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Custom Leadership Development Academy

UC Davis Extension's Leadership Development Academy provides your managers with the organizational and personal strategies to become more effective in today's complex and ever-changing business climate. Your mid-level managers will improve their knowledge of business and organizational processes as well as acquire techniques to improve their ability to lead, manage and empower others. Incorporating a variety of teaching methodologies—mini-lectures, individual and small-group work/discussions and exercises—we will work with you to develop a comprehensive program to fit your specific needs and your budget.

All sessions of our program build upon one another, giving your managers a synergistic learning experience, helping them overcome barriers, become more productive and transition more easily and effectively into leadership roles. We work with our partner organizations to create a program that fits your needs. The sample program outlined below provides an idea of the scope and direction we offer.

Sample Custom Leadership Development Academy

Each class in the series is led by an instructor with specific and practical expertise in the topic area. Courses will take place during regular business hours, typically from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at your place of business, the Sutter Square Galleria at 2901 K St. in Sacramento, or a place of your choosing. Your program may include the following sessions:

  • Introduction to Strengths
  • Effective Communication with Emotional Intelligence
  • Building High Performance Individuals
  • Building SMART Teams
  • Staff Motivation
  • Transition to the New You
  • Thinking Like a Leader and Influencing Your Culture
  • Leading Organizational Change

Sample seminar topics

Introduction to Strengths
6 hours of instruction over the course of 1 day

Participants will assess their own unique strengths, as well as how to use them to form a strengths-based, rather than deficit-based, model of development and increase organizational productivity. They will also explore how to use the distinctive talents of their staff to achieve higher levels of productivity, customer satisfaction and employee morale. Concepts presented are based on research conducted by the Gallup organization.

Effective Communication with Emotional Intelligence
10 hours of instruction over the course of 1.5 days

Managers will learn about different communication styles and how to create an environment in which each person can both understand and be understood by everyone else in the group. Participants explore how a person's personality traits influence communication style, and how to differentiate styles and listen for the vital information being communicated. They also learn to assess their own communication style and how it impacts others during the communication process.

Building High Performance Individuals
6 hours of instruction over the course of 1 day

Managers explore their role as performance coach. Using insights from the work of executive coaches, students examine the many different intellectual and emotional barriers obstructing exceptional performance, and learn strategies to raise performance at all levels of the organization. A three-step model for helping staff members work through their own issues and problems will be presented as will key concepts that lead to higher motivation.

Building SMART Teams
6 hours of instruction over the course of 1 day

Managers and leaders will gain key insights into how to unlock team potential, including the teams they lead and those in which they participate. Teams are intended to unleash creativity, solve complex problems and leverage individual skill and talent. Participants will discover the characteristics of smart teams, and how to build and manage them. They will also learn how smart teams innovate and solve old problems in new ways.

Staff Motivation
6 hours of instruction over the course of 1 day

Managers will examine a wide variety of topics, including factors that increase motivation and those that de-motivate staff. The number one factor leading to employee satisfaction and retention is having managers who understand the importance and complexities of motivating their staff. Participants will discover strategies for motivating themselves as well as others, and how their management style may clash or harmonize with staff personalities. They will also learn how to deal with negativity in the workplace—what lowers morale and how to raise it.

Transition to the New You
6 hours of instruction over the course of 1 day

Managers enhance their credibility and reputation as skilled and ethical leaders by focusing on getting things done right, creating support and gaining respect. Participants will learn to transition to their new future while remaining confident and competent. They will also explore how to mobilize inner and team resources, and increase the probability of success in managing time and resources more efficiently. Managers will be able to take action on insights learned while in this program, forge better relationships and function as key players within the organization.

Thinking Like a Leader and Influencing Your Culture
12 hours of instruction over the course of 2 days

Managers will gain the ability to enhance group participation and collaboration in critical problem solving and decision making situations. Building on what they've learned in prior sessions, participants will learn to become energizing agents to modify organizational culture. They will also improve communication clarity and personal effectiveness.

Leading Organizational Change
12 hours of instruction over the course of 2 days

Participants will look closely at why some change efforts fail and others succeed, including an examination of the behavior of the leaders in each case. They will also learn to understand and deal with resistance to change, and how to gain cooperation. Successful change requires leaders pay attention to a dizzying array of information, from metrics to the emotional well being of those involved. Students will explore the tasks of a leader during times of change: how to develop a vision and plan, communicate and implement goal-oriented strategies.

Additional sample seminar topics

  • Belief Systems and Strength Based Leadership
  • Best Career Moves: Playing to Your Strengths
  • Building, Managing and Leading High Performance Teams
  • Changing Role of the Manager
  • Coaching and Motivating
  • Collaboration
  • Communicating with a Positive Influence
  • Difficult Conversations
  • Dynamic Teams
  • Exploring Emotional Intelligence in Leadership
  • Four Generations at Work
  • High Performance Project Teams
  • Improved Communication and Conflict Management
  • Interest-Based Negotiation
  • Interest-Based Problem Solving
  • Knowledge Transfer: Ensuring Success for the Next Generation of Your Workforce
  • Leadership Communication
  • Leadership Essentials
  • Leadership Styles
  • Leading by Example
  • Manager as Leader
  • Managing Change
  • Managing Through Change
  • Managing Change and Innovation
  • Mental Models
  • Mental Models and Interest-Based Problem Solving
  • Now, Discover Your Strengths
  • The Art of Strategic Thinking
  • The Manager as Leader
  • Thinking and Problem Solving
  • Work of Leadership
  • Working from Good to Great in Leadership

Learn More

Please contact our associate director of Corporate Education, Kathy Canevari, at (530) 757-8895 or email for information about developing a program specifically designed for your organization.