Becoming a Strategic Leader in 6 weeks by Cultivating Your Creative Thinking

Start your Journey to Transforming Yourself to a Strategic Leader, learn the outcomes and approaches that are critical

Is it really possible to become a Strategic Leader in 6 weeks and fast track your career to the C-Suite?

Are you an aspiring leader who want to move to a strategic leadership role, accelerate your career growth and learn how to think outside the boundaries you currently operate in?

Or perhaps you are part of a Senior Leadership Team who often get dragged back from strategic activity in to the operational weeds?

Then read on... this course will help you stay focused on the bigger picture and plan a strategy that can be delivered.

This is not an average ‘knowledge acquisition’ program but a ‘knowledge application’ program. This is a program that will focus on the creative application or implementation of world class best practices to your organization.

This program will help you realize your dreams and ideas, so you will be able to transform yourself from where you are now to a strategic leader you always wanted to be and create followers that buy-in and contribute to your innovative solutions.

Our focus will be on the types of outcomes a strategic leader should be focusing attention on achieving and the world class approaches required to get them. These approaches have evolved from 44 years of hands-on experience in over 40 countries and more than 160 organisations.
They work. You have an opportunity as never before to use your creativity to overcome barriers in your own organization to move it from being just a ‘good’ organization to becoming a ‘great’ organization.

This means significantly increased competitiveness, profitable growth – faster growth than ever before, enhanced reputation as an innovative organization recognized and admired in your sector or industry and exceptional stakeholder relationships without which your organization can never achieve its full potential!


The journey will be fast and furious like nothing you have ever experienced. High impact, short duration! Develop yourself as you never thought possible.

Research says every year 2 million individuals enter leadership positions and 60% fail! After my 44 years of hands-on consulting, most often the root cause is a failure to think strategically!
  • 90%+ of the time when even a good organization underperforms or fails, the failure is a failure in leadership. Once again, based on my global experience, the root cause was a failure to think strategically.
  • Research says most executive development is disconnected from the real needs of the organization and those who must lead it.
  • But this is about to change for you because this program guarantees a direct connection with the true needs of your organization!

 
 

What's important to know in terms of background?

This is a hands-on practical online program which includes 7 online sessions with the trainer. Additional option include implementation checklist and Certificate of Completion.

The Implementation Checklist takes your thinking to the next level. Each Challenge Question discussed during the sessions is written as a scenario or real life situation in which you are positioned as an agent of change in your organization.

You are then asked to identify the barriers in your organization that could prevent or at least slow down your implementation of the change. Then you are requested to use/raise your creativity by asking how you overcome the 2 barriers you believe you are most likely to encounter in your organization as you attempt to implement the change.
Submission of just the 2 barriers for each challenge scenario is designed to determine if the same difficulties occur regardless of the change to be implemented or whether there are different difficulties for each one – which makes it more challenging for you as an agent of change in your organization.

Just the submission of the 2 greatest barriers to implementation in your organization ensures you receive a certificate of completion for this program.


What will you achieve by the end of the program?

1. Make better decisions- understand the most critical strategic approaches you need to be utilizing in your organization and why;

2. Be able to focus the power of your organization on the right strategic and operational issues to be “the best you can be” as an organization;

3. Have a clear understanding of the factors that will lead to enhanced organizational performance in the future – take you to the next level of performance;

Know where the “gaps” are now in terms of what you are currently doing and what you have to do differently to be successful

Be better prepared to act as ‘change agents’ in your organization

Be more creative and think more strategically about your business

What are the objectives of this program?

Know how to ask the key questions – the ones, which when answered, will provide you with the depth of insight needed to make more optimal decisions at a higher – more strategic level and make them faster – engage in what we call hyper-decision making.

To be able to recognize patterns – to see the dots before others do and connect them faster so you see the full picture in a way others do not and in a way that always allows you to be more proactive – not reactive

To be able to take a system’ s view of how things work as well as the understand the critical need for having systematic, integrative and comprehensive processes that comprise those systems

Refining your integration capability as you will be able to take many different fragmented pieces, systems or approaches and begin to link them together by identifying and assessing the importance of the points of commonality that exist between them – understand the interdependencies between them which others fail to see.

It will be very important that as you approach finding solutions to the issues presented, use your own company as the point of reference. In other words, through what we do in these brain teasers, these mind challenges, that we not only stretch your mind making you a more capable executive now or in the future, but that we also, through your creativity and high quality thinking, find ways to help improve the performance of your own organization. This, then, makes you a change agent within your organization!


What's unique about this program?

The entire program is based on hands-on practical, real concepts and situations directly from Dr. Marra’s 44 years of global experience in 39 countries and in over 160 organizations of every type – there is NO THEORY!
  • After each session you will get the implementation checklist, so you can start implementing your knowledge gained during your study of the course material in the practice.

You will be challenged to be the best you can be in new and different ways – confronted with situations from real organizational challenges covering all different aspects of business as you have never been challenged before. That may scare you and to take this program you need to have courage and confidence!


Who Should Participate?

This program will work best for ambitious senior managers or aspiring leaders who want to move to a strategic leadership role and learn how to think outside the boundaries they currently operate in – to see and be challenged by not only the bigger picture, the holistic view but the complexity that comes with it.

Any ambitious member of management from middle management upward to senior management across any functional area. Grow and develop – learn to confront issues outside your normal comfort zone with relative ease unlike you have been able to do in the past.


Why Should You Participate?

If you have any desire – any aspiration to be able to enhance your strategic thinking capability – a critical capability you need to have based upon our experience if you are to become a member of management or if you are already on the leadership team of your organization.


Without it you will not be able to steer your organization through the unchartered and turbulent waters of the future – through the relentless change, competitive threats and technological revolution that is already around us and growing stronger every day.

Helping to ensure your organization endures the test of time and turbulence and maintains excellence in all it does, continuously sets the standard for performance and creates and delivers value to all key stakeholders is a big job – one that demands strategic thinking capability.

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You will also get the following additional Bonuses:

Bonus #1. An Organizational Vulnerability Assessment - valued at $100

Bonus #2.Background & Overview of the Insights Paradigm ‘Organizational Vulnerability’ Survey - valued at $50

Bonus #3. Customer Focus Assessment Survey. Find out How Customer Focused Your Organization Really Is! - valued at $150

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The Outline.

The program consists of the following 6 modules:

Module 1. The innovation/opportunity matrix – Part 1

Where Would You Start the Process If You Needed or Wanted to "Re-invent" Your Organization? Identifying the critical issues the leadership team must identify and resolve to move their organization from a ‘red ocean’ positioning to more of a ‘blue ocean’ positioning

Module 2. The Innovation/opportunity Matrix – Part 2

A Fresh and Controversial Look at Business Models – Breaking with Tradition. Here we get into more detail regarding the what and the how – about issues such as ‘value’, what it means, why it is so strategically important and how you will do what needs to be done to reinvent your organization

Module 3. Business Models - Part 1

You want to create an enduring organization which can withstand the test of time, change and turbulence; set the standard for excellence; ensure performance as measured by the right KPI’s positions your organization as ‘best-in’breed’; and that you continuously create and deliver value to all key stakeholders. What are the components of the business model – which is the heart or spirit of your organization? Why are they critical?

Module 4. Business Models – Part 2

Revise your business model components and be prepared to answer key questions about those components such as (1) Why is it critical that the leadership team be a team? What are some of the behaviours and practices that show he leadership team is leading by example – that they are being a role model for ‘teamwork’? How will this make a difference in organizational performance

Module 5. Hyper-Decision Making – Part 1

You job is to find ways to help your organization make more optimal decisions faster than ever. You know that to be successful in the market your organization has to be more agile and part of that is how your organization goes about making decisions. There are some 9 factors that affect speed and quality of decision making in an organization. You will be given 4 of them and you will have to come up with the other 5. Then you will need to explain how each factor influences the speed and effectiveness (optimality) of decision making

Module 6. Hyper-Decision Making – Part 2

You have been given the assignment of designing an effective decision-making business process. You may even be given a ‘ strawman’ process – a design which a senior manager in your organization did some time ago when he was thinking about this issue. You must pass judgement on it and/or design the right decision-making process.


Additional Feature #1: Course Software That Keeps You On Track

The course software is very easy to use. It tracks your progress for you, allowing you to come back right where you left off. This keeps you organized and helps you focus your time on learning.

You can access the course anytime, from any device. Watch the presentations, videos and downloadable materials on any tablet or smartphone.

Additional Feature #2: Ability to collaborate with both author and other students, ask questions and make comments.

Your Satisfaction Is Guaranteed

Our goal is to help you become a better Leader so you can take your career to the next level.

We want you to use this course as a resource for continued learning. If you take the course and are not satisfied with what you learned, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

Your satisfaction is guaranteed by our 100% money-back guarantee refund policy.


 

Your Instructor


Dr. Ted Marra
Dr. Ted Marra

Dr. Ted Marra is a strategic facilitator to the world's top organisations assisting them with transformation and the most challenging operational and strategic issues including turnarounds, new business launches, global organisational change

He is an organizational mentor and writer, he has lectured in MBA/EMBA programmes at universities in Boston, Detroit, the UK, Switzerland and Croatia. He is now a Member of the Board of MAX/Knowledge Now, a global learning organisation.

Marra is the author of numerous reports for the Conference Board in New York and others as well as articles for US and European Journals and some 50 Posts on his LinkedIn site. His most recent book, ‘The Wisdom Chronicles: Competing to Win’ was just published in January 2015. Areas of expertise in addition to Strategic Leadership include Relationship Mastery, Business Excellence and Research.

He has consulted with over 160 organizations in 39 countries during the past 43 years and has guided transformation initiatives in some of the world’s most prominent companies such as Xerox, Shell, IBM, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Johnson & Johnson, DuPont, Electrolux as well as government agencies, SME’s and NGO’s. He has led business turnarounds, launched new businesses and helped SME’s double in size and move from a local to global market reach.

Ted was also Senior Policy Advisor for President Reagan and has held management positions with such organizations as General Motors and Goodyear as well as owning and operating two consulting companies – MQI in Boston and The Centre for Innovation Management Europe Ltd. in the U.K

He is currently a partner in a new start-up organisation in Dubai, UAE called Insights Paradigm which is a very unique strategic advisory and facilitation organisation.


 

What Others Are Saying

I have had the privilege to work with Dr. Marra both as a mentor and colleague. Dr. Marra has a broad and deep understanding on how to assist organizations in improving themselves for viability and sustainability.

What truly sets Dr. Marra apart is the combination of his deep academic skills, the huge amount of cross cultural experience from a variety of industries and the ability to always use and promote thinking as a strategic asset. He is one of the few I have come across who have captured so many of the vital aspects of what is required for success with such down to earth clarity.

- Gӧran Kӓllmark, CEO, Informed Decisions, Sweden

What Others Are Saying

For many years I worked with Ted in Switzerland. His ability to boil down most complicated issues of management to the key points fascinates me time after time. He is able to deliver clear strategic advice without becoming nebulous or losing contact to the operative grounds of success.

As a lecturer for senior executive programs in Swiss universities, as well as a consultant, he used his experience gained by working with a lot of renowned companies around the world to provide valuable insight and support.

- Dr. Lothar Natau, Management and Bereitungs Gmbh, Switzerland

What Others Are Saying

Our leadership team worked with Dr. Marra on optimizing key decision making processes in our company. From the very beginning it was clear that he was guiding us with strong and silent confidence based on deep academic foundation and broad real life experience.

Dr. Marra helped me and my colleagues to find our way through the decision making jungle and pave it into a clear and simple path. At the same time he contributed to the development of key members of our staff—some of our 'leaders of tomorrow'—through their involvement in Strategic Business Improvement Teams designed to specifically support each of several domain decision Councils we created as part of the transformation process.

- Nikola Dujmović, CEO, SPAN, Croatia

What Others Are Saying

Ted's years of experiences in different field of business have given him great insight and wisdom to assist other leaders and professionals like himself coordinate their goals more appropriately. His success comes from the success of others and his brand of humility allows him to be easily approachable and trustworthy. I strongly recommend everything he has to offer as reputable and a very respectable person.

- Olayiwola A. Alara, Executive Chairman and CEO at AAGC

 

Frequently Asked Questions


What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.
I am a small business owner and have often found that courses such as this work well for larger companies, but are not applicable to a true small business.
You will be confronted with real life situations which you need to be able to handle regardless of your organisation - SME, large corporate, public sector or NGO. These situations will force you to stretch your thinking in new and better ways which can be of tremendous benefit or value to you and your organisation regardless of size or industry or any other classification. The first challenge or situation you will be presented with is actually from an SME client of mine in Eastern Europe who wanted to grow more profitably and be more competitive as well as expand globally. Other situations will be from a variety of organisations which have been clients over the past 43 years such as IBM, Xerox, Johnson & Johnson, Telecommunications Ministry and hundreds more. However, this challenge applies to all organisations.
I won't be able to attend all live sessions, will I get access to recordings?
Absolutely, the recordings will be available on the site within a few hours after we completed a live session. So if you handle client urgent issues as part of your responsibilities and therefore do not always have the ability to set those issues aside, this is an ideal scenario for you.
Will I receive any deliverables?
You will receive ideas, concepts, approaches, charts which you can immediately use to help yourself grow and help your organisation be more successful.
 

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