Event Type : Virtual Program

Virtual coffee talk

In today’s companies, workplace culture and values are becoming more and more important to workers. It can account for why nowadays, lower-level positions are getting harder to fill. How people are treated when they come into your company sets the value and behaviors that the employee will take on throughout their career. Being aware of workplace bias can create a more tolerant company and attract a diverse talent pool.

Learning Objectives

1. Awareness of common workplace bias
2. How to discover workplace bias in your company
3. Ways to minimize workplace bias in your company .

This program is ideal for: HR managers, first-time supervisors, mid-level managers, nonprofits, and all people who want to learn more about how to identify workplace bias.

About Our Facilitator

Kim Yarborough has a master’s degree in Business Psychology. She works with men and women who want to learn to lead with confidence. She also works with new managers who are just starting out how to lead. She has over 26 years of experience in the public sector leading and managing employees.

Virtual Workshop 2-Part Series

Session #1:
Wednesday, July 27
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Session #2:
Thursday, July 28
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Introverts have amazing strengths, but they can often be overshadowed in a fast-paced society focused on energy and charisma. This session is for everyone- introverts, extroverts, and those wanting to learn more specifically about the world of introverts- close to half of the U.S. population. Whether you are more of a listener, a talker, or somewhere in between, learning about personality preferences can help us become more meaningful communicators.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand the world of introverts and be inspired through clarity, confirmation, and confidence
2. Learn how to own your introversion- discover the strengths and attributes of introverts
3. Discover how to most effectively connect and communicate as an introvert or with an introvert

About Our Facilitator

Eilis (A-lish) Wasserman is a virtual facilitator and coach focused on cultivating confidence and inspiring self-discovery. Eilis recently worked at the Ball State University Career Center, The University of Michigan, and The Muse as a Career Coach. You may have seen Eilis acting as a digital producer for one of Shafer’s recent virtual program offerings. She currently serves as Shafer Leadership Academy’s Virtual Program Manager where she coordinates virtual programming guiding facilitators to present their best selves.

Virtual coffee talk

How often do you say “yes” to a request while thinking, “but I don’t really want to do it”? Or maybe you take things on entirely by yourself because you feel bad asking for help? You’re not alone. We’re hardwired to want to please others and also not be seen as a burden. However, when we don’t honor our inner voice, it erodes away the integrity we have with ourselves.

Learning Objectives

1. How to honor your inner voice in these moments
2. Strategies to say “no” that fit your personality
3. Reframe your beliefs about asking for help

This program is ideal for: anyone

About Our Facilitator

Halle Simpson is a globally certified Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation, Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Author of the Know Thyself Journal. Her passion for speaking and coaching stems from growing up in a household with a parent battling depression and the grit gained from a 20 year career in sales and leadership development. In her work with executives and business owners across the country, Halle has come to specialize in creating intentional conversations to grow leaders and their businesses. In her down time, Halle enjoys daily journaling, yoga, massages, watching cooking shows and trips to Traverse City, Michigan. She resides in Indianapolis with her Boston Terrier, Marco (named after Marco Andretti) and is a race fan who attends the Indy 500 each year.

Read a book.
Lead with inspiration.

What are you reading this season? How are you preparing and reflecting upon leadership in 2022?

SLA in partnership with Muncie Public Library is offering a unique quarterly gathering, highlighting important take-aways from inspirational leadership books. At each event, facilitators will share key leadership development lessons from leadership-focused books. This is not a book club, rather a guided discussion around the key takeaways from each book.

Prior reading of the book is not required but we encourage participants to share about what they learned and check-out one of the books from Muncie Public Library. All participants attending will be entered in a raffle to win a digital copy of one of the books discussed.

All sessions are FREE and open to the public. Some events will be in-person and some will be virtual. Registration is required.

LEARN MORE »

Virtual Workshop 2-Part Series

Session #1:
Wednesday, August 24
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Session #2:
Thursday, August 25
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Optimism is a skill. Let’s be clear about that first. And as a skill, it’s anchored in seeing clearly and fully acknowledging what is true in this present moment. Where most leaders stop in their decision-making process is thinking too concretely, choosing what’s obvious and comfortable over what’s hidden and worthwhile.

In this workshop, we will explore grounded, action-oriented definition of optimism. You will have a chance to understand the mental, behavioral, and cultural barriers to optimism most people experience, then uncover practical, reasonable strategies for finding possibilities, especially when things feel most uncertain.

As a leader, you have a responsibility to help people see what’s possible, to inspire and equip them to overcome challenges. Without optimism, your task is infinitely hard and I’m convinced anyone can develop a strong, grounded, and action-oriented practice of optimism.

Learning Objectives

1. Clearly define optimism as action-oriented and a teachable skill
2. Identify your barriers for finding possibilities when things get hard
3. A safe space to practice learning optimism
4. Practical ways to build optimism into your decision-making going forward

About Our Facilitator

Adam Bouse is a Performance Coach at 15Five. With more than a dozen years of frontline management and leadership experience prior to entering the field of coaching, he is focused on helping individuals grow, teams thrive, and organizations maximize performance. He holds an M.A. in Organizational Leadership, is a certified emotional intelligence (EQ) coach, and has experience working with all organizational levels, from the frontlines through the C-suite. Adam’s coaching specialities include EQ, resonant leadership, difficult conversations, change management, manager development, goal setting, and empathy.

Virtual coffee talk

For those in Leadership or preparing for a Leadership role that involves hiring or working with young professional employees. You’ll be taught useful tools to support your young professional employees. Learn how to increase recruitment, engagement, and retention of your young professionals and how intergenerational communication can enhance company culture and productivity.

Learning Objectives

1. Learn about why young professionals are job hopping in the first place
2. What makes young professionals so different from other generations?
3. What young professionals really want to be happy at work
4. How to identify the holes in your young professional culture
5. Tangible takeaways to apply to your workplace today

This program is ideal for: Business leaders and managers who work with young professional employees.

About Our Facilitator

Kamber Parker

Why me? ​You’re probably wondering, “What makes her the young professional expert?” Well, because I’m living it. I’m a 26-year-old YoPro with the same challenges, successes, and fears as the 500+ YoPros I’ve interviewed.

I am empowered by building a better workplace for all young professionals, the future business leaders of our world. Businesses have an obligation to best prepare them too, which is why it is critical in this moment to bridge the gap between the two parties.

Like other YoPros out there, when I’m not working you can find me running on the Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville, South Carolina, at Soul Yoga, or spending time with friends and family.

Virtual Workshop 2-Part Series

Session #1:
Wednesday, September 21
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

Session #2:
Thursday, September 22
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM

We are hearing each other. We are NOT listening to each other. Ineffective listening is a huge cost and may be one of the highest sources of risk you have. Establishing a clear, focused, and compassionate process to practice listening can inspire trust, build relationships, encourage followers, and produce sustainable results.

The workshop will have a mix of individual reflection, larger group sharing and pair and share opportunities. Follow-up “check-in” meeting(s) – group or individual – available as additional consulting engagement. Pre-work might be assigned depending on the group goals. This workshop can be customized to align closely to organizational/team business goals.

Learning Objectives

1. Become aware of how you listen and how you manage distractions
2. Practice practice tools for wholehearted listening
3. Learn how to build psychological safety in relationships/conversations
4. Build a conversational toolkit to connect, inspire and challenge with respect

About Our Facilitator

Sunitha Narayanan brings creativity, play, gentle humor, and focus with 25+ years of experience in leadership and executive coaching to elevate leadership impact by helping leaders and their teams harness strengths by raising awareness around blind spots, untapped talent, and cognitive diversity.
With deep and intuitive listening Sunitha helps clients uncover where they are in their growth process, to hear where they are out of balance as well as how a client’s vision, values and purpose drive their engagement and alignment to personal and organizational goals. The feedback from clients when clients work with Sunitha is that she offers a safe yet challenging space to experiment without censure; to use failure as creative inspiration; a space to build a culture that promotes psychological safety so that each voice is honored.

Sunitha brings a deep and extensive background in a variety of behavioral and leadership assessment tools to analyze data from stakeholders with exceptional ability and documented success in establishing trust and intimacy of coaching relationships. She is published in industry journals on leadership topics such as authenticity, performance management, team building, and productive conversations. Her personal belief is that exemplary and unstoppable work happens with and through people. And she is on a mission to hold wholehearted space so that clients can listen to their authentic voice first, then connect that to that of a colleague or a team.