High Performance Leadership

Description

The High Performance Leadership certificate program is your path from yesterday’s passive model of leadership to the proactive leadership skills you need to thrive in today’s uncertain and ultra-competitive environment. The High Performance Leadership certificate program is a thorough and interactive guide to becoming a high-performing proactive leader in any functional context within an organization—from the C-suite to operations, HR, IT, manufacturing, and beyond.

Leadership is not an attitude. It is a rigorous discipline that has to be learned and applied from the ground up. The discipline of leadership has become more difficult to master in an age of perpetual change, shrinking resources, and complex geopolitics.

To thrive, leaders must develop four proactive skills. They must be able to:

• Mobilize coalitions with diverse agendas, needs, and wants
Sustain momentum in order to execute strategy even as the environment shifts
• Develop and lead people through coaching relationships
• Negotiate across and beyond organizational boundaries in a flat, networked environment.

With the completion of the ten-course sequence in the High Performance Leadership series, your organization will have the type of high-performance leaders who can assure:

• Organizational Agility; more nimble and innovative, with greater responsiveness to changes in the market.
• A Culture of Execution; fewer initiatives stuck in functional silos; decreased redundancy.
• Engaged Employees; improved results with fewer or scarcer resources.
• Leaders who Develop the Talent of Others; a shared language and vocabulary for how to lead.

Who Should Enroll in This Certificate?

This certificate is designed for managers and leaders who are already functional experts but need to become high-performance leaders—leaders who can advance an agenda, sustain momentum, negotiate for resources, coach others to achieve their potential, and, above all, execute.

Enrollment

To register, contact an Enrollment Counselor at info@ecornell.com or 1-866-326-7635 (+1-607-330-3200 from outside the United States).

Certificate programs are eligible for eCornell Payment Plans. Discounts are available for military personnel, veterans, and Cornell University Alumni. eCornell programs are not eligible for financial aid or federal Pell Grants. Contact an enrollment counselor for more information.

Courses in this Certificate

• Developing an Agenda for Change

  • The many economic, competitive, and global factors that influence how organizations conduct business are constantly changing and evolving. The ability of organizations to understand these influences on their organizations and to respond to and adapt to these changes is critical for long-term growth and survival.

    This course discusses change as a political process driven by individuals and leaders within the organization who emerge as change agents. To be effective, individuals must recognize the areas within the organization over which they can exercise control and the areas over which they cannot.

    Course Format

    All eCornell courses are delivered online and are self-paced. An eCornell instructor leads the online discussions, grades any course projects, and is available to answer specific questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Analyzing the Change Environment
      • The role of the change agent as a proactive thinker
      • Implementing a 3-step model for change
      • Analyzing the nature of the change environment in which you operate
      • Analyzing the specific nature of the environmental uncertainties In which your organization operates
    • Identifying Change Opportunities
      • Analyzing how loosely or tightly coupled your organizational structure should be
      • Identifying opportunities for change within the four main spheres of organization and execution within which the change agent can effect change
      • Outlining a plan for change within your organization that addresses one or more of those spheres

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Evaluate their organization's environment
    • Identify opportunities for change
    • Understand change as a process of negotiation
    • Develop an agenda for action based on the goals, culture, design, and work structure of the organization
    
    
• Mapping the Political Terrain of Allies and Resistors

  • Implementing an agenda for action is a political process driven by individuals within the organization who emerge as change agents. Essential to their success is the understanding that all new initiatives attract both allies and resistors.

    This course teaches leaders how to frame their agenda in a way that helps them identify and assess potential allies and resistors to their initiatives. With this understanding participants will be able to anticipate and prepare for arguments resistors may use in their attempts to derail the initiative.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Framing Your Change Agenda
      • Change agendas and styles
      • Four change mind-sets
    • Meeting the Challenge of Different Change Agendas
      • Strategies for recognizing allies and resistors
      • Identifying key stakeholders
      • Analyzing the change mind-sets of potential allies and resistors
      • Anticipating arguments against your change agenda

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Map the allies, potential allies, and the resistors to their initiative
    • Assess the attitude toward change of various actors in the organization
    • Identify various agendas and styles
    • Anticipate arguments against the agenda for action
    • Explain the need for a coalition of support
    
    
• Negotiating Support and Buy-In for Your Agenda

  • In these highly uncertain and turbulent times, going it alone is no longer a route to success; as a result, effective leaders build coalitions of support for their agenda and change initiatives. Leaders develop such coalitions by establishing their own credibility and the credibility of their agenda.

    This course, the third in the series, "Getting Things Done in Organizations: Creating Change and Building Support," is designed to:

    • Help learners develop a "roadmap" for negotiating support for their action agenda
    • Convey an understanding of the principles of bargaining power and influence in the process of negotiating a strategic initiative
    • Help learners apply this conceptual model to their action agenda in their organization
    • Help learners analyze the political agendas of others in the organization, identify sources of support for their agenda, and develop a strategy for building support for their initiative
    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Why You Need a Change
      • Coalition Conditions that necessitate coalitions
      • Power dynamics and credibility
      • Understanding and communicating the benefits of your agenda to others
    • Negotiating Support for Your Initiative
      • Strategies for gaining initial support for your agenda
      • Justifying your actions
    • How to Negotiate a Coalition of Support
      • When to use tacit or explicit language to present your agenda
      • Approaches to communicating your agenda
      • Developing a negotiation strategy appropriate to your agenda

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Describe why coalitions are critical to taking effective action
    • Describe how coalitions increase your bargaining power
    • Analyze the types of initial support you can build
    • Develop strategies for getting initial support for your agenda
    • Identify communications approaches that will be most effective
    • Outline a strategy for getting others to buy-in to your agenda
    
    
• Mobilizing the Coalition for Action

  • In most organizations, it is no longer sufficient to identify what needs to get done, and how it should get done. A leader must have the skills to implement his or her initiative and to overcome the dynamics of opposition and resistance that exist in every organization.

    This course is designed to help learners:

    • Apply the leadership style appropriate to the situation
    • Put a change coalition into place
    • React to changing conditions in the organization to ensure successful implementation
    • Anticipate and prepare for the future
    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • The Essentials of Coalition Leadership
      • Solidifying your coalition
      • Managing differences among coalition members
      • Diffusing your ideas and expanding your network
    • Pitfalls to Avoid and Leading for the Long Term
      • Strategies for preventing your coalition from becoming insular
      • Avoiding complacency and differentiating your coalition
      • Negotiating changing conditions and uncertainties
      • Political analysts, consensus builders, and politically competent leaders

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Solidify their coalition
    • Map differences among coalition members
    • Propagate ideas and diversify their network
    • Identify the two dimensions of coalition leadership
    • Avoid traps of insular coalitions
    • Recognize and respond to changing conditions within the organization
    • Employ a Change Outcome Matrix and respond to different outcomes
    • Effect ongoing and proactive change
    
    
• Establishing Momentum: Managing Structure, Resources, and Performance

  • Effective leaders not only develop good ideas and create action, but also implement the ideas and sustain action. You can be charismatic. You can be charming. But your skill as a manager will be evaluated in terms of your ability to get things done.

    Once you have gotten an initiative off the ground, you need to ensure that your coalition has the ability to produce results and drive momentum. A proactive leader must have the managerial competence to build the coalition’s capacity to keep the initiative moving forward and growing, and the performance-management skills to keep it operating effectively.

    This course is designed to help learners:

    • Develop a “roadmap” for establishing momentum for their coalition’s agenda
    • Apply facilitative and directive leadership styles appropriately in teams and organizations
    • Maintain organizational capacity in order to allocate resources and prioritize effectivelyMonitor performance in order to evaluate progress and make corrections
    • Apply these skills to a change agenda in their organization
    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Managing for Momentum
    • The need for both political and managerial competence
    • The four dimensions of momentum
    • Facilitative vs. directive leadership
    • Structural Momentum
    • Creating hierarchies, while sustaining groups
    • Providing resources without going too far
    • Giving autonomy and defining parameters
    • Performance Momentum
    • Being clear about results, while remaining objective
    • Making adjustments without over-reacting

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Describe the dimensions of effective leadership and their implication on the long-term success of their agenda
    • Identify the four dimensions of momentum and explain why you need to manage all four to ensure the success of your agenda
    • Choose facilitative and directive leadership approaches, as appropriate
    • Recognize and respond appropriately to changing conditions within the organization
    • Balance multiple considerations in building and maintaining the capacity of their organization
    • Evaluate performance and make corrections
    
    
• Sustaining Momentum: Motivating Through Vision, Culture, and Political Agility

  • Leaders need to provide the vision, exercise political agility, and establish the organizational culture necessary to keep their initiatives vital and moving forward. Proactive leaders must have the skills to keep the “soul” of their coalition alive and relevant to the needs of the organization.

    This course is designed to help learners:

    • Manage organizational culture to sustain momentum.
    • Become politically agile in ensuring continued support for their agenda.
    • Manage their coalition—and their agenda—for the long-term.
    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Cultural Momentum
    • Creating a problem-solving culture
    • Developing the collective while supporting the individual
    • Celebrating results without "worshiping idols"
    • Political Momentum
    • Keep the coalition mindset alive
    • Don’t feed the Trojan horse
    • Beware of counter-coalitions
    • Proactive Leadership
    • Putting your agenda together, from idea to implementation
    • Planning your next agenda and leveraging current success.

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner
    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Create a culture of motivation that helps people learn and problem-solve while providing opportunities for affiliation and re-affirmation
    • Become politically agile: anticipate conflict and continuously mobilize support to ensure that their agenda remains vital
    • Build on current success and plan their next agenda
    • Focus on the big picture - from acting on an idea to implementing for long-term results - in their organization
    
    
• Preparing for Negotiations

  • Negotiation is a basic leadership skill that all successful managers need. However, many of us suffer from common misconceptions about negotiators and negotiations. Before you can become an effective and proactive negotiator, you need to confront these myths, put them to rest, and learn the skills that are critical to anticipating, analyzing, and preparing for negotiations.

    This course focuses on how to prepare to negotiate and develops the skills to become a proactive negotiator. Proactive negotiation skills enable managers and other organizational leaders to adjust to changing business situations while keeping key personnel motivated and committed. Skilled negotiators know when to negotiate and how to frame the negotiation to improve their bargaining position. This course will teach you how to evaluate the best way to resolve differences and how to strategically prepare for negotiation before you get to the table.

    You will develop the skills you need to craft a negotiation strategy that takes into account the nature of your relationship with the other party, whether or not they are the right negotiating partner, the options and issues under consideration (and how to categorize and prioritize them), and the bargaining power of each party. Specifically, you will learn to evaluate people, anticipate their negotiation styles, and appreciate the cultural context of the negotiation.

    This course will provide you with a practical and effective framework and toolset to prepare for all types of negotiations, ranging from power negotiations to problem-solving negotiations and mixes of the two. It is based upon the academic and applied research of the Cornell ILR School’s Professor Samuel Bacharach and makes extensive use of real-world examples and situations, advice and insight from negotiation experts, and opportunities to apply and practice the skills in authentic situations.

    Course Format

    All eCornell courses are delivered online and are self-paced. An eCornell instructor leads the online discussions, grades any course projects, and is available to answer specific questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Proactive Negotiation
    • Introducing Proactive Negotiations
    • To Negotiate or Not
    • The Proactive Negotiator
    • Framing the Negotiation
    • Analyzing the Situation
    • Categorizing the Issues
    • Prioritizing the Issues
    • Alternatives and Bargaining Power
    • Knowing With Whom You’re Dealing
    • Negotiating with the Right Person
    • Personality and Negotiation Style
    • Understanding Their Culture

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner
    Participants who complete this course will be able to:

    • Assess your needs and alternatives
    • Assess the other parties' needs and alternatives
    • Determine when to negotiate
    • Anticipate power, personality, and cultural issues that may affect negotiations
    
    
• Tactics and Skills for Negotiating

  • Successful negotiation demands the flawless execution of a well-crafted strategy. This course develops the skills necessary to ensure that you can think both strategically and tactically at the negotiation table and master the techniques and maneuvers that will determine your success or failure.

    This course provides a practical framework for managing negotiations that can be used in almost any type of negotiation. This course clearly guides you through the process of negotiating to ensure that you are able to execute your strategy and achieve your objectives. How a negotiation starts can significantly affect how it ends; this course ensures that you are able to set the initial tone for your negotiations, decide whether you should make the first move, determine how to present your proposals, and establish your negotiation style. It also provides tools to ensure that your ego does not impair your ability to gain your desired outcome.

    Once the negotiation has commenced, this course fully explores strategies and tactics for engaging the other party to ensure that you understand their position, can elicit additional information from them, and present your own arguments most effectively. This course focuses on developing an increased capacity to listen, ask proactive questions that will move the agenda forward, and make the appropriate arguments to achieve your objectives. Bluffing is explored in detail to provide you with mastery of the concept so you can determine if and when it is an appropriate tactic to use in a variety of situations. The strategic use of emotional expression is also explored as a potentially advantageous tactic. Finally, effective closing techniques are discussed in detail to help ensure that you end up with a negotiated agreement that meets all your objectives.

    This course is based upon the academic and applied research of the Cornell ILR School’s Professor Samuel Bacharach and makes extensive use of real-world examples and situations, advice and insight from negotiation experts, and opportunities to apply and practice the skills in authentic situations.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Getting Started
    • Avoiding the ego trap
    • Establishing setting and tone
    • Making the first move
    • Deciding how many issues to put on the table
    • Being cooperative or competitive
    • Engaging the Other Party
    • Being a Proactive Listener
    • Asking Proactive Questions
    • Making Proactive Arguments
    • Knowing When to Bluff
    • Using emotions effectively
    • Closing the deal

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    Learners who complete this course will be able to:

    • Avoid the dangers of ego
    • Establish the negotiation setting and make the first move
    • Decide whether to be cooperative or competitive
    • Use proactive arguments, questions, and emotions to engage the other party
    • Close negations effectively

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• The Coaching Mindset for Engaging and Developing Others

  • Being a proactive coach is a fundamental component to being a good leader in the workplace. Coaching implies that leaders not only supervise, but develop the capacities and skills of all employees. A coaching mindset implies that leaders approach employees not simply as subordinates, but protégés, resources to be developed and expanded. Coaching is critical to good workplace leadership. In developing this course, Samuel Bacharach, McKelvey-Grant Professor at Cornell University, and Yael Bacharach, MA, LCSW, appreciate that not all styles of coaching are suitable for the workplace, and distill three decades of academic and business research into coaching best practices most appropriate for organizational leaders. The course emphasizes the importance of supplementing the traditional supervisory mindset with the coaching mindset.

    The course draws upon a variety of examples to illustrate coaching in an organizational context, and details the four functions of coaching in an easy-to-understand and practical context. The course takes a step-by-step approach through the five rules of the coaching dialogue and illuminates effective techniques for listening, asking questions, and providing feedback. The course provides a wealth of tools and processes, including instruction on how to recognize and use the language of coaching and balance the different functions of coaching.

    Through coaching, leaders are able to support and encourage their team members to learn skills and acquire knowledge that helps improve job performance. Coaching works laterally too, in that a leader can apply coaching techniques when working with colleagues. The organization as a whole benefits from a solid coaching culture. Without the right coaching principles in place, employees may not reach their full proactive capacity, rendering the organization less able to execute its goals. This course goes beyond the basics and offers detailed instruction on maximizing the proactive capacity of employees by showing leaders how to integrate the coaching mindset into their leadership style.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • The Role of the Coach
    • The Sports Coach and the Workplace Coach
    • The Coaching Mindset
    • The Four Functions of Coaching
    • Personal Integrity and the Coaching Dialogue
    • The Role of Personal Integrity in Coaching
    • Listening and Reflecting in the Coaching Dialogue
    • Questioning and Providing Feedback in the Coaching Dialogue
    • Classic Mistakes in Coaching Dialogue

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Define coaching in terms of the organizational context, differentiating the coaching mindset from the supervisory mindset
    • Apply the listening, questioning, and feedback skills necessary to facilitate the coaching dialogue
    • Assist others in building their proactive capacities

    
    
• The Coaching Process for Engaging and Developing Others

  • Leaders who have learned to develop a coaching mindset, studied coaching functions, and practiced the coaching dialogue in The Coaching Mindset, can continue their studies here by examining the coaching process. This course, developed by Samuel Bacharach, McKelvey-Grant Professor at Cornell University, and Yael Bacharach, MA, LCSW, teaches the essential steps of coaching. As in The Coaching Mindset, the authors realize that in the workplace not all coaching approaches are appropriate, and have developed a model process which is uniquely applicable for organizational settings.

    The course walks through the process of goal setting in each of the four arenas of coaching; helps you to understand the framing, prioritization, and execution of goals for your subordinates; and addresses roadblocks that appear throughout the coaching process. After taking this course, leaders will understand everything from how to help their protégés with specific work and personal issues to how to leverage coaching to become a high-performance leader within the organization. Leaders will come away with a deep understanding of how to work with their protégés on overcoming blocks and obstacles, providing their protégés appropriate feedback, and helping their protégés with goal setting and skill development. The coaching process specified in this course will enhance not only the leadership capacity of the coach, but also the proactive capacity of the protégé. Coaching is no longer a luxury. It is a tool that leaders must have when trying to get top performance from everyone in the organization. Successful organizations are those that make coaching part and parcel of their organizational culture.

    This course will give leaders additional tools for working effectively within their organizational culture and building the proactive capacity of individuals and the organization alike.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Clarifying Goals
    • Fundamentals of the Coaching Process
    • Understanding Goals in Terms of the Four Arenas
    • Clarifying Goals in Each Arena
    • Coaching the Protege to Action
    • Addressing Blocks and Achieving Goals Through the Coaching Process
    • External Problems and Obstacles
    • Internal Blocks
    • Goal Achievement

    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    After completing this course, participants will be able to:

    • Use the coaching process successfully in a workplace relationship
    • Work with a protege to cultivate a vision of the future, while working effectively with the immediate situation

    
    

Accreditation / CEUs

HRCI Recertification

The courses in this certificate series have each been approved for six (6) Strategic Management recertification credit hours toward SPHR and GPHR recertification and six (6) recertification credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute. Please contact the Human Resource Certificate Institute (HRCI) for further information about certification or recertification.

Accreditation

Participants who successfully complete all ten courses in this certificate series will receive a Certificate in High Performance Leadership from Cornell University.

Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) will give .6 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) to each student who successfully completes each course. Students can apply to the ILR School for the CEU units after they have successfully completed the courses.