Developing Change Practitioners for the Next Level
Are you:
Charged with helping to execute critical change as part of your role in change management, project management, organizational design, IT, HR, business relationship management, leadership development, or strategic planning?- At a point in your career where you believe advancing professional capabilities is more than learning how to use yet another set of concepts or techniques?
- Ready to move from knowledge to wisdom as the foundation of the value you provide?
- Ready to shift the focus of your practice from doing to being?
- Already considered a successful change professional but want to further advance your influence with clients?
- Ready to pursue mastery of your craft as a High Impact trusted advisor to senior leaders?
If the time has come to explore your interior landscape in order to have a greater external impact, this program will provide guidance, experiences, resources, and a community of fellow travelers.
Raising Your Game is not for everyone.
There are specific requirements for acceptance into the workshop:
- Your primary professional focus must be on fostering some aspect of individual, group, organizational, and/or societal levels of change.
- You must have several years of experience facilitating the execution of significant change, as well as the scar tissue and lessons learned to show for it.
- You must have access to and be skilled in the use of one or more implementation methodologies (concepts, tools, and techniques). It doesn’t matter which ones, as the Academy is methodology agnostic.
This program is not for the casually interested, those who stand on the sidelines and observe, or anyone unprepared to complete the preparation assignments and actively engage in the session.
The Raising Your Game (RYG) Program
RYG offers a safe but challenging environment, allowing you to examine what is true at the core of who you are and to explore whether that truth aids or impedes you from increasing the impact you have with the leaders you support. The full program is conducted over a period of approximately ten weeks and consists of three phases: Preparation, Workshop, and Re-Entry.
Preparation
RYG is unlike most professional development programs in that the value you receive is highly dependent on your commitment to introspection and personal reflection throughout the course. In preparation for the workshop, you will be asked to complete pre-reading assignments and to reflect on a series of questions related to your character and presence as a change management professional.
Workshop
The two-and-a-half-day RYG Workshop begins at 5:30 on a Thursday evening and continues through 5:00PM on Saturday. During that time, you will engage in various activities in order to explore such questions as:
- What is at the core of who I am as a change practitioner (not my long-standing habits or preferences, and not what I do to gain others’ approval)?
- What aspects of my basic nature contribute to or detract from the impact I want to have with leaders?
- What comes from deep within me that, if/when it is expressed, I feel I am generating the greatest value I have to offer?
- What kinds of leaders would value and respect the change professional I have within me, and what do I need to do to secure more working relationships with these leaders?
Re-Entry
It is important to recognize that individuals experience everything from subtle to profound discoveries during the workshop. These insights are not always easy to translate back into your work environment, so the Re-Entry phase of Raising Your Game focuses on just that challenge.
Before you leave the workshop, you will be paired with a fellow participant who will serve as your partner for the first four weeks of re-entry. During this time, you and your partner will be given carefully structured questions to first ponder yourself, and then to discuss with each other. The purpose of these questions is to help you continue to explore how your character and presence can be leveraged to generate greater impact with your clients. You’ll be encouraged to set up phone calls to share your thoughts and discoveries with your partner prior to each of two full cohort calls, which will be scheduled two weeks and four weeks after the workshop, respectively. On these full cohort calls, we will discuss the realities of integrating RYG learning back into your day-to-day change practice.
Finally, you are given the opportunity for a one-on-one coaching session with a member of the Conner Academy staff. Typically, this 90-minute online session is conducted approximately two weeks following the second full cohort re-entry call. The purpose of this session is to further advance your re-entry process and address any outstanding questions you may have.
Logistics
Due to COVID-19 related concerns, the fall 2020 session has been cancelled. 2021 dates will be announced when finalized.