Today’s working world demands that managers know how to distill complex issues, engage stakeholders within and beyond their organization, and foster teams that can learn and adapt amidst uncertainty. That’s what this course is all about.
In “The Adaptive Toolkit for Managers,” you’ll bring your experience and real-life management challenges. Our KONU facilitators will bring the framework and provide the scaffolding to discover solutions, all while connecting with other Jewish nonprofit professionals.
This course is designed for professionals who supervise individuals/teams and navigate challenges both among and beyond those they supervise. Perhaps you face challenges like:
- Influencing, driving, or managing through change among constraints (bureaucracies, differing opinions, etc.)
- Advocating for a more reasonable workload for your team
- Collaborating across siloes or with colleagues you do not directly supervise
- Creating and sustaining a healthy work culture
After this immersive, hands-on course, participants are encouraged to join a Peer Consulting Pod to both integrate and supplement their learning and practice.
This course draws on the Adaptive Leadership framework – first developed at Harvard University 30 years ago – as well as research on psychological safety, adult development, and group relations.
By the end of this course, you will:
- Understand what stakeholders expect from their authorities (hint: that’s you!) and how to practice “good authority work”
- Be able to diagnose two different types of challenges (technical vs. adaptive), and understand the implications for how to address each as a manager
- Learn strategies for how to work with resistance, different opinions, and competing priorities
- Understand how to build your team’s muscle in withstanding, addressing, and learning from challenges
- Explore mindset shifts for staying anchored in your management practice
- Make progress on your real-life management challenges
- Have zero or very little familiarity with the Adaptive Leadership framework
- Have experience using management skills such as delegation, task organization, performance management, and giving and receiving feedback
- Want to dive deeper on the stickier, complex challenges arising from your work
- Sometimes feel stuck in the middle – between higher-ups and direct reports, or between different priorities – and want to get “unstuck”
- Wonder how to balance empathy with accountability
- Are hungry for a space to work on your real-life management challenges in a group of peers
- Want to support and learn from others
- Want a space to step out of your day-to-day work and make meaning of your management practice
This class is NOT for you if you:
- Are already familiar with the Adaptive Leadership framework
- Are brand new to your manager role (<6 months)
- Are looking for concrete templates on how to conduct 1:1 check-ins or performance reviews, delegate or organize work, or hire and fire employees
- Want someone to tell you all the answers
