Area business, nonprofit and community leaders looking for ways to enhance their skills amid busy schedules have the chance to do so with an upcoming series of one-day courses offered by the MTSU Jones College of Business’ Executive Education Center.

Jones College instructors and associate management professors Leigh Anne Clark and Deana Raffo will lead the three, one-day leadership courses, which will be held on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Miller Education Center on Bell Street.

Dr. Leigh Anne Clark

• Sept. 29: “Leading with Credibility” — Participants will gain tools and strategies for building teams that share cooperative goals and purpose. (Registration deadline is Sept. 26.)
• Nov. 3: “Leading through Innovation” — Participants will learn how to improve their capacity to imagine possibilities, shape a vision, and effectively communicate that vision through the use of storytelling.
• Feb. 9, 2018: “Leading with Others” — Participants will explore how they can have influence others without having the authority to do so. We will explore personal currencies and how to view everyone as a potential ally.

Clark said the courses are interactive and are built around 30 years of proven research.

“It’s very practical information to tell people how they can be the type of leader people want to follow,” Clark said. “I think the practicality of it is part of what makes it so appealing.”

“We do a lot of tool building, a lot of self-assessments so that you can see where you are on your leadership journey today,” Raffo added. “Then we work on that with very practical ideas about how to get from where you are to where you want to be. It’s very relationship based.”

Raffo said the courses appeal to a broad spectrum of people, from Millennials just getting started in their careers to middle-aged professionals looking to build their leadership skills.

Dr. Deana Raffo

“Leadership is not positional, so it doesn’t matter what your title is,” Raffo said. “It works for whatever level you are within an organization.”

Cost and registration details can be found at http://www.mtsu.edu/business/execed.php. Registration fees include course materials, lunch and snacks. Continuing Education Unit credit is available through these courses.

Clark said she and Raffo are open to providing these courses off-campus to employers who are interested in group training opportunities. Reach Clark at LA.Clark@mtsu.edu or Raffo at Deana.Raffo@mtsu.edu.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)