Everybody knows a little about a growing field of knowledge called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion but what has your experience involved? In this interactive workshop, participants will take a deep look into our own implicit biases, how they form, how to address them, and how to appreciate our increasingly diverse world. The facilitator will include discussions on the use of pronouns for those with gender non-conforming identities and concepts such as intersectionality. The group will practice how to be more inclusive and create a space where no one is shamed or judged.

Course Offerings

• Lincoln - March 10 or April 16, 2020

Focus on the creative process of writing and creating the “down draft.” You will explore ways to engage readers to accomplish our goals (including using the principles of “plain language”) and focus on revision rather than drafting. Essential email elements and reader-focused strategies for the most effective email communication will be discussed. Enjoy playing with “dental drafts” to learn and review basic writing mechanics. Learn the 20 most common writing errors that can kill our credibility.

Course Offerings

• Lincoln - March 20 & 27, 2020
• York - March 20 & 27, 2020

ecause the quality of our thinking affects the quality of our lives, critical thinking is integral to all that we do. In today’s workplace, critical thinking—the power to comprehend, analyze and evaluate—makes all the difference. This course will examine the role and challenges of critical thinking at work, spotlight wicked obstacles to your thinking and fallacies that can derail you and identify actions to develop your own and others’ critical thinking skills. In addition, we will explore critical thinking as a process of discovery to help you: spot flaws in arguments that others accept without question; find creative, workable solutions where others see only problems; clearly articulate your position; make quicker informed decisions; and take a confident stand for yourself.

Some key topics include:

• Role of critical thinking at work
• Obstacles to critical thinking
• Identifying flaws in thinking
• Using critical thinking to take informed action
• Skills, tools and strategies for critical thinking
• Fostering critical thinking at work

Course Offerings

• Lincoln - April 21 or June 4, 2020

Diversity and inclusion is no longer a matter of compliance but a key business strategy. Studies demonstrate that high-performing organizations are those that support diversity and inclusion, and these organizations are much more likely to meet their business goals including customer service, innovation and employee retention. Unfortunately, Deloitte's Human Capital Trends 2014 report indicates many companies are falling short in this critical area.

According to Dr. Milton Bennett, human beings are not born interculturally attuned. This is a capacity that is developed in individuals and not just through exposure to diverse populations, but through intentional self-reflection that is focused on understanding the similarities and differences in human populations and motivations. Becoming an inclusive leader who understands the complexity of differences in the global environment is a key capacity for business success.

An emotional response is often at the heart of interpersonal and organizational roadblocks to diversity culture change. This 4-part workshop applies the concepts of emotional intelligence to address the essential dilemma of diversity and inclusion: dealing positively with the inherently threatening existence of "people different from us."

Over the course of five - four hour workshops, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the specific aspects of emotional intelligence critical for success in diverse environments, understand Emotional Intelligence and Diversity (EID) and how they shape both personal and professional behavior, use tools to increase competence in the four component areas of EID, and gain insight about your own strengths and areas for development. This model has been used and adapted worldwide.

Emotional intelligence—the ability to recognize, understand and leverage the power of one’s own emotions and influence the emotions of others—better predicts success in every sphere of life than IQ. And, happily, emotional intelligence or EQ can be sharpened with training and practice. This program is designed to start you on the path to EQ mastery.

Specifically, by the end of today’s session you will be able to:

• Appreciate what emotional intelligence means
• Recognize how our emotional health and physical health are related
• Learn techniques to understand, use, and appreciate the role of emotional intelligence in the workplace
• Understand the different emotions and how to manage them
• Create a personal vision statement
• Comprehend the difference between optimism and pessimism
• Validate the emotions of others

Course Offerings

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When we look at the truly extraordinary people who inspire and make a difference you will see that they do this by connecting with people at a personal and emotional level. What differentiates them was not their IQ but their EQ - their emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of and to manage emotions and relationships. It's a pivotal factor in personal and professional success. IQ will get you in the door, but it is your EQ, your ability to connect with others and manage the emotions of yourself and others, that will determine how successful you are in life.

The one-day course is designed to help master the basic concepts and techniques of this critical skill.

Course Offerings

• Beatrice - Feb. 20, 2020
• Lincoln - Feb. 20, 2020

In the workplace, there will always be stressful seasons. Stress is a reality and can never be completely eliminated from one’s life. But understanding one’s own stress response and the stress responses of co-workers provides an opportunity to improve work and home environments. Instead of simply responding to stress, you can learn how to proactively identify and alleviate stress in yourself and in others. Those who attend this class will be given a practical guide to understanding the way different personalities experience stress. We will focus on the different personality stressors, how stress manifests itself, how to respond to someone else’s stress, and ways to avoid increasing someone’s stress. This class easily applies not only to the workplace but also to any interpersonal relationship.

Course Offerings

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Have you ever found yourself irritated by a team member who constantly questions your ideas and always requests to see the research and data to back it up? Do you try and avoid specific people on Monday morning so you don’t get stuck in a 20-minute conversation about “how was your weekend”? After seeing someone’s workspace do you ask yourself “I wonder if their hanging clothes are evenly spaced and organized by color?” Or maybe you’ve questioned how a teammate who works “in an office of chaos and despair” can be so successful in their job? If so, then this class is for you! Understanding how people feel, think and behave is more important to your long-term success than the brains, ambition and skill that got you noticed in the first place. This workshop gives you this understanding by utilizing a tool: Insight Personality Spectrum, a powerful, user-friendly version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Course Offerings

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As a leader, your most powerful tool is the example you set for your co-workers and employees. This course will optimize your personal effectiveness by helping you:

• Appreciate why leading by example matters
• Cement the link between leading by example and personal effectiveness
• Develop your Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
• Adopt a “Growth Mindset”
• Craft a personal mission statement
• Set personal and professional goals
• Make the most of your time
• Make stress work for you
• Conduct meetings that drive results

Course Offerings

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When something goes wrong, do you tend to bounce back or fall apart?

Resilience is that remarkable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. When you have resilience, you harness inner strength that helps you rebound from a setback or challenge, such as a job loss, an illness, a disaster or the death of a loved one. If you lack resilience, you might dwell on problems, feel victimized, become overwhelmed or turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms. Resilience can give you the ability to see past difficult events, find enjoyment in life and better handle stress. This course will define and help you understand resilience, discuss factors that affect how people deal with hardship, and help you develop a personal strategy for enhancing your resilience.

With meetings eating 30 hours or more a month of the average manager’s time, and a constant stream of interruptions gnawing on what’s left, it’s no wonder most leaders find themselves adrift on a sea of stress. This fast-paced program is filled with real-world strategies and tactics for facilitating meetings that get results, making the most of every minute, and reducing the harmful effects of stress on our minds and bodies. Specifically, we’ll show you how to free yourself by learning to manage your energy and not your time, ensure that the most important things at work and at home get done every day and make stress work for you rather than against you.

Course Offerings

• Beatrice - March 19, 2020
• Falls City - March 19, 2020
• Lincoln - March 19, 2020
• Wahoo - March 19, 2020
• York - March 19, 2020

For entrepreneurs, managers or anyone in the workplace, understanding workplace ethics and etiquette is critical to individual and organizational success. Discover new information about the related but different concepts of business ethics and etiquette. Learn the how-to’s of making ethical business decisions. Then find out the five secrets of how to interact properly in business and social settings to improve your communication and networking skills.