Navigate Management Consulting recently launched a new management development initiative for PSNI called Next Generation Leadership. Twenty-seven senior managers from 13 member companies are engaged in the six-month management and leadership program that includes webinars, live seminar attendance, completion of a significant corporate improvement project, and personal coaching.
To participate, each manager was required to select a project of significant company value, prepare a business case and a cost-benefit analysis for it, and then have it approved by their owners. Participants then attended a kickoff webinar and a two-and-a-half day live seminar in Austin, TX, which will be followed by three more webinars and four months of personal coaching as they complete their projects. The program will close out in June with a Capstone Meeting at InfoComm where managers will present the results of their projects.
“This program challenges even the best and brightest managers because it’s intense, and the corporate improvement project generates intensive and directly applicable learning,” said Bill Sharer, Navigate partner. “But that challenge is what gives this curriculum its value—and principles that work do take work.”
“Our members readily saw the value of ‘Next Gen’ as a way of helping their management team handle future challenges—whether those are driven by growth, succession planning, or just continued change,” said Chris Miller, executive director of PSNI. “The program was fully subscribed soon after we opened enrollment. So far, we’ve had very positive feedback from everyone.”
Program participants have reported Next Generation Leadership to be demanding but not overwhelming. “It was easy to follow because it was already in our world, unlike generic programs that have to be translated into the AV environment,” said Josh Messner of Neurilink.“I don’t think we could have covered as much ground as we did without that piece.”
Nate Kirchoff from Avidex in San Francisco added, “I found the distinctions drawn between management and leadership helpful because I guess I hadn’t thought about that very much.”
“We wanted this program to pay for itself many times over in measurable ways because a lot of training doesn’t,” said Navigate partner, Brad Malone. “Owner buy-in is essential to its success in a lot of ways. They already believe in their people, but what better way to get program buy-in than to dollar out the return on investment?”
