Coaching and Mentoring for Technical Leaders

Most organizations are experiencing leadership turnover—which is especially challenging for technical organizations where the role and expectations of engineers differ considerably from managers. In addition, many organizations have delayed developing their managerial pipeline and now face a need to rapidly develop new technical managers. Coaching and mentoring play significant roles in developing new talent, but the skills to be effective in this area are not always obvious.

The course is based on The SLII Experience^TM created by Dr. Ken Blanchard and other leaders at The Ken Blanchard Companies. Using the SLII^® highly interactive approach, you will learn and practice the three skills of a situational leader: goal-setting (aligning on what needs to be done), diagnosis (collaboratively assessing an individual’s competence and commitment on a specific task or goal) and matching (using a variety of leadership approaches, comfortably, to provide individuals with what they need to complete tasks or achieve goals).

Taught by an experienced training professional from one of the world’s leading technology companies, this course will give you tools to communicate openly and a clear strategy to develop leaders.

• Managers, directors, and team leaders responsible for employee development
• Technical leaders responsible for the development of employees and teams
• Prospective technical leaders seeking a systematic approach to coaching others
• Training professionals supporting coaching and mentoring programs
• Organizational leaders seeking to build bench strength and fill holes in succession planning

Your fellow learners
Learn with peer technical leaders interested in developing the competence and commitment of others. Your classmates will represent various public and private organizations from across the country. 

Course features

The participant materials are designed to help you master the SLII® approach to coaching and mentoring others. The SLII Experience^TM resources are published by The Ken Blanchard Companies and valued at $400.

Your SLII^® participant materials include:

• LBA II^® Questionnaire (self-assessment tool)
• SLII Fitness Test (self-assessment Tool)
• SLII Resource and Activity Workbook
• Interactive Worksheets for Team Leaders
• Conversation Starters for Team Leaders
• SLII Challenge: 12 Mastery Modules
• The SLII Playbook: 9 Play Implementation Plan

Post-course, you will have access to a team member kit that is designed to help you share SLII with your team and/or key cross-functional co-workers. These downloadable tools include:

• Learn SLII Model Article
• Learn SLII Model PowerPoint
• SLII Mobile App (iPhone, iPad, Android, or Web)
• Interactive Worksheets for Team Members
• One-on-One Conversion Starters for Team Members

This course is part of the Technical Leadership Certificate. Course may be taken individually as well.

Course Learning Design

Course Pre-Work

Pre-work materials introducing the course concepts will be communicated to you one week prior to the kick-off of this course.

Leadership for the Future

• A contemporary look at what leaders need in today’s diverse, multi-generational workplace to be successful and effective
• Learn why The SLII Experience^TM approach is a language as well as a strategy for coaching and mentoring others that optimizes employee development and an organization’s success

Goal Setting: The 1st Skill of a Situational Leader

• Learn how to help others develop goals that are specific, motivating, attainable, relevant, and trackable (SMART Goals)

Diagnosis: The 2nd Skill of a Situational Leader

• Discover how to diagnose an individual’s development level to perform a given task or goal and provide the appropriate direction and support to achieve success
• Learn how to use the four leadership styles (strategies)—each with a different combination of directive and supportive behaviors that provide just what the individual needs to perform in a given situation

Matching: The 3rd Skill of a Situational Leader

• Find out how using the appropriate leadership style in a given situation optimizes the employee’s development and saves you time
• Practice how to match your leadership approach to individuals’ development levels
• Demonstrate how to open up communication and involve others in setting goals and reaching agreements about the support and direction that you need to achieve personal and organizational goals
• Learn how to manage development regression by staying in close touch with performance and development

Addressing a Challenging Coaching Situation

Practice using The SLII Experience^TM approach to address a real-world coaching situation that you are challenged within the workplace.

"I left this course with surefire ways to help my staff improve their skills."

"The coursework allowed me to incorporate my own real-life leadership situations, which helped me identify solutions as I learned."

"Learning how to lead by the situation was invaluable and will help me communicate with diverse groups."

"This course provided an excellent perspective on how I can use what I’ve learned in my organization."

"The interactive nature of the learning activities, peer discussions and useful tools to improve my coaching skills."

Rick Huber

Rick Huber, PhD is a results-oriented adult education professional with significant experience in leading public and private sector continuing education initiatives, including for General Electric’s Healthcare business and Wisconsin Technical Colleges. Dr. Huber has demonstrated expertise in developing leadership skills and training-for-trainers in the workplace on a global basis. Rick has also shared this expertise with UW-Madison as a member of the School of Education’s Board of Visitors and has served on other education advisory boards and professional associations for over 35 years.