This course will begin with a discussion of the Portfolio’s goals and how State of California executives and senior-level managers can contribute toward achieving these ends. Participants will discuss leadership theory and application, building a vision and mission statement, and setting values and goals for their agency or department in the context of larger statewide initiatives.

This course will examine the characteristics of an organizational culture and explore how different leadership approaches impact organizational culture. Participants will be challenged to examine their individual leadership styles and apply strategic planning techniques to create a sustainable service-based culture.

This course will focus on the essential models for organizational change, planning tools for implementing change and methods for identifying and resolving resistance to change. Participants will critically evaluate the role of a leader as a change agent within an organization and discuss effective methods to incorporate change initiatives in strategies for the enterprise-level.

In this course, participants will discuss establishing effective coaching and mentoring frameworks that foster personal and professional development of employees within state agencies and departments. Application of these frameworks will be viewed in the context of succession planning initiatives and workforce challenges facing the State of California.

In this course, participants will discuss the dynamics of establishing a team-oriented environment that empowers employees; holds them accountable; supports risk-taking; and acknowledges achievements. Topics will include: team building in a diverse workplace and the benefits of team dynamics in addressing statewide initiatives.

In this course, participants will discuss building organization-wide influence through effective communication strategies. Through a variety of application exercises, participants will be challenged to implement engaging communication strategies for communicating the agency or department’s vision and initiatives internally. Topics will include: the keys to effective interpersonal communication as a leader and effective external communication to various public venues — including the media, state legislature and other key stakeholders.

This course will provide a comprehensive method for quantifying leadership efforts at the micro and macro levels. Participants will examine the balanced scorecard and approaches leaders can use to measure the success of their strategic plans. Using case studies and examples of public sector organizations, participants will learn ways in which change initiatives and activities can be effectively measured.

Graduation Celebration for the Leadership for the Government Executive (or LGE) program participants.