College staff and faculty who supervise or manage professional staff are invited to participate in a new specialized enrichment experience to enhance leadership and management skills.
The year-long PROPEL program is designed around three pillars: Professional Readiness, Organizational Performance, and Effective Leadership. And its goal is not only to enhance the skills and knowledge of College of Engineering people leaders but also to have a positive impact on team morale and productivity.
Participants will gain skills that are directly applicable to the specific challenges of people leadership roles within the College of Engineering and, at the same time, grounded in Georgia Tech’s values and leader competencies.
Program Overview
School chairs and HR contacts will nominate people leaders to participate in PROPEL. The first PROPEL cohort will launch with two to three leaders from each CoE school and expand over time to 50 participants.
The PROPEL program unfolds over the course of one year in a series of learning sessions and discussions.
Session format (90-minute lunch meeting)
- Lunch (upon arrival)
- Introduction of session topic/presentation (20 minutes)
- Discussion (30 minutes)
- Book discussion – led by PROPEL participant (30 minutes)
Learning Sessions
Professional Readiness
Fierce Conversations
Leading in an ever-changing, complex environment
- Understanding Complexity & Change
- Adaptive Leadership
- Strategic Thinking & Decision-Making
- Fostering Innovation & Resilience
- Effective Communication & Collaboration
Navigating Conflict
- Understanding Conflict
- Conflict Resolution Styles
- Effective Communication Techniques
- Strategies for Conflict Resolution
- Building a Collaborative Environment
Organizational Performance
Performance Management and Staff Development
- Setting Expectations
- Giving & Receiving Feedback
- Creating Development Plans
- Evaluating and Rewarding Performance
Understanding and Partnering with Unit, College and Institute Human Resources
- Roles & Responsibilities
- Strategic Partnership
- Policies & Compliance
- Supporting Employee Development
- Enhancing Employee Engagement
What is my role/my team’s role in ensuring the college’s success?
Effective Leadership
Leadership and Communication Styles (DiSC)
Building Productive Working Relationships
- Understanding the Importance of Relationships
- Effective Communication
- Building Trust & Respect
- Collaboration & Teamwork
- Sustaining Positive Relationships
Emotional Intelligence
- Definition & Five Pillars of EI
- Developing Self-Awareness
- Managing Emotions
- Empathy & Social Skills
- Applying Emotional Intelligence
Book Club
Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity
by Jennifer Garvey Berger
Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps identifies five pernicious quirks of human behavior that often misguide our decision-making. In today’s fast-paced business world, those quirks can quickly become traps that steer us in the wrong direction if we don’t learn how to break the pattern.
Using her background in adult development, complexity theories, and leadership consultancy, Garvey Berger discerns five pernicious and pervasive “mind traps” to frame the book. These are: the desire for simple stories, our sense that we are right, our desire to get along with others in our group, our fixation with control, and our constant quest to protect and defend our egos. In addition to understanding why these natural impulses steer us wrong in a fast-moving world, leaders will get powerful questions and approaches that help them escape these patterns.
Program Objectives and Outcomes:
Program Objectives
- Enhance Leadership and Management Skills: Develop the leadership and management capabilities of faculty and staff to bridge the gap between technical expertise and effective people management.
- Utilize Comprehensive Resources: Leverage available campus resources, internal college expertise, and supplement with external resources as needed to provide a well-rounded learning experience.
- Support Organizational Goals: Align learning experiences with the College of Engineering’s goals and Georgia Tech’s values and leadership competencies, ensuring relevance and applicability.
Program Outcomes
- Professional Readiness: Equip participants with the necessary leadership and management skills to handle the complexities of supervising staff, ensuring they are prepared for current and future challenges.
- Organizational Performance: Improve team morale and productivity by enhancing the effectiveness of our management and supervisory staff, leading to overall organizational success.
- Effective Leadership: Foster a culture of continuous improvement and development by investing in the professional growth of our people leaders, contributing to the long-term success of the College of Engineering.