Upcoming Virtual Programs

Special VIRTUAL program

Now, more than ever, our kids need us to help lead them in intentional ways. Make Words Matter with Kids is a practical approach to parenting and teaching to increase connection and decrease frustration between adult and child. Although engaging with kids can seem easy to some people, connecting with and getting kids to listen on a daily basis is among the most frustrating issues for parents and teachers alike. Beyond this, behavior problems in kids can lead to decreased productivity at work due to high levels of stress or absenteeism. By learning the inside scoop for why children behave (and misbehave), and better ways of reaching all kids, adults can decrease stress while also maximizing leadership potential in youth.

Learning Outcomes:

• Describe the three reasons why children behave inappropriately in a variety of situations and how adult behaviors impact this.
• Explain the importance of pairing with children and demonstrate the ability to pair with children and others.
• Demonstrate the ability to engage in creating an effective routine by identifying preferred activities and non-preferred activities.
• Integrate their current perspective in relating with kids when problem behavior arises in the home, school, or community.

This Program is Ideal for: Parents, mentors, teachers, staff members are all welcome to attend! Anyone who has influence over children.

COST: Special Programs are free for SLA Members, $25 non-members, $15 non-profits.  *scholarships are available

About Our Facilitator

Dr. Beth Trammell is an experienced clinician who has worked with kids and families for over 15 years in a variety of settings, including private practice, residential treatment, school-based, and outpatient clinics. Author of the recently released book, Make Words Matter: A straightforward, logical approach to take your kids from frustrating to connecting and listening. She has extensive experience in working with severe emotional-behavioral disorders, including children with autism spectrum disorders. She is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Masters in Mental Health Counseling Program at Indiana University East where she has conducted research over the last 8 years to examine a cost-effective model for parent training in an outpatient setting. She has presented her research and clinical findings at regional, national and international conferences. Her passion and enthusiasm is evident in her training style at community-based workshops that she has been hosting, as well as her creative and engaging blog posts, Facebook videos and Podcast – which can be found at www.makewordsmatterforgood.com

Special VIRTUAL program

Especially after the COVID-19 crisis, digital communication is more relevant than ever. This session focuses on how we can collaborate, communicate, trust and value each other in and out of the workplace. We can improve our digital body language; whether it be by sending a great email or leading a successful meeting. Discussing our digital communication can create a more productive, efficient, and pleasant environment.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the four laws of communication:
  1. Value Visibly
  2. Communicate Carefully
  3. Collaborate Confidently
  4. Trust Totally
• Learn the barriers to digital communication and how to overcome them.
• Discuss ways to improve digital body language.

COST: This is a free program. Registration is required.

About Our Facilitator

Ravleen Ahuha is Shafer Leadership Academy’s 2021 virtual program summer intern and is an Arts Management Major at IU Bloomington.

Virtual coffee talk

Crushing debt, career stress, marriages on life support, job loss, toxic friendships. It’s no wonder that so many people are suffering from a life that is full of stress and severely out of balance. We all want certainty, predictability, and safety. But how to get there? In this session we will explore ways to calm the chaos and create a solid, supportive lifestyle that you love by implementing the concepts of Oola* in order to live a life that is balanced and growing. By evaluating 7 key areas of life—fitness, finance, family, faith, field (your career), friends, and fun—you’ll discover 3 simple steps to balance and grow in an unbalanced world, uncover blockers that might be holding you back, and be inspired to take steps that will ultimately lead you to live your dream life. You were designed for greatness and a purpose. Don’t settle for ordinary when extraordinary is within you!

*What is Oola? Simply put, Oola is a life that is balanced and growing in the key areas of health, finances, career, relationships, and well-being. This session will show you how to make the ultimate plan for achieving balance in an unbalanced world.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will discover 7 major areas of life that may be out of balance and likely causing additional stress in their lives.
2. Participants will learn a proven step-by-step formula for setting goals and deciding what to work on first.
3. Participants will be guided through developing a comprehensive “wants” list—and a plan for achieving those wants in their finances, health, career, relationships, leisure pursuits, and more

This program is ideal for: 

• This session is ideal for those who feel like life has become more stressful over the past months. They feel lost, stuck, or unfulfilled because their life is currently out of balance, but they are unsure how to fix it.

About Our Facilitator

Linda Rose – Aside from being born in a small town in Michigan, Linda has resided in Muncie for her entire life. She graduated from Ball State University with a degree in elementary education and has continued to live, work, and raise a family in Muncie. She is currently the Academic Director at Motivate Our Minds where she enjoys partnering with students and families to support education in the after-school space. After having the opportunity to attend Emergence in the spring of 2019, Linda continued to hone her leadership skills in both her personal and professional life. Later that same year, Linda became a certified life coach. Through workshops, speaking engagements, and coaching sessions, Linda helps people from all walks of life to live the life they were meant to live. The principles that Linda teaches are practical and simple but do require hard work. She believes that each person was designed by God for greatness and a purpose, and she encourages them not to settle for ordinary when extraordinary is within them.

Led by: Dorica Watson

Identify ways in which sharing our hidden rules can improve communication, relationships and outcomes: individual, organizational, and community

• Give a language to talk about what may be conceived as “common sense”.
• Understand your own hidden rules and how they have helped or hindered you.
• Gain a deeper understanding of the hidden rules that are at play and govern our lives.

Please note: Lunch will be served during this special employer session. Vegan and vegetarian options will be available. Please arrive by 11:15 AM.

Registration closes on August 5th.

Eastern Indiana Works provides these sessions, in partnership with Shafer Leadership Academy, as a free service to our clients from Feb. – Aug. 2021.

Career and leadership workshops are designed to enhance your marketability and improve your skill-set. All sessions require active engagement and provide action-oriented steps for the participant. Career Workshops will focus on three phases of the career development process: EXPLORE, PREPARE, CONNECT.

Virtual Lunch & Learn

Meetings are an inescapable part of conducting business and impacting communities. Yet, despite their essential function, many meetings are poorly run and lead to no actionable result.  This virtual lunch & learn will provide practical tools for mastering 1:1 meetings.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the purpose of the “one on one”
2. Discuss the timing of a one on one
3. Learn how to prepare for a one on one
4. Understand how learning styles influence the one on one
5. Explore how one on ones build trust
6. Review strategies for setting exceptions and instilling accountability

About Our Facilitator

Mitch Isaacs was named Shafer Leadership Academy’s Executive Director in May 2015. In this role, he works closely with the organization’s board of directors to fulfill the mission of the organization. He is responsible for creating vision, connecting with stakeholders, administering program offerings and leading the organization in meaningful ways.

Mitch has over a decade of college leadership experience spanning multiple campuses. He graduated from Ball State University in 2002 with a double major in History and Political Science and a minor in Counseling Psychology. Mitch completed his Master’s degree in Student Affairs and Higher Education at Indiana State University. Mitch returned to Ball State in 2005 and spent the next 10 years as a working professional in Higher Education, including five years as the Director of the Excellence in Leadership program, and Coordinator of the Leadership Studies Minor. (complete bio)

Virtual Workshop 2-Part Series

Session #1:
Wednesday August 25
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Session #2:
Thursday August 26
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Herb Kelleher once said, “The business of business is people.” At the core of a healthy business are healthy work relationships. If relationships fail, a business will fail. A leader’s responsibility is to not only communicate, but also connect with his or her employees. Please join us as we explore the enhancement of leadership communication.

Learning Objectives

1. Understands the difference between communication and connection
2. Increased ability to understand self and others
3. Communicates more effectively
4. Develops a communication growth plan

This program is ideal for: Nonprofits, support staff, first time supervisors, mid-levels managers, upper-level management, high-profile administrators, C-Suite personnel.

About Our Facilitator

Jake Gamble is a passionate leader who helps individuals and organizations move beyond their past, discover their potential, and embrace their future. He believes that clearly identifying strengths, managing weaknesses, overcoming negative thought patterns, being proactive, and developing a growth agenda can achieve great results. As a leadership and performance coach, Jake’s primary focus is leadership development, staff training, and executive coaching. Mr. Gamble has been the lead trainer for companies with an annual revenue of $100 million or more. He is also an accomplished keynote speaker who has spoken at local, regional, state, and international events. In his spare time, he is an avid guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He also loves spending time with his French Bulldog, Frankie.

Virtual coffee talk

Kanban, KAnbAn, KanbAn, KAnban! Wikipedia tells us that Kanban is a lean method to manage and improve work across human systems. How do you pronounce it let alone use it?

Join Stephen Hunter for a fun and interactive session on how to use Kanban to bring visualization, prioritization and success to any effort. As a project manager Stephen has employed Kanban in software development, aligning service delivery on large Federal contracts, and teaching university business students about information systems. When it comes to getting things done – Kanban can!

Learning Objectives

1. Create a Kanban board
2. Understand Kanban flow
3. Develop Work in process (WIP) limits

About Our Facilitator

Stephen Hunter received a BA in Management Information Systems & Spanish and an MBA from Ball State University. He is an Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Certified Scrum Professional – ScrumMaster (CSP-SM), a Certified Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and a CMMI Certified Associate.

Virtual Lunch & Learn

Everyone has a Plan “A” the… I have a great idea, then good leaders know that they better have a Plan “B” for…. the just in case times. But Great leaders have learned that even Plan “B”s can go south quickly. Having a backup to that; not only helps get the project or task get completed but, also gives creditability to the leaders. It becomes apparent that the person in charge has taken the time to think through and plan for eventualities. When leaders can pre-plan for those times, the whole team keeps its stride and the momentum of a project pushes forward. This is a great sense of accomplishment for everyone involved. It builds strong bonds and energizes a staff or team. No one has great success with their first try. Don’t let something stop you or your team from their goal, be ready for it, have an answer already waiting, and get the job done.

Learning Objectives

1.  It’s OK to have a plan fail -most plans don’t work out the way they were originally conceived
2. Think of likely derailments and what must be done to get back on track
3. Being able to pivot from one idea to the next
4. Accepting others ideas and input…and sometimes criticisms
5. Putting it together and taking action (don’t lose your stride)

This program is ideal for: those who are in charge of projects, nonprofits, managers, business leaders

About Our Facilitator

Dustin Clark is a former Florida D.E.P. Ranger, served almost a decade as an Indiana DNR State Park Manager, an Entrepreneur, and Director of Special Projects for the City of Muncie. Dustin has a Bachelors degree from Ball State and completed a two-year leadership program and is now a Certified Public Manager. Mr. Clark did all this and more while dealing with his own Learning Disability. Finding ways to complete projects in difficult situations and in changing conditions helped Dustin develop a concept of dealing with Murphy’s law and how to overcome it.

Virtual Workshop 2-Part Series

Session #1:
Wednesday September 22
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Session #2:
Thursday September 23
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Providing feedback is a powerful tool for any leader, but can be uncomfortable. This session will provide tools and training for effective, direct and candid feedback in a variety of settings. It will promote a two-way street for feedback in your organization and board, as well as help you know what happens after the feedback. Help yourself and your team create a culture that promotes feedback.

Learning Objectives

1. How to use feedback as a form of motivation
2. The art of Radical Candor
3. How to seek out feedback from others

This program is ideal for: anyone that is in a leadership role, wants to be in a that role and for any level within the organization.

About Our Facilitator

Kourtney McCauliff is an experienced Human Resources Professional, with a demonstrated history of working in HR for over 10 years in a variety of different industries, mostly Hospitality and currently Health Care as the Chief Human Resource Officer for Open Door Health Services. She has a focus in Recruiting, Retention, People Development and Employee Engagement. Kourtney is from Michigan but lived in Chicago for a decade before relocating to Muncie. When she isn’t working, she likes to spend time with her husband and family, as well as find ways to be involved in our great community!