Structured Thought and Communications: Foundation Course is a one-day class that teaches participants how to define and analyze an idea as well as how to successfully communicate and gain support for their initiatives through the application of an efficient and effective analytical methodology. Participants will learn how to:

• Create and define a "core idea" they want to get support for
• Build logic to support that "core idea"
• Define the analyses required to support that "core idea"
• Draft and discuss their "story" with key stakeholders
• Package their "story" in a variety of communications formats (presentations, business cases, emails, voicemails, etc.)

The course consists of instructor-introduced concepts, practical application exercises of those concepts and culminates in a business case study where participants apply the entire methodology.

The target audience for this course consists of individuals in analytical or persuasive roles at mid- to senior levels of corporations (e.g., analysts, managers, mid-level executives). The value of this course to the participants and to the organization as a whole are:

• Clearer communications leading to more efficient and effective decision making and reduced decision making time
• More efficient analysis and less re-work which leads to higher productivity
• Crisper thinking which eliminates low-value work and prevents pursuit of low-value ideas

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Structured Thought and Communications: Applied Concepts is a follow-on course that reviews the concepts taught in the Foundation Course and enables participants to apply these ideas to an initiative, project or communication document on which they’re currently working. This can be either a half-day or full-day course depending on the number of participants and the complexity of the work they’re doing.

The course consists of a review of the core concepts taught in the Foundation Course (which is a prerequisite for participating in Applied Concepts) and the review of participant materials (presentations, business cases, emails, etc.). After review of participant materials, the instructor and the class apply the concepts of the Foundation Course to improve the quality of participant end-products. The Applied Concepts course has the same target audience as the Foundation Course. The incremental value of this course is:

• Increased familiarity with Foundation Course concepts leading to increased retention of these concepts and an improved ability to apply the concepts of the course to “real-world” situations
• Application of those concepts to a problem they’re working on which will improve the quality and effectiveness of their end-product as well as aiding in retention and practical application of the Foundation Course concepts and methodologies

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thoughtLEADERSHIP: Creating Creative Opportunities Have you ever been told to “be a thought leader” or to “think outside the box” and “push the envelope” but you’ve never been shown exactly HOW to do that or what that means? thoughtLEADERSHIP: Creating Creative Opportunities will help you understand how to do just that. During the course, you’ll learn:

• What is thoughtLEADERSHIP? (the quick answer: a thoughtLEADER is someone who delivers business results by agitating for and leading change)
• What characteristics do thoughtLEADERS possess?
• What are the tools a thoughtLEADER uses to push the thinking forward?
• How do you “blow up your business” and why is that a good idea?
• How do thoughtLEADERS convey their ideas in a clear and compelling manner?

During this session, our instructors cover all of these concepts and you’ll have a chance to try them on for size. You’ll walk out of the session with some practical thoughtLEADERSHIP tools you can immediately put to use in your business or organization. You’ll finally have the practical means to drive insights and think outside the box.

The target audience for this course consists of individuals in analytical or persuasive roles at mid- to senior levels of corporations (e.g., analysts, managers, mid-level executives) who are trying to generate breakthrough ideas and drive fundamental and step-change improvements in their organizations.

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Leadership: Creating YOUR Maxims. Whether you’re a new leader in your organization or an experienced one, it helps to articulate your own set of personal leadership maxims.  These maxims will provide you a touchstone you can refer to every day to remind yourself how you want to show up as a leader. During the course, you’ll experience:

• A model for the examination of self
• An articulation of what you stand for
• An appreciation of where you’re going
• An understanding of how you want to lead
• A creation of your own practical “maxims” that you can start using immediately

We will explore four holistic aspects of leadership which include:

• Leading Yourself
• Leading the Thinking
• Leading Your People
• Leading a Balanced Life

During this session, you will have in-depth discussions on these four aspects of leadership.  After those discussions, you’ll create your own set of maxims that you can apply the minute you leave the room.

The target audience for this course is anyone in a leadership role no matter how large or small.  Participants must have a desire to understand themselves as a leader and must want to better define and create consistency around their leadership style.

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Consulting Services thoughtLEADERS associates can provide you and your organization with assistance on your most difficult problems. Whether it's the creation of a strategic plan, refinement of your communications or assistance with leadership and development issues, we can help. Our associates will quickly help you get to the heart of the issue and make practical, sound and applicable recommendations on how you can resolve your issues.

Please contact us to discuss the problem or opportunity you are facing and we will respond with a customized proposal on how we can assist you. Additionally, we provide post-training course coaching support on request.

Please contact us to discuss the problem or opportunity you are facing and we will respond with a customized proposal on how we can assist you. Additionally, we provide post-training course coaching support on request.

Client Comments

"thoughtLEADERS helped Heinz Foodservice develop our best-ever Annual Operating Plan this year.  Previous plans were often overly detailed, not consistent from section to section and lacked a sustaining central theme.  thoughtLEADERS helped change all that this year.  Because of their early input and guidance, our plan was shorter, contained a clear, central message and we received terrific feedback on the level of improvement seen in this year's plan.  Thanks! We'll be back for more help." - Vice President, Strategic Sales Services, H.J. Heinz Foodservice

“thoughtLEADERS managed an industry consulting project for our company which focused on mapping out strategic alternatives and making key introductions. They worked efficiently and intelligently and the quality of work exceeded our high expectations.” – Founder/Co-CEO, Freedom Financial Network, LLC

“thoughtLEADERS went beyond the originally defined scope and came in under budget. They performed a strategic review, made over 20 specific introductions to C-level executives, and mapped future strategic inflection points for our company. They performed this work with little direction/oversight but stayed in constant communication with us. Phenomenal results, great insights, and valuable relationships.” - Founder/Co-CEO, Freedom Financial Network, LLC

 

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