Masters Certificate in Municipal Leadership

Each of this municipal management course’s three modules – Essential Skills for Municipal Managers, Achieving Operational Excellence, and Public Sector Advancements – provides you with the knowledge and authority needed to take your career and your municipal organization to a new level of excellence.

Benefit from the hands-on and peer-to-peer learning during in-class exercises and case studies, and take advantage of the guidance and expertise of an advisory board comprised of current municipal executives.

Gain new insights and learn best practices on how to lead effectively and improve complex team dynamics, with a vision for public-sector reform. Learn to leverage the talents of your staff and align your role as a municipal manager with your organization’s strategies for overall operational performance. The curriculum is designed in cooperation with the Municipal Advisory Council of Municipal Executives.

The local government management course’s three modules are also available as standalone courses. See “View Modules” on the details page for registration links.

What you will learn

• Understand your leadership abilities with a 360º Leadership Assessment and related tools
• Develop advanced leadership abilities with hands-on and peer-to-peer learning during in-class exercises and through case studies
• Develop new skills in strategic management, negotiations and operational improvement planning
• Explore new trends in municipal management with a vision for public sector reform

Content

Essential Skills for Municipal Managers

Master leadership competencies for managing staff and complex team dynamics in this foundational module

Redefining the Art and Science of Municipal Leadership (3 Days)

Strategically redefine the leadership skills demanded of today’s chaotic and uncertain work environment through an in-depth examination of daily professional interactions, an exploration of cultural transformation and the practice of scientifically-informed techniques of leadership engagement.

• Analyze and redefine the leadership skills demanded of today’s chaotic and uncertain work environment
• Examine the rudiments of corporate culture as based in leadership approaches and apply cultural concepts to excellence in team management
• Practise innovative and scientifically-informed techniques of leadership engagement specifically geared towards creating a culture of performance and excellence

Coaching and Mentoring for Peak Performance (2 days)

Develop the interpersonal skills needed to successfully leverage the talents of your staff and turn a good team into a great team.

Competencies Include:

• Increasing knowledge on coaching and mentoring by reviewing the current theory, research and practices in the field
• Practising coaching and being coached using a variety of tools and techniques
• Differentiating between coaching and mentoring with the most effective skills in certain situations
• Teaching tool: GROW Instrument

Achieving Operational Excellence

Align your role as a municipal manager with your organization's strategies for overall operational performance.

Leadership Agility and the Art of Strategic Thinking (2 days)

Leveraging the Proven Principles of Creative Thought, Conceive Of and Connect a Big Picture with the Realities Municipal Pressures

• Understand the principles undergirding strategic thought
• Appreciate the critical role of agile thinking in strategic agility, conception and design
• Acquire tools for linking strategic designs with the realities of implementation

Political Acumen (1 day)

Cultivate your political acuity as we delve into techniques that will ultimately help meet the needs and expectations of elected officials and their political staff.

Key players and processes in systems of government

• Formal and information decision-making processes
• The role of influence in getting things done
• Networking and the creation of strategic networks and alliances
• Case studies in applied political acuity: stakeholder relations
• Strategies and techniques for raising political acuity

Program Evaluation to Improve Performance (2 days)

Learn the tools and techniques of program evaluation to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of municipal services and discover ways to improve results and value for money.

• Understand how to enhance performance measurement paradigms
• Learn methods of performance analysis that assess relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability
• Understand the practical connection between measurement data and strategic alignment

Public Sector Advancements

Be a "change agent" and advance opportunities across your department or municipality.

Dynamic Employee Engagement in Times of Change (1 day)

Acquire the skills and understanding needed to engage employees and maintain constructive employee relations in unionized and non-unionized settings and in a changing environment.

• Develop a mindset that increases staff engagement
• Learn the levers that have the highest impact on employee morale and engagement
• Understand the contribution organizations, senior managers, local managers and staff make to employee engagement
• Develop a mindset that increases staff engagement
• Learn the levers that have the highest impact on employee morale and engagement
• Understand the contribution organizations, senior managers, local managers and staff make to employee engagement

Negotiation and Collaborative Management Techniques (1 Day)

Master proven techniques for communicating, persuading and using power effectively for collaborative outcomes.

• How and when to use the four different ways of negotiating
• How to remain focused and confident in difficult situations
• How to prepare for negotiations and collaborative outcomes

Leadership Skills for Engaging Others During Change (2 days)

Day 1 – Improve your ability to diagnose the forces necessitating change, as well as how to effectively communicate and influence others to ensure shared commitment to the change.

• Understanding how people respond to change, and strategies for overcoming resistance and engaging key stakeholders
• Communicate difficult change news in a way that engenders trust and commitment
• Reconciling polarized viewpoints when implementing changes mandated from above

Day 2 – Sharpen your interpersonal skills in order to be an effective change agent and be able to maintain harmony in the workplace.

• Leveraging your strengths and “borrowing” from broader interpersonal skills that you may not be utilizing
• Influencing positively, without the use of authority, to get results and preserve working relationships
• Building partnerships and gaining support for your recommendations to more senior management and Council
• Teaching tool: Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI)

Insightful Leadership: An Approach to Personal Continuous Development (1 Day)

Through a study of the psychology of leadership, explore and reframe the fundamental actions leaders undertake to manage uncertainty, as well as the interactional parameters required to overcome the strategic and cultural hurdles inherent in the leadership relationship.

• Devise an approach to day-to-day leadership that heightens performance and promotes ongoing development
• Link corporate culture and departmental performance to leadership behaviours
• Analyze and apply the strategic skills required to transform daily interactions into the building blocks of increased leadership vision