Leadership Access:

“Experiential Education for Workplace Leaders”

At no time in modern America has the need for effective leadership in organizations been more pronounced. An international economy; emerging competitive giants around the globe; spreading technology; increased regulation; as well as entangled legal and ethical problems, all confront the assumption of success.

Leadership Access® is an experiential, professional education and coaching program offered exclusively to both established and emerging leaders. Based on the premise that academic education, while essential as a building block, is limited in its scope and format, this program goes far beyond traditional education to offer unique preparation for those who will influence the success of organizations into the next generation.

A Unique Experience:

Our program teaches individuals strategic thinking and leadership skills where they will be used - in the workplace. For participants, it moves beyond technical, quantitative education, beyond the limitations of the classroom and beyond experience in a single employment setting to offer an unparalleled experiential opportunity. In the boardroom, on the shop floor or in the laboratory, this experience goes beyond description to make the lessons real and the growth permanent.

In this program students will learn to adapt and excel in an evolving organizational environment. This is a unique course that blends academic knowledge and hands-on techniques for successful leadership, communication, negotiation, diversity management, crisis management and team building. Participants will wrestle with the strategic leadership problems that are inherent in the workplace. Leadership Access® is a demanding opportunity which will take participants from their current narrowly focused organizational environment and expose them to cross-organizational, geographical and cultural leadership challenges.

Unparalleled Access:

Most who study look at four walls as they learn. Participants in Leadership Access® visit and experience what others only describe. In this program, “class” may be held on the deck of a container ship in the Port of Long Beach or the launch complex at NASA’s Cape Canaveral, in the studios of a worldwide television network or the hearing rooms in the U.S. Capitol, on the shop floor of an aircraft manufacturer or the boardroom of an international package delivery company, at the training facility of an urban fire department or the control room of a nuclear submarine. At every site, participants will grapple with the strategic leadership skills that are inherent in that particular workplace. Leadership Access® is a demanding opportunity where participants experience workplace environments that most would never see and bring leadership lessons back to their own workplace setting.

Intense Work:

This program involves concentrated periods of intense, yet energizing work. Twelve to fourteen hour days are the norm. Every minute is used - for presentations, skills-development training, formal and informal coaching, site visits, small group projects and individual reflection. Each program begins with an opening dinner and speaker on Sunday night, includes full day and evening activities Monday through Thursday and concludes with lunch on Friday so participants can be home Friday night. While the program's structure is intense, the spirit is collaborative and the activities stimulating.

Relationship Focus:

Central to the benefits of this program is the deliberate agenda of developing more than 40 personal relationships. They are formed on three levels. Initially, participants will form life-long relationships with emerging leaders from other organizations - their cohort colleagues. Next, participants will meet, in workplace settings and classroom interactions, business, labor and public sector leaders who will become part of their network of professional contacts. Finally, participants will have substantial access to course "faculty coaches," with the intention of establishing mentoring relationships that will extend far beyond the program.

Faculty Coaches:

In promoting a collaborative learning environment, those invited to teach in the Leadership Access® program are designated "faculty coaches," not professors. While possessing solid academic credentials (many have faculty appointments at well­-regarded universities) and substantial experience, their purpose is not to tell participants about workplace leadership but to coach them as issues of leadership in the workplace emerge. No worn out lectures. No busywork. No assigning one's own textbook to sell more copies. Instead, there are energetic conversations, intense individual work and shared experiences that will influence professional work for a lifetime.

If you have one or more emerging leaders, sign them up for our next course. To find out more about upcoming dates, contact us at crb@crichardbarnes.com. Maybe you have a larger group within your organization that would want to attend this program. We can tailor the program just for you and do it on site.