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- https://sou.edu/university-advancement/professional-development/workshops/
- https://sou.edu/university-advancement/professional-development/workshops/

Workshops and Leadership Series
SOU Professional Development is excited for the line up of the workshops and series coming up in 2023, see below for details.
SOU offers custom workshops as well, so please email us at professional@sou.edu to set up a time to meet with Stacey to discuss this further.
Contact: Stacey Derrig
Phone: 541.552.8118
Email: derrigs@sou.edu
Professional Development Workshops 2022-2023
Register here for workshops, or contact Stacey at professional@sou.edu to ask about a subscription.
Strategic Communication for New Leaders - September 13, 2022 (virtual)
Date & Time: September 13, 2022 at 8:30 to 11:30 am
Cost: $245 for this workshop (There are 3 more virtual workshops. Register for more than one and receive a discount for $465 for two; $680 for three; $895 for all four virtual workshops)
Location: Virtual/Zoom
Description: With the recent ‘Great Resignation’ or ongoing retirements, a whole new generation of employees are making the transition from team member to manager. Whether it is navigating the tricky buddy to boss dynamic or transitioning from technical expert to leader, managers at every level must learn how to communicate more strategically. Today’s workforce is undergoing turbulent times and developing strategic communication skills are no longer only for senior executives but essential management skills.
Leaders at every level need to know how to deliver the right message, to the right audience at the right time. Strategic communication can be complex; and it is more than restating a company vision statement. When managers understand they have a role in strategic communication they can help staff navigate change, provide reliable guidance, and raise business issues to leadership with confidence.
In this workshop, attendees will learn where managers sit in the cross section of strategic communication. Using scenarios common to first time or transitioning managers participants will apply a model for strategic communication. This workshop will be collaborative, and learners will engage with each other in group discussions and activities sharing their experience in communicating strategically. After this workshop, attendees will have more confidence in their ability to communicate strategically with their team members, to other managers and among senior leaders. Workshop facilitated by Mrs. Rosemary McCollister.
Thriving in Changing Times – Innovation and Emotional Resilience - October 11, 2022 (virtual)
Date & Time: October 11, 2022 at 8:30 to 11:30 am
Cost: $245 for this workshop (There are 3 more virtual workshops. Register for more than one and receive a discount for $465 for two; $680 for three; $895 for all four virtual workshops)
Location: Virtual/Zoom
Description: An organization’s success depends on its ability to adapt to a changing environment and coordinate many moving parts. On top of the burden of managing your own internal emotions and the unpredictability of the future, managing an entire team and their fluctuating feelings and varying needs can feel overwhelming for a leader.
How well do you handle the pressures of leading a stressed-out and anxious team? How innovative are you and your team during ambiguous times? An innovative leader focuses on taking risks, spurring colleagues’ ingenuity and autonomous thought. Knowledge is valued, and challenges are viewed as learning opportunities.
This session focuses on the emotional intelligence skills needed to cultivate resilience and be innovative while leading others during changing times. The result: leaders develop more grit, teams become more adaptable, and innovation flourishes. We will show you how to ensure your business remains profitable and productive by keeping your fingers on your organization’s pulse and staying akin to your people. Led by Carolyn Stern.
The Emotionally Strong Leader with Carolyn Stern (5 part series October 20 to December 15, 2022 (virtual))
Date & Time: October 20, November 3 & 17, and December 1 & 15, 2022 at 8:30 to 11:00 am (Please contact Stacey at professional@sou.edu if you would like to register for the remainder of the sessions since the series has started)
Cost: $1,050 (included Carolyn Stern’s book The Emotionally Strong Leader, An Inside-Out Journey to Transformational Leadership, workbook, and access to online program)
Location: Virtual/Zoom
Description: Are you an emotionally strong leader?
Many see the words “emotional” and “strong” as contradictory terms that do not belong together when describing leaders who can transform their own lives, the lives of their colleagues, and the future of their business for the better.
After all, how can anything to do with feelings be the key to unlocking personal and collective success?
Well, it’s essential to learn how to be in the driver’s seat of your feelings and understand how to lead with a strong mind and a kind heart while using a set of clear, simple, and tested skills and strategies. Doing so will allow you to connect more authentically and communicate more effectively with your coworkers and teams. This kind of connection and communication will create an environment of trust and belonging that will spur engagement, spike curiosity, and engender fraternity among team members. That is what leading with emotional intelligence (EI) looks like, and this five-part series teaches you how to enhance your EI skills and become the emotionally strong leader you always envisioned you could be.
Working in tandem with the book, The Emotionally Strong Leader, An Inside-Out Journey to Transformational Leadership, we will cover the six-step self-coaching model to enhance your emotional intelligence. Coaching yourself through the model will help you uncover your barriers to growth and change, set goals for yourself, and tap into your motivation, giving you the tools and drive to manage the hurdles life throws at you. As life changes and your emotions evolve, this framework will continue to serve you as a powerful tool you can continually call upon throughout the seasons of your life. Led by Carolyn Stern.
Dynamic Empowerment: Creating a Winning Environment for High and Low Performers - November 10, 2022 (in person)
Date & Time: November 10, 2022, at 8:30 to 12:30 pm
Cost: $285 for this workshop (There are two other in-person workshops in February and April. Register for more than one and receive a discount of $535 for two or $785 for all three)
Location: Higher Education Center in Medford
Description: Leaders and managers regularly report that effectively managing the performance of both high and low performers while implementing successful empowerment processes are some of the most challenging aspects of their job. The Dynamic Empowerment course provides specific tools, techniques, and processes for managing people based on their performance level, capacity, and mindset. Drawing upon leadership practices used by today’s top organizations, this course provides participants a practical set of methods they can begin to apply immediately in their own work environments. Led by Christopher Harding.
Coaching with Emotional Intelligence with Carolyn Stern (3 part series January 11,18 & 25, 2023 (virtual)
Date & Time: January 11, 18, and 25, 2023 at 8:30 to 11:30 am
Cost: $735
Location: Virtual/Zoom
Description: Coaching enables others to be their best self. Your employees yearn to be happy – satisfied at work and in their relationships. The best teams and organizations rely on you as the professional to help employees be more successful, engaged and productive at work.
This 3-part series provides managers and team leaders with the steps and skills they need to coach others so they can have coaching conversations that focus on helping people uncover their barriers to growth and change, giving them the tools to manage the hurdles life throws at them, Coaching also helps people understand their talents, leveraging them and turning them into strengths so that each employee walks away motivated, engaged, and committed to their job, their teams, and the organization.
To ensure that your leaders can immediately implement coaching into their daily routines, we will provide an opportunity to practice coaching and apply what they have learned in each of the three 3-hour sessions. The practical portion of each workshop will ensure your leaders are knowledgeable and confident in their ability to continue to engage in powerful coaching conversations. Led by Carolyn Stern.
Dare to Lead™ - Become a More Courageous Leader - January to February 2023 (virtual)
Dates: January 10 to February 28, 2023 with Cynthia Scherr
Time: Tuesdays 3 – 5:30 pm via Zoom
Immerse yourself in the work of Brené Brown and become Dare to Lead™ Trained!
Earn a Dare to Lead™ Trained certificate and badge for your LinkedIn profile or website. Classes use Dare to Lead™ videos and a workbook available only to Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitators. Each class covers courage building skills and in-depth work on applying those skills as a leader. We cover Armored to Daring Leadership, Grounded Confidence, Self-Awareness and Emotional Literacy, Shame Resilience, Living into our Values, Rumbling Skills, Braving Trust and Learning to Rise. Each class requires about 30 minutes of preparation. Limited to 20 participants.
Click here for more details
Click here to register.
What people say about the course: Our entire leadership team took the Dare to Lead course with Cynthia. As a manufacturer, we are pretty good at engineering the vulnerability out of systems, but to speak up and be vulnerable in leadership is hard. DTL has given us the tools to do just that.
Nature of Leading™ - February 16, 2023 (in person)
Date & Time: February 16, 2023 at 8:30 am to 12:30 pm
Cost: $285 for this workshop
(There are two other in-person workshops in November and April. Register for more than one and receive a discount of $535 for two or $785 for all three)
Location: Higher Education Center in Medford
Description: Nature of Leading™ explores the foundations of leading teams, building a healthy culture, and gaining tools to support your ongoing skill and abilities development. We break down the components of trust and utilize scenarios to determine where trust transaction missteps occur. We discover why courage is essential in the workplace and our roles as leaders fostering courageous conversations. Next, we explore our values and their alignment with our organization and teams. Lastly, we round out the course by unpacking our current ways of supporting and encouraging a team wellbeing culture underpinned by our team trust, courage, and values to promote employee engagement, productivity, and thriving. Led by Dr. Lucy Houghton.
Leading Teams with Emotional Intelligence - March 8, 2023 (virtual)
Date & Time: March 8, 2023 at 8:30 am to 11:30 am
Cost: $245 for this workshop (There are 3 more virtual workshops. Register for more than one and receive a discount for $465 for two; $680 for three; $895 for all four virtual workshops)
Location: Virtual/Zoom
Description: In Leading Teams with Emotional Intelligence, participants will discover how their advanced emotional intelligence pertains to them as professionals, how they can begin to apply it to enhance their leadership capabilities, and how their leadership impacts their teams and organization.
Participants will learn extensively about the four dimensions of transformational leadership and the underlying aspects emotional intelligence plays in leading teams. The learners will refresh and practice applying their EI skills in discussions, role-plays, and demonstrations.
The workshop will not only address how emotional intelligence impacts their leadership and dive deeper into the importance of balancing one’s EQ levels to maximize leadership potential. During this module, participants will be faced with activities where they need to identify how leaders are viewed by their subordinates when an imbalance of competencies is present and then apply what they have learned to focus on balancing their own EQ levels. Led by Carolyn Stern.
The Power of Mindset: Effectively Resolving Conflicts Through Mindfulness - April 20, 2023 (in person)
Date & Time: April 20, 2023, at 8:30 am to 12:30 pm
Cost: $285 for this workshop (There are two other in-person workshops in November and February. Register for more than one and receive a discount of $535 for two or $785 for all three)
Location: Higher Education Center in Medford
Description: Studies show that 85% of the productivity losses and breakdowns in organizations are due to misunderstandings or conflict between people, teams, or departments. The Power of Mindset course provides practical steps used in today’s top organizations for quickly, effectively, and productively resolving conflicts between individuals or groups, including well-established mindfulness practices that create a supportive brain and biochemical state that enhances whole-brained thinking and solution orientation. Led by Christopher Harding.
Creating High Performing Teams - May 10, 2023 (virtual)
Date & Time: May 10, 2023 at 8:30 to 11:30 am
Cost: $245 for this workshop (There are 3 more virtual workshops. Register for more than one and receive a discount for $465 for two; $680 for three; $895 for all four virtual workshops)
Location: Virtual/Zoom
Description: Learning how to work well together is vital with the vast network of people connected to your organization. People in the workplace talk about building a team and working as a team, but few understand how to develop a capable team.
Building high-performing teams is the foundation of all successful organizations, and learning how to work well together is vital. In the broadest sense, belonging to a team is a result of feeling part of something larger than yourself. When team members feel connected, their emotional investment towards the group increases, and so does their commitment to their high functioning team.
Join us and learn how to create a real sense of community within your working teams. In this workshop, you and your team will assess the current teams in your organization and learn valuable tips on increasing team cohesion. Your leaders will walk away understanding group dynamics, the stages of team development, and how to lead high-performing teams throughout your organization successfully. Led by Carolyn Stern.
Past Workshop Topics
- Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Leadership
- The Four C’s of Wellness
- Emotional Intelligence and Success in the Workplace
- Using Emotional Intelligence to Give, Receive and Solicit Feedback
- Common Ground Conversations on Race
- Resolving Conflict Through Mastering Difficult Conversations
- Cultivating Emotional Resilience
- Engaging Remotely Using Emotional Intelligence
- Conscious Communication
- Mindful Leadership and Communication
- Creating a Culture of Innovation & Positivity
- Developing Intelligent Teams: How to Maximize Impact and Get Results
- Thriving in the Midst of Change While Maintaining Work-Life Quality
- It’s a Matter of Mindset: Three Critical Perspectives that Drive Effective Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)
- Project Management Fundamentals
- Presentation Skills for Professionals
- It’s a Matter of Mindset: Three Critical Perspectives that Drive Effective Quality & Continuous Improvement
- Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
- Project Management and Metrics
- Responsibility, Empowerment, and Accountability: Three Secrets Effective Leaders Know and Apply
Other Workshops to Meet Your Needs
Do you have other management training needs specific to your leadership team? What are your development needs and goals? Do you need help with strategically planning your development? Our network of professional development specialists can build content especially for you. We can also pull in topic specialists from across the Northwest to meet specialized needs. Email: professional@sou.edu
For more information or to talk strategy call 541.552.8118 (Stacey) or email professional@sou.edu .
What Workshop Attendees are Saying
“It was well worth the price of admission and the 3 hours dedicated to it! The instructor, Carolyn Stern, was fantastic! This was one of the best workshops I’ve ever attended. I highly recommend we pay attention to these workshops SOU has to offer.” – Brenda
“As someone who is not a fan of virtual workshops, Carolyn is by far the best online instructor that I have ever attended a virtual class with. Her classes are informative, interactive, and engaging where there are always some great takeaways afterwards. I highly recommend her workshops, as the skills I have gained are critical to anyone looking to enhance their leadership abilities.” – Carrie
Contact University Advancement
Plunkett Center
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
Phone: 541.552.6127
Email: soufoundation@sou.edu
