Development On Demand
Ujima Donalson, Executive Director
I am thrilled to introduce our newest offering, SLP Level 2: Leadership Advantage, which we are presenting through a partnership with Skillsoft. Like other online learning platforms, Skillsoft delivers on-demand training and development via a cloud-based interface, and I believe the convenience and accessibility of this kind of just-in-time learning will appeal to UW leaders. What really impressed me about Leadership Advantage was its scope: dozens of distinct leadership tracks, each with a myriad of current, credible, focused, and insightful content.
For SLP alumni, Leadership Advantage is a resource to further develop each of the competencies taught in Level 1 of the Strategic Leadership Program. For established leaders who have mastered the fundamentals, Leadership Advantage offers self-directed learning to promote growth in targeted areas and assist with emerging challenges or needs
Building on SLP Level 1
If you’re a more recent SLP graduate, you may well remember the action planning worksheets completed over the course of the four-day workshop, the issue your peer coaching centered around, and the elements of your final work plan. Whether it’s been a few months, a few years, or even longer since you completed SLP, I’d encourage you to retrieve your SLP materials and review your action planning sheets (most likely still in the “Tools” section of your binder). You might be surprised to discover how much, or how little, your ideas and objectives resonate with you now.
I’d also encourage you to revisit the Competency Analysis (see the “Self” section of your binder) for a list of eighteen key management competencies and your assessment of the importance of and competence in each. These eighteen competencies have been foundational in SLP since the beginning of the program, and we have mapped each of them to tracks in Leadership Advantage, as shown below.
You can access a more detailed PDF of the competency map, which includes additional Leadership Advantage tracks as well as videos related to each competency.
SLP Level 2 Certificates
With the launch of this new program, POD is introducing SLP Level 2: Leadership Advantage certificates in three areas: Business Acumen, Team Development, and Self Development. Whether or not you’re interested in pursuing a certificate, I highly recommend visiting our curriculum guide for possible learning paths through Leadership Advantage.
The certificate in Business Acumen centers around improving organizational excellence as well as your business culture. As much as we at the University don’t always like to think of ourselves as a business, we are all in the business of serving the University’s mission as well as organizational goals and our customers’ needs. Required tracks in this certificate include Customer Focus, Decisiveness, Developing a Business Execution Culture, Leading Organizational Vision, and Strategic Thinking.
For the Team Development certificate, electives include Hiring New Employees and Leading Effective Meetings, but the assumption is that seasoned leaders have mastered many basics such as these. Therefore, the crux of this certificate focuses on developing and challenging a team so that it’s functioning at its highest possible level. Core requirements include Building and Leading Teams, Coaching, Delegation, Leader as Motivator, Managing Conflict, and Managing Diversity.
Finally, the Self Development certificate is designed to advance established leaders along their own path of personal and professional growth. Core requirements include Career Development; The Emotionally Intelligent Leader; Goal Setting; Negotiating; Perseverance and Flexibility; and Ethics, Integrity, and Trust.
Rich With Possibility
Leadership Advantage offers 41 distinct tracks and each includes a variety of assets in different formats. With this kind of self-directed, on-demand learning, you choose whether to access a book summary, short reading, case study, video, or simulation, or jump straight to the assessments to test your knowledge.
In addition, our contract with Skillsoft includes an exclusive Leadership Channel featuring short videos from known authors, thought leaders, and management experts. There are also occasional live events offered through the Leadership Channel and archived for viewing at your leisure.
Whether you’re a recent SLP grad or a leader with many years of service, you will find content, tools, and resources that can empower you and the team or organization that you lead to become more effective. Subscriptions run through the end of the year, so there’s plenty of time to access learning as you need it. I hope you’ll visit our website to view additional information about this new leadership offering.
