The Advanced Leadership Development Program

This workshop focuses on individual and team dynamics and the applied skills that are Rod’s trademark. Renowned for its intensity, the workshop consists of three or four off-site meetings of three days each. It is offered publicly on occasion, but more frequently as part of an in-house program for teams. Program goals include:

  • Gaining an understanding of the fundamental dynamics of any group, team or meeting.
  • Developing a diagnostic capacity to assess the blocks to a team's effectiveness.
  • Understanding the principles of change management as they relate to individuals, teams and organizations.
  • Developing and practicing the use of creative, strategic designs as a means of moving a team to the next level of performance, while maximizing participation.
  • Providing participants with 360° feedback and the opportunity to track their own behavior by means of ongoing feedback and peer review.
  • Expanding participants’ ability to handle the wide-ranging conflict that hinders team effectiveness.
  • Managing time, resources and projects more effectively.
  • Measuring group effectiveness in a manner that supports team development.
  • Building an effective performance management process that supports rigorous individual and team accountability, while focusing on maximizing individual development.

This program is experiential, focusing on the practice of new skills over an extended period of time with each module building on the previous one. It is not for the faint of heart and demands a high level of commitment to practice new skills and solve meaningful team problems in a safe environment.

The Group Leadership Intensive (GLI) 1976-present

While we all live in groups—at work, in communities, in families—we often don't know much about how they work or how to change them. Yet from the beginning, creative facilitators realize you can't simply lecture all day, or fabricate fun activities to simulate team challenges. This five-day immersion marathon offers concrete skills and solutions, requiring the participants to experience themselves as both group members and, periodically, as the leader/facilitator. The experience is emotionally, intellectually and spiritually demanding. "Over the years," says Rod, who developed and co-directs GLI, "this laboratory of the human condition remains a kaleidoscope of learning for all of us. In it, we deal with everything because participants just can't hide from fundamental issues for five days." Learn more.

The Temagami Experience 1975-present

In this ten-day program, participants create an extraordinary community in the heart of the Temagami Wilderness in northern Ontario. By shedding their names and personal histories, the 20-25 participants cast away old habits and dysfunctional norms in a journey of rediscovery and renewal. In the process, they learn about conscious group dynamics and the balance that evolves from honest feedback and full, compassionate engagement. As co-director and co-originator of this program, which began in 1970, Rod maintains, "Temagami continues to be my greatest teacher." Learn more.

Additional Workshops

The following workshops reflect areas of strategic interest based on Rod's professional writing, special interest and experience:

Strategic Planning and Change Management
Here the focus is on providing organizations or teams with the applied skills essential in any planning or change effort. Key is the utilization of engaging designs that maximize participation and creative problem solving with large or small groups.

The Power Interview—Reducing False Positives in the Hiring Process
Hiring is the most crucial step in the management/leadership equation. This program provides organizations with the skills to reduce dependency on costly head-hunters, while increasing hiring skills at all levels.

Conflict Management
In an increasingly conflict-averse culture, conflict is the bane of many teams. This program helps organizations develop the skills for resolving the conflicts common to most modern organizations. Whether at the individual (internal fears), group, interpersonal or organizational level, conflict resolution requires different design strategies. This workshop offers the opportunity is to practice an expanding repertoire of such strategies in a safe environment.