Simmons Leadership Conference

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.   SOLD OUT

Enhancing The Leader Within Through Leadership Coaching

Wendy Capland, CEO of Vision Quest Consulting

Masterful leadership requires us to constantly reevaluate and rebuild our individual platform. This coaching workshop will help you enhance the impact of your leadership by reexamining your individual strengths, power, and presence in the context of your role at work.

Enhancing our leadership capacity requires new ways of looking at ourselves and questioning our own firmly held ideas. Come prepared to create a new possibility for yourself as a leader, aligning what you care most about with results you want to create.

This workshop will stimulate your deepest thinking about your leadership and give you new insights that will enable you to grow your leadership, navigate more effectively, and position yourself strategically.

This is a unique professional development experience-creative, powerful, and innovative, with a rich mix of content, small group activities, individual reflection, and spontaneous large group dialogue. You will leave refreshed and energized by interactions with other participants, inspired by fresh insights, and committed to actions that will impact your work, your organization, and your life.

This session, although open to anyone interested in enhancing their leadership ability, is specifically targeted for managers with at least 3 years of experience in a management role with two or more direct reports or for those who are in a individual leadership role with large organizational responsibility and impact.

1:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.   SOLD OUT

Influence Without Authority
Mary Shapiro

Everyone in every organization is trying to do more with less: less money, less people, less time. "Politics" arise as people do "backroom deals" or take advantage of existing relationships to get what they need. So how do you get the resources you need so you/your department can still meet organizational goals, demands, objectives, and advance your agenda… without playing what we often think of as political games?

This session will examine aspects of surviving organizational politics and the need to get the resources you need, both what you need to do every day to build the foundation upon which to influence others (how to build your power base and your credibility), and how to strengthen your relationships so people want to say "yes" to your requests.

We'll look at how to actually influence others by making a request in the most compelling language possible. We'll use the Communication Styles Diagnostic to identify how you prefer to communicate, but then use that diagnostic to understand how the person you are attempting to influence prefers to communicate. By adjusting your message to their style, you will speak in "their language" and be more successful.

Prior to the session you will need to complete the five minute diagnostic on line. During the session you will apply each step of the influence process to someone in your organization that you need to influence….so come with that person in mind. You'll leave with an action plan for success.

3:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.

It's All About Sales: Funnel, Process, Pitch, and Close

Teresa Nelson and Nancy Buzby

No matter your level or position in the organization, your job in business today, everyday, is about moving someone's heart, mind, and resources from here — to there, i.e., making the sale.

While traditionally defined in a very narrow fashion as the transaction moment when the customer makes a commitment to purchase, research and training on sales now says it's that, but so much more – we're all in sales regardless of our setting, job title and responsibilities. The process and possible applications for sales are much wider and can deliver a fuller range of benefits to you than you're likely to know. These are ideas you can put to work immediately and throughout your career.

This interactive session will share with you how a great sales process happens from top to bottom in an organization. We will review and discuss the sales funnel and the component organizational pieces that allow you and your team to identify new business and move the relationship to fruition. We will engage you in the practice of sales – one-on-one and in small groups. Techniques and scripts for the pitch and the close will be shared. All of us have to dig down deep and realize we can inspire and motivate others to see the world the way we do, to adopt the vision we have developed. The heart of the pitch is delivering this narrative and the heart of the close is bringing the other person along with you. This skill set is one of the most valuable for any person who intends to have an impact with their ideas in the workplace.

This session is designed primarily for those who aren't in sales and haven't received prior sales training. You may aspire to a sales position, be interested in developing your business development expertise, or generally, just want a fuller understanding of the process and know you could be more effective in "closing your deals", whatever their nature.