Category Archives: Training

4th Principle of Professional Leadership

The 4th Principle of Professional Leadership is “An abundance of the innate leadership qualities of humility, empathy, vision and risk-taking (and the instinct when to use each).”

Although everyone can be taught leadership, the best leaders have that little something extra that sets them apart. That ‘something extra’ component is usually a number of innate leadership qualities, some that can be taught, but the best leaders have an abundance of these qualities innately. The more innate qualities a leader has, the higher their leadership ceiling which is what separates a good leader from an elite level leader.

Nominate an elite level leader today for the 2020 Professional Leadership IMPACT Award. Nominations are open until 7/17/20.

Assessing Leadership Impact

Since 2016, the Healthcare Center of Excellence, through its leadership training arm, the Professional Leadership Academy, has been using the Leadership IMPACT Assessment to evaluate the potential and practice of leadership as well as monitor leadership improvement over time. This proprietary tool was developed by incorporating multiple disciplines to evaluate leadership behavior. Its measurable results have successfully been utilized in onsite and online Professional Leadership Training classes and it was the subject of a 2019 case study.

Storytelling for Leaders Master Class (Starts 2/10/20)

Leaders need to be good storytellers because a well-crafted story resonates with the audience long after it’s been told. The human brain loves stories. Think about all the family stories that have been passed down from generation to generation.

Well-developed, character-driven stories with emotional content result in a better understanding of the key points a leader wishes to make and enables better recall of these points weeks later. People remember stories that have an emotional impact on them. If they can relate to the hero or heroine, they are more likely to connect to the story and personalize it.

Dr. Martin Luther King Was Also a Great Storyteller

We all recognize Dr. Martin Luther King as a great leader and a great orator, but did you know he was also a master storyteller?

In my university leadership classes, we regularly study Dr. King as a leader and I have listened to his speeches countless times. As I was working on the new Leadership Storytelling Master Class for our Professional Leadership Academy, I began reflecting on Dr. King’s accomplishments and his speeches. His accomplishments came to mind because I probably wouldn’t be doing the work I do without the strides he helped make. His speeches were great, but I wondered how they worked as stories. I was quite impressed with what I learned. For this exercise, I examined his March on Washington speech from 1963 (commonly referred to as the “I Have a Dream” speech). Here are some of the storytelling techniques he used and the lessons for leaders to use in their storytelling: