Training Programs

Senior executive training brings about better knowledge and perspective as to the meaning of being a senior manager.  Senior managers have the responsibility not only of the successful performance of the organization, but also the successful management of all individuals within the organization.  Dr. Atsaides has developed senior management training programs to help the senior people within the organization learn with each other, build their sense of “team”, and develop new skills and attitudes that they can practically put into effect when they go back to their positions.  These programs have been designed to be “worth the time” for the managers who participate in them. 

Effective and successful organizations build strong managers.  The key to building strong managers is to find the right training program for them that challenges their thinking, teaches them effective skills and attitudes, and guides them down a path of success.  Over the many years that Dr. James P. Atsaides has worked with executives, he has developed “truths” about how successful executives need to think and manage.  He has written these in a handbook called  Executive Axioms For Leaders.  Learning and applying these truths will have a positive change in how managers lead and develop others.  This knowledge pushes them to reach their potential as effective leaders as they create a robust culture for the organization’s success. 

This is a group skills building and educational workshop for senior managers. There is benefit for senior managers to learn together as a group since they can share perspectives, talk out issues, create plans for the future, talk about their own ideas and experiences, etc.  Jim facilitates this program and guides the group through the understanding of the key axioms or “truths” of effective senior management thinking and acting.   There is a difference between middle management thinking and executive thinking.  This program teaches managers ways to think and act that are focused on the executive level in the organization.  

The executive axioms discussed in this senior manager training program deal with Leadership, Structure, and Communication. The focus is on the following content areas:

LEADERSHIP

1. Leaders appreciate that leadership is purposeful
2. Leaders are in control
3. Leaders are visible, attentive and observant
4. Leaders bring people up to their way of thinking
5. Leaders have a sense of urgency, and direct / redirect others to the “must do’s”
6. Leaders delegate willingly and effectively
7. Leaders develop others to create high performance teams

VISION & STRUCTURE

8. Leaders manage and direct with a vision
9. Leaders create structure and foundation
10. Leaders are data rational and evaluative
11. Leaders make time their friend

COMMUNICATION

12. Leaders put things on the table
13. Leaders create language
14. Leaders listen actively and ask more questions than they make statements
15. Leaders see conflict as good and important, and deal with stress

Jim presents these key executive axioms in an interactive manner with exercises and discussions.  The workshop is designed for senior managers to understand and develop effective attitudes about leadership, gain greater self-awareness, and train them in specific skills and techniques in managing and supervising others.  The workshop is a low-cost, and high-value program that will make a positive difference in the development of the organization’s key leaders.   The workshop teaches practical concepts that the participants can implement right away.

This educational and skill building senior manager training program is set up as a one-day workshop that can be presented at a facility within the organization, or at a retreat setting. The ideal size for the training program is between 5-10 senior managers.  Each participant receives the “Executive Axioms For Leaders, Leaders Coaching Handbook” that provides insights and development exercises to help them become an effective leader.  This training workshop can be a positive influence to the development of your senior leaders.   

The Advanced Behavioral Interviewing Strategies (ABIS) program is a skills building workshop designed to improve the skills of individuals who conduct selection interviews.  Our ABIS program teaches the skills and techniques used by management psychologists when they conduct selection interviews. This workshop moves beyond the simple behavioral questioning and goes into the strategies and techniques used to identify competencies, evaluate expertise, and select the candidate best able to create a desirable business outcome.  This program is for senior managers, human resource professionals, and anyone else who conducts interviews for key positions.  The ABIS program is also meant for both the experienced as well as the novice interviewers.

The ABIS workshop combines the use of competency models with listening and communication techniques that immediately impact how one conducts an interview.  The workshop is presented in an interactive method with active participation by the audience.  Participants learn the importance of impressions, competencies, past experience, culture fit, staying in control, confronting, and other behavioral skills that change the way they conduct interviews from now on.   

Research studies have found that using a behavioral interviewing style is almost twice as effective in selecting the right individual for a position than the more traditional interview style that tends to be a conversation. Behavioral interviewing is more direct and purposeful.  These studies have found that better prediction of job success and better selection decisions occur when:

• a structured, behavioral based interview process is used
• specific examples of the candidate’s performance is gathered
• competencies required for the job today and in the next one to three years are identified
• objective criteria are used to assess responses
• one maintains control during the interview process
• personal biases are known and controlled for
• the same interview process and assessment criteria are used for all candidates
• notes are taken during the interview.

Effective selection requires understanding the essential requirements of the job and the specific organizational culture characteristics.  These are then compared with the experiences and background of the candidate to evaluate if he/she has the appropriate competencies for success in that position.  Understanding the competencies of a position allows one to develop specific questions to assess capability and fit. 

The ABIS program was written by James P. Atsaides, Ph.D. and contains models, strategies and questions that help to identify the extent to which a candidate possesses the specific competencies required by the position. The participants go through exercises and learn to use various forms that are designed to improve and support the development of the participant’s competencies in conducting behavioral interviews.  This program teaches participants how to translate the organization’s culture characteristics into competencies and behaviors that can be looked for during the interview.  Learning these skills makes it easier for the participants to identify the extent to which a candidate possesses the competencies and culture characteristics required by the position. 

The ABIS workshop is a skill-based program.  The objectives of the ABIS workshop are to have participants:

• understand and be able to conduct a behavioral interview
• assess organizational and department cultural characteristics
• analyze job requirements, and identify “disqualifiers”
• create or select questions to elicit behavioral information
• identify performance patterns and verify impressions
• learn general truths (called “maxims”) about behavioral interviewing
• strengthen their “investigative listening” skills
• control biases and be aware of impressions
• learn effective interview techniques including maintaining control
• Create an interview plan and develop behavioral questions 

A key objective of this training program is to have the participants immediately begin to apply the techniques and tools from the workshop when they go back on the job.  Also, increasing one’s level of confidence in their interviewing style is an important objective. This skill-based program will make a positive difference in how selection is done in an organization.

The ABIS manual includes competency models, interview questions, and all the skills and techniques that are part of this program.  The manual includes specific competency models for leaders and managers with eighteen (18) competencies, and an associate model with sixteen (16) competencies that the participants can use at their organization.  The manual’s Appendix filled with behavioral interview questions makes this a very valuable resource.

The standard ABIS workshop program is a one-day program, and can be delivered on-site or at an off-site setting.  We also have an “Executive ABIS” program that is one-half day in duration.  Each participant receives the ABIS manual for their use during and after the program.  We can license the program to organizations, and teach trainers how to conduct this program internally if desired.