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Leadership Series

Whether you are currently in a leadership role, just starting your journey, or exploring your next step, this interactive workshop series is designed to support faculty at all levels. Focused on essential soft skills—such as navigating change, negotiating effectively, managing conflict, and fostering peer learning—this series will empower you to lead with confidence and impact.



Upcoming



Encouraging dissenting voices (for leaders)

February 10, 2027, noon-1:30 p.m. via Zoom

This session, led by David Wright (emergency medicine), will explore "Encouraging Dissenting Voices (for Leaders)". Participants will gain insights into fostering environments where diverse perspectives are valued, enhancing innovation, and resilience within healthcare teams.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Identify the benefits of fostering an environment where dissenting voices are encouraged, recognizing their impact on innovation, problem-solving, and patient safety within healthcare settings.
  2. Develop practical strategies for leaders to actively solicit and receive constructive feedback and differing opinions from their teams, ensuring psychological safety and open communication.
  3. Learn how to effectively integrate diverse perspectives and manage disagreements to inform better decision-making and strengthen team cohesion and resilience.

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Emotional Intelligence

This session will explore the critical role of emotional intelligence (EI) in effective leadership. We'll delve into how understanding and managing emotions—both your own and those of your team members—can significantly enhance communication, foster stronger relationships, and improve decision-making within a healthcare setting. Participants will gain practical insights and strategies to cultivate their emotional intelligence, leading to more resilient and productive teams.

Speaker: Cara Cimmino, MD (urology)

Navigating Conflict and Difficult Conversations

This presentation helps participants understand the nature of conflict and navigate it more effectively. Communication expert and executive coach, Dr. Wright, explains why conflict feels so difficult even though it's a normal part of our personal and professional lives. Participants will learn how to identify their conflict style and gain practical strategies for handling difficult conversations with care, clarity, and confidence.

Speaker: Amber L. Wright, Ed.D. is a leadership communication consultant and executive coach who helps leaders and organizations create spaces that make their people feel seen, heard, and valued.

From the Audience

“I loved this session - it was incredibly practical and informative. This is such a challenging topic!”

“Really enjoyed your presentation: sharp, well-structured, and genuinely entertaining!”

Giving constructive feedback to colleagues and direct reports

This session offers an engaging and practical learning experience focused on building skills in delivering constructive feedback. Participants will explore frameworks for giving feedback that supports growth, fosters trust, and improves team dynamics. Through step-by-step guidance and interactive discussion, attendees will learn how to frame feedback with clarity and empathy—particularly in coaching colleagues and direct reports—as well as how to effectively deliver official performance feedback.

Speakers: Cliff Teague (Executive Administrator, Human Resources) and Randy Lucius, PhD (AVP, Learning and Organizational Development)

From the Audience

“One of the best and most helpful sessions I have attended. The presenters covered a wide range of material, but it was well-organized and progressed in a way that made sense. I appreciated the attention to giving feedback to both employees who are doing well and employees who have opportunities to improve. Extremely helpful!”

Utilizing the VUCA framework to navigate change

This interactive presentation introduces the VUCA framework—now widely used in leadership and organizational development—to help teams understand and respond to the challenges of today's fast-changing environment. Each element of VUCA highlights a specific kind of disruption that impacts decision-making and change efforts. By learning to identify and respond to Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity, participants gain tools to stay grounded, think strategically, and lead more effectively through change.

Speaker: Janie Durham (Organizational Development Consultant)

VUCA-change-model

From the Audience

“Very timely training!”