Leadership development for the age of complexity.

Today, there is a critical need to increase leadership capacity at all organizational levels. There is a call for new, more comprehensive mental models and deeper understandings of the challenges that leading in uncertain and dynamic times presents. This program equips participants with the skills to lead purposeful, values-based efforts that both enhance daily operations and advance their organization’s strategic agenda.

What Sets Us Apart

  A leadership program for turbulent times.
  A unique synthesis of cognitive science and extreme leadership studies.
  A focus on enhancing leadership cognition.

About the Program

The Certificate Program in Leadership Dynamics is a leadership development program for individuals who must lead in circumstances that are complex, ambiguous, and subject to constant—and sometimes surprising—change. This program operationalizes the concept of leadership; it helps individuals and teams to extend and enhance their skills in specific leadership functions and practices (e.g., strategy development, innovation, and change management). Its primary focus is on the development of leadership thinking. Its design is distinctive—the content is a unique synthesis of some of the latest research and theory in cognitive science and the lessons derived from cases of in extremis leadership (leadership in the most challenging circumstances). This combination produces principles and strategies immediately applicable to the daunting challenges faced by today’s leaders.

Upon completion of additional assignments, educators can earn 36 credits toward either Act 45 or Act 48 requirements from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. This aspect of the program is co-sponsored by the Bucks County Intermediate Unit.

Certificates offered

  • Certificate in Leadership Dynamics
  • Certificate in Strategic Leadership
Programs for Working Professionals
Teacher Programs & Certifications
Overview

This program is offered by Catalyst @ Penn GSE in partnership with Ideatects, Inc. It is currently comprised of 19 courses each of one-day duration (or two half-days in virtual mode). The successful completion of four courses in one of the concentrations within a two-year period earns either the Certificate in Leadership Dynamics or the Certificate in Strategic Leadership. 

The Certificate in Leadership Dynamics focuses on the challenges of leading in today’s complex and volatile world. Its courses are based in contemporary research and theory and informed by case studies from some of the most complicated and adverse situations, and they take a fresh look at the concept of leadership. They offer clear and practical guidance for leaders who must function in conditions that are daunting and ever-changing. Courses include:

  • The Contemporary Leader: Leading in an Age of Complexity
  • The Leader–Follower Dynamic: A Contemporary Perspective
  • The Challenge of Change: Leading an Agile Organization
  • Leading in a Culture: Aligning Energies for High Performance
  • Expert Decision Making: Hard Thinking for an Uncertain World
  • Influencing & Inspiring: Essential Skills of Leadership
  • When You’re Asked to Do the Impossible: Leadership When the Stakes Are Highest
  • Crisis Leadership: Foresight, Precaution, Prevention
  • Extreme Leadership: Leading When It Matters Most
  • The Paradoxes of Leadership: A Seminar 

The Certificate in Strategic Leadership offers professionals the opportunity to delve deeper into the intricacies of strategy design and the peculiar challenges involved in leading for innovation. The course material is drawn from diverse disciplines including creative cognition, design thinking, expertise research, strategic thinking, and organizational development. The principles and techniques offered have broad applicability, and participants will have in-class opportunities to immediately apply them to authentic challenges of their choice. Courses include:

  • The Creative Leader: From Imagination to Innovation
  • Strategic Insight: Innovative Thinking in War, Business, Science, and Design
  • Optimizing Strategic Thinking: Enhancing Design and Avoiding Pitfalls
  • Leading for Innovation: Forging the Future
  • Sensemaking and Judgment: Critical Thinking for Critical Challenges
  • Mindpower: Tapping the Genius of Teams
  • Composing an Innovation Strategy: Essentials and Provocations
  • Innovation by Design: Providing Exceptional Customer Value
  • The Educator as Design Thinker: The How and the Why

Custom Programs
Because this program is highly applications-oriented, it offers a special opportunity for organizational leaders to challenge a team to work on a specific initiative while attending the courses. Experience has shown that having members of a leadership or special project team move through the program together promotes shared meaning and enhances the potential for increased camaraderie among such a cadre. It also provides opportunities for immediate application of new learning to critical organizational initiatives.

 

Certificate in Leadership Dynamics Courses

The Contemporary Leader: Leading in an Age of Complexity

  • From Newton to Quantum: The New Challenges
  • Complex Systems, Butterfly Effects, and Tipping Points
  • Primary Functions of 21st Century Leaders
  • Transformation Theory
  • Levels of Intent, Meaning, and Action
  • The Need for Leaders at All Levels
  • Three Persistent Gaps

The Leader-Follower Dynamic: A Contemporary Perspective

  • The True Nature of the Relationship
  • Rethinking the Concepts of Leadership and Power
  • The Needs and Wants of Leaders and Followers
  • Fluid Leadership
  • Differences between Leadership and Management
  • Two Kinds and Three Levels of Motivation
  • Getting Motivation Right

The Challenge of Change: Leading an Agile Organization

  • The Trajectory of Change
  • Taxonomy of Change Issues
  • Understanding and Modifying Behavior
  • The Power of Culture, Context, and Peers
  • Integrative Change Strategy for Greater Success
  • Change Vectors
  • The Necessity and Psychology of Agility

Leading in a Culture: Aligning Energies for High Performance

  • The Nature and Power of Culture
  • Systems as Shapers of Behavior
  • How Cultures Form and Change
  • Connecting Culture, Vision, and Strategy
  • Leading Cultural Evolution
  • Trust as Critical
  • The Benefits of a Healthy Culture
  • The Leader as Social Architect

Expert Decision Making: Hard Thinking for an Uncertain World

  • Decision Thinking versus Decision Making
  • Two Major Systems of Cognition
  • Three Forms of Intuition
  • The Nature and Process of Expertise
  • How Experts Make Decisions
  • Cognitive Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
  • Defensive Decision Making©

Influencing & Inspiring: Essential Skills of Leadership

  • Three-dimensional Persuasion
  • Resistance, Reluctance, or Apathy?
  • Seven Principles and Three Paradoxes of Influence
  • Recognizing Thinking Styles as Avenues of Influence
  • Influence Levers
  • 50 Persuasion Techniques

When You’re Asked to Do the Impossible: Leadership When the Stakes Are Highest

  • Dimensions of High-Performing Organizations
  • Skill and Trait Clusters
  • Matching Leaders to Challenges
  • Respecting and Leveraging Diversity
  • Team Member Selection
  • Project Lifecycle and Operational Challenges
  • The Nature and Necessity of Organizational Support

Crisis Leadership: Foresight, Precaution, Prevention

  • Categories of Crises
  • How Crises Form
  • Denial and Organizational “Defense Mechanisms”
  • The Worrisome Nature of Normal Accidents
  • Weak Signals and Connecting the Dots
  • Predictable Surprises
  • The Mindset of High Reliability Organizations
  • What One Person Can Do

Extreme Leadership: Leading When It Matters Most

  • Leadership Lessons from Extreme Situations
  • Characteristics of Extreme Leaders
  • Two Essential Aspects of Leader Credibility
  • Team Viability for Heightened Challenges
  • Coherence, Decision Making, and Self-Control Under Stress
  • Critical Actions at the Scene

The Paradoxes of Leadership: A Seminar

  • Balancing Being a Visionary with Being a Realist
  • Leading for Both Stability and Agility
  • Going from an Either/Or Issue to a Both/And Resolution
  • Maintaining Consistency in Ever-changing Circumstances
  • Enabling Decentralized Leadership to Coexist with Centralized Control

Certificate in Strategic Leadership Courses

The Creative Leader: From Imagination to Innovation

  • The Dual Nature of Creativity
  • In Search of Insight
  • The Creative Process
  • Components of Creativity
  • Profile of the Creative Person
  • The Motivation Dimension
  • The Critical Importance of Problem Definition
  • Creative Problem Solving – The Toolkit
  • The Leader as Facilitator

Strategic Insight: Innovative Thinking in War, Business, Science, and Design

  • The Nature and Neuroscience of Insight
  • Principles and Exemplars
  • Dealing with Mental Models, Assumptions, and their Hazards
  • Obstacles (Individual and Organizational)
  • Leveraging Analytical and Intuitive Modes
  • Five Pathways to Insight

Optimizing Strategic Thinking: Enhancing Design and Avoiding Pitfalls

  •  The Nature and Functions of Strategy
  • Strategy as Design
  • Dealing with “Dancing Landscapes”
  • The Contemporary Essentials of Agility and Adaptability
  • Cognitive, Informational, Ego, and Group Pitfalls
  • Strategy as Learning
  • Safeguards and Strategic Protocols

Leading for Innovation: Forging the Future

  • The Nature and Process of Innovation
  • Three Levels of Leadership
  • The Innovative Culture
  • Leadership Roles by Phase
  • The Invention/Discovery Team
  • Obstacles to Organizational Innovation
  • Four Critical Assessments
  • “Everyone an Innovator”

Sensemaking and Judgment: Critical Thinking for Critical Challenges

  • Meaning as Foundation
  • Diagnostic Problem Solving
  • Metacognition: Thinking about Our Thinking
  • Problem Framing
  • The Information Value Chain
  • Biases and Illusions
  • Red Teaming Techniques
  • The Power and Pitfalls of Analogical Thinking

Mindpower: Tapping the Genius of Teams

  • Understanding Individual Thinking Styles
  • Leveraging the Potential of Style Diversity
  • Engaging the “Whole Brain” of Teams
  • Enhancing Creative Output and Critical Judgment
  • Communication & Persuasion
  • Avoiding/Resolving Conflict
  • The Power of Visual Thinking

Composing an Innovation Strategy: Essentials and Provocations

  • The Innovation Portfolio
  • Schools and Types of Strategy
  • Levels of Innovation
  • The Zone of Exploration
  • Means and Modes
  • The Value Curve
  • Lifecycle Issues and Threats
  • Matching and Leading the Client
  • Transient Advantage
  • Developing Aggregate Strategies
  • The New Playbook

Innovation by Design: Providing Exceptional Customer Value

  • The Nature of Design Thinking
  • Principles & Exemplars
  • Methodology
  • The Behavior Space
  • Dimensions of Customer Value
  • Problem Finding Protocols
  • Integrative Thinking
  • The New Role of Prototypes
  • An Indispensable Approach and a Key Criterion
  • Design Applied to Strategy

The Educator as Design Thinker: The How and the Why

  • The Nature of Design Thinking
  • Thinking Systemically
  • The Student/Teacher Experience
  • The Biggest Obstacle
  • Four Simple Verbs
  • The Critical Tool
  • The Crucial Criterion
  • Three Approaches to Integrative Thinking
  • The How and the Why and of Design Thinking in Education

Contact Us

For more information, contact:
Anthony Le Storti, Senior Leadership Associate, Program in Leadership Dynamics, (215) 348-3720