using Active Listening both to understand others and make your own point
• Fully understanding what a collaborative leadership style is, why it’s essential in a technical organization, and what you must do to collaborate optimally

5.     Improving Your Group Communications Skills, Building Your Team

• Understanding the inherent potentials and predictable problems in all group communications
• Why most technical meetings fail or fall far short
• How to lead every meeting to ensure full, comfortable, productive engagement
• Four teambuilding tools you can use immediately to turn your group into a high-performing team
• Special problems and opportunities of building teams across multiple sites and countries

6.     Increasing Partnering Effectiveness

• What partnering is and is not, and why it’s an essential technical leadership competence
• Five guidelines for developing and using customer surveys
• Improving partnering results with clients, users, peers, other organizations, other departments.
• Understanding, applying partnering methods in your own situation.

7.     Applying Institute Program Insights

• How people change, why they don’t and what you can do to implement new skills thoughtfully.
• Clarifying your real job priorities and goals.
• Understanding and scheduling your 360 Survey and individual coaching
• Planning specific applications and pilots of Institute insights, strategies and tools
• Learning to learn, anticipate and overcome obstacles, chart gains and improvement

Dr. William C. Ronco, Ph.D. - Biography