Say hello! We’d love to hear from you.
© 2024 Copyright – Small Giants Community. All Rights Reserved
Where purpose-driven leaders go to grow
The Small Giants Leadership Academy develops confident, empathetic leaders who know how to inspire others, drive performance, and influence company culture.
Where purpose-driven leaders go to grow
The Small Giants Leadership Academy develops confident, empathetic leaders who know how to inspire others, drive performance, and influence company culture.
Looking to tap into some serious potential?
Enroll members of your leadership team or emerging leaders and watch them transform into certified Small Giant leaders. This robust nine-month certification program consists of virtual learning sessions facilitated by experienced practitioners from top Small Giant organizations, an extensive resource library, access to a cohort of like-minded peers, and your event ticket to two Small Giants gatherings.
Looking to tap into some serious potential?
Enroll members of your leadership team or emerging leaders and watch them transform into certified Small Giant leaders. This robust one-year certification program consists of virtual learning sessions facilitated by experienced practitioners from top Small Giant organizations, an extensive resource library, access to a cohort of like-minded peers, and your event ticket to two Small Giants gatherings.
What certified leaders are saying:
Embrace your inner academic
When you enroll in this dynamic program, you can expect to dive deep into these topics over the course of the year:
We’ll get to know each other and ourselves better when we explore our personal purpose, vision, and values. While most companies have articulated these for the organization, it’s important to know these identifiers for yourself as well. We’ll look at how you can solidify your personal purpose, vision, and values, and how these can tie into your identity as a leader.
While talking about mental health in the workplace can be uncomfortable, it has become a topic that’s not only unavoidable, but necessary for a people- focused culture. We’ll first explore tools to take care of your own mental health, and why it’s so important for your personal and professional well-being. Then, we’ll discuss how to create an environment where your employees are comfortable engaging in this topic about themselves and one another.
Having a disciplined yet compassionate approach is important to any company’s hiring and firing practices. While these two topics are at opposite ends of an employee’s tenure with your company, they all tie back to whether or not you’re living your values authentically. We will look at best practices for recruiting, screening, and hiring, but also consider how to handle the tough decisions with both clarity and empathy.
No matter how many years of experience we’ve had as leaders, having tough conversations is never easy. We often procrastinate, avoid or ignore the need altogether, to the detriment of everyone involved. The truth is, having a good open and honest conversation solves almost any relationship issue in business. So we’re going to learn how to develop the courage to engage, how to create a safe environment using compassion and empathy, and how to act quickly with confidence.
The conversation of inclusion can be unnerving at first, but we’re going all-in. Together, we’ll learn ways to make it safe to not just talk about diversity, equity and inclusion, but to have meaningful conversations that will allow your entire team to share how these issues have impacted them. We’ll also develop a proactive strategy that goes beyond the numbers.
We’ll take a broader look at your company’s culture, and how it measures up in terms of psychological safety. We’ll discuss exactly what a culture of mattering consists of and why it’s important for a healthy, successful organization. We’ll also identify key practices for creating a space that encourages vulnerability, team learning, and innovation.
While Small Giants are committed to building a fun, intimate, and family-like environment, we are equally committed to measuring what matters and holding people accountable for performance. We’ll talk about specific methods of measurement and feedback systems, and we’ll learn how to track and communicate progress along the way.
As we wrap up our time in the Leadership Academy, we’ll discuss the tools to influence decision-making so that these practices you’ve learned can become part of the way your company operates over time. During this reflective end to the program, we’ll review best practices and lessons learned, engage in a final leadership development exercise, and send you on your way with the lifelong friendships you’ve developed with fellow participants.
What certified leaders are saying:
“The Leadership Academy showed me practical ways to weave our values into our everyday work.”
“The leadership academy opened up my eyes to the importance of people feedback systems and how key that is to the success of our company.”
“This experience has given me validation that I’m a better leader than I think.”
“I now think more high level about the organization as a whole.”
“I feel like the Small Giants Leadership Academy has empowered me as a leader.”
Previous
Next
Embrace your inner academic
When you enroll in this dynamic program, you can expect to dive deep into these topics over the course of the year:
The key to success in business and life is a lot simpler than you think: it’s all about relationships. Building and managing relationships is a critical leadership skill that will benefit you in all aspects of life. In this module, you’ll discover how to evaluate your own self-awareness and how to navigate important relationships with coworkers, customers and other stakeholders. We’ll delve into the practical tools needed to create safe space for genuine, tough and impactful conversations. In this module, we’ll cover:
- Emotional intelligence
- Influencing and inspiring others
- Giving and receiving feedback
- Psychological safety
In the old days, a command-and-control approach to leadership meant telling people what to do and not bothering to share why we’re asking them to do it. In fact, many leaders still operate this way today. But as purpose-driven leaders, we’ve come to realize that being vulnerable and transparent about where we are — including the details of our finances — creates a level of trust and collaboration we’ve never seen. Command and control is out of style: Small Giants leaders are open, honest, and unafraid to ask for help. And vulnerability pays off: when we’re transparent, we also unleash the ideas and innovation in the minds and hearts of those that we work with. In this module, we’ll cover:
- Cultivating transparency in your organization
- Financial literacy
- Open-book management
A great culture: everyone wants it, many claim to have it, few have truly mastered it. Building a vibrant internal culture is the foundation of a Small Giants company, and that culture starts with leadership. In this module, we’ll explore the importance of purpose, vision, and values and see where your company rates on the continuum. We’ll use storytelling to discover how culture impacts the hiring process, operations, and the ability to grow. As a leader, your most important role is ensuring your team’s fulfillment and happiness at work, and we’ll share practical tools for how to show your co-workers you care about them in the totality of their lives. In this module, we’ll cover:
- Purpose, vision, and values
- Hiring and onboarding
- Mental health
Building a Small Giants company is not about a stocked beer fridge or bringing your dog to work. While Small Giants are committed to building a fun, intimate, and family-like culture, we are equally committed to measuring what matters and holding people accountable for performance. That starts with you. We’ll talk about specific methods of measurement and feedback systems that result in a culture of kept promises. In this module, we’ll cover:
- Building a culture of performance
- Individual, departmental, and company wide goals
- Performance reviews
Is equity and inclusion an afterthought for your organization? You’re not alone – many companies have grown organically without a proactive strategy around diversity, inclusion and equity in the workplace. It’s a conversation that is hard to start, but not only are we going to start it, we’re going to show you how to develop an internal strategy that goes beyond the numbers. Together, we’ll learn ways to make it safe to not just talk about DE&I, but to have meaningful conversations that will allow your entire team to share how these issues have impacted them. You’ll learn to use compassion to create an environment where everyone feels equally valued. In this module, we’ll cover:
- Recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce
- Building an inclusive culture
- Compassionate and open conversations
As we wrap up our year in the Leadership Academy, we won’t be handing out report cards or letter grades — the ultimate measure of success is if we gave you the tools to influence decision-making so that these practices can become part of the way your company operates over time. During this reflective end to the program, we’ll review best practices and lessons learned, engage in a final leadership development exercise, and send you on your way with the lifelong friendships you’ve developed with fellow participants. In this module, we’ll cover:
- Sharing lessons learned and top takeaways
- Next steps to implement at your organization
- Ways to stay engaged with the Small Giants Community
You get what you give…
And a whole lot more! As most leadership programs go, the more time and care you put into engaging with the curriculum and resources, the more growth you’ll see.
- Inspirational Purpose-Driven Facilitators
Experienced practitioners in top Small Giant organizations will share proven practices to help you build and maintain a positive culture.
- Virtual Learning Sessions
During these monthly 2-hour video calls, you’ll interact with your cohort as subject matter experts from the Small Giants Community teach you the practices and tools to develop as a purpose-driven leader.
- Build Your Network
Through a cohort learning model comprised of like-minded, purpose-driven leaders from across industries who will become trusted confidants for your leadership journey and beyond.
- Online Learning Hub
The learning hub walks you step-by-step through monthly reflections and exercises to take back to your organization. You’ll also gain access to a robust library of leadership development materials that you’ll maintain even after you complete your certification.
You get what you give…
And a whole lot more! As most leadership programs go, the more time and care you put into engaging with the curriculum and resources, the more growth you’ll see.
- Inspirational Purpose-Driven Facilitators
Experienced practitioners in top Small Giant organizations will share proven practices to help you build and maintain a positive culture.
- Virtual Learning Sessions
During these monthly 2-hour video calls, you’ll interact with your cohort as subject matter experts from the Small Giants Community teach you the practices and tools to develop as a purpose-driven leader.
- Build Your Network
Through a cohort learning model comprised of like-minded, purpose-driven leaders from across industries who will become trusted confidants for your leadership journey and beyond.
- Online Learning Hub
The learning hub walks you step-by-step through monthly reflections and exercises to take back to your organization. You’ll also gain access to a robust library of leadership development materials that you’ll maintain even after you complete your certification.
Still have some questions?
Below are commonly asked questions about the Leadership Academy. Want to dive deeper? Sign up for a coffee chat with one of our team members!
While we do have some founders/ CEOs of smaller organizations participate, it is ideal for emerging leaders. Think leadership team members, COOs, those in charge of culture, people, operations, and the like. Most importantly is that the participant has support throughout the learning process and the autonomy to share the practices they gained from the program.
Aligning with the values and philosophies of the Small Giants Community is key, so we ask that you explore our website and talk to one of our team members to see if you align with us. Also consider these concerns, and if you are a founder/CEO and find yourself having similar thoughts, the Leadership Academy could be a solution for you:
- Our leaders are great, I just wish they had more confidence in themselves
- I’m clear on the company’s purpose, vision, and values, but I’m not sure everyone else is
- I’d love to start thinking about my own succession, but none of my employees could fill my role
- Our leaders are great at running their departments, but I wish they’d think bigger picture
The time commitment is on average 4-5 hours per month for the virtual, interactive sessions; this includes two hours of a Zoom workshop, pre-work, post-work, and time with a buddy. Additionally, there are two in-person meetups over the course of the year, totaling 5 days.
From a leadership perspective, you gain confidence, emotional intelligence, self awareness, and the ability to lead others with empathy and compassion. From an organizational standpoint, you will gain systems, tools, and resources around the topics of culture, performance, financials, transparency, accountability, and impact. Look to our curriculum above for more details.
Someone who actively participates in the monthly calls with their cohort as well as the in-person meetups. Someone who completes the pre-work and post-work and asks questions when they cross stumbling blocks. Someone who shares openly and honestly not just the positives and progress, but also challenges. That’s when everyone truly learns, and when the benefits of having a supportive cohort come into play.
We’ll be accepting applications June 2023 until November 2023. Program will kickoff in January 2024 and run until September 2024 with two in-person meetups: one in May at the Small Giants Summit and one in September for the graduation trip.
While we do have some founders/ CEOs of smaller organizations participate, it is ideal for emerging leaders. Think leadership team members, COOs, those in charge of culture, people, operations, and the like. Most importantly is that the participant has support throughout the learning process and the autonomy to share the practices they gained from the program.
Aligning with the values and philosophies of the Small Giants Community is key, so we ask that you explore our website and talk to one of our team members to see if you align with us. Also consider these concerns, and if you are a founder/CEO and find yourself having similar thoughts, the Leadership Academy could be a solution for you:
- Our leaders are great, I just wish they had more confidence in themselves
- I’m clear on the company’s purpose, vision, and values, but I’m not sure everyone else is
- I’d love to start thinking about my own succession, but none of my employees could fill my role
- Our leaders are great at running their departments, but I wish they’d think bigger picture
The time commitment is on average 4-5 hours per month for the virtual, interactive sessions; this includes two hours of a Zoom workshop, pre-work, post-work, and time with a buddy. Additionally, there are two in-person meetups over the course of the year, totaling 5 days.
From a leadership perspective, you gain confidence, emotional intelligence, self awareness, and the ability to lead others with empathy and compassion. From an organizational standpoint, you will gain systems, tools, and resources around the topics of culture, performance, financials, transparency, accountability, and impact. Look to our curriculum above for more details.
Someone who actively participates in the monthly calls with their cohort as well as the in-person meetups. Someone who completes the pre-work and post-work and asks questions when they cross stumbling blocks. Someone who shares openly and honestly not just the positives and progress, but also challenges. That’s when everyone truly learns, and when the benefits of having a supportive cohort come into play.