A comprehensive professional development solution for you and your department.

Course Description

Becoming a Community Builder

Designed specifically for executive management in the Public Works field, this six month professional development journey the instill the five competencies of an effective leader today; will provide inspirational education sessions filled with actionable insight, meaningful real life examples and tangible tools that will assist the participants in being the effective leader they need to be in these ever changing times.

• Today, Effective Leader have the ability to build partnerships and build consensus. It takes someone with the ability to inspire, to move others towards a shared goal. Someone who can tap into the collective intelligence and energy of stake holders by acting as a catalyst and a convener
• Today, effective leaders can provide direction when people don’t know what to do. Rather than leaders who require, these are leaders who inspire.
• Today, effective leaders are more about influence that comes as the result of someone who conveys vision, passion, and commitment.
• Today, effective leadership is a result of paying attention to and responding to the trends and issues impacting our communities. In other words, being able to sense possibilities and innovate while others are stuck in outdated thinking.
• Today, Effective Leaders flatten the hierarchy by seeking and valuing feedback from all sources and being comfortable sharing control and empowering others.
• Today, effective leaders can facilitate the creation of a collective vision and direction for the future, the result will be more of the collaborative relationships and partnerships that are necessary for creative and effective solutions.
• Today, effective leaders are authentic, honest, direct, and they are known as those who genuinely care about others and do what’s best for the broader good even when it hurts.

While it may seem simplistic, we believe the kind of leadership described above can be summed up in the five leadership competencies of a community builder which are the backdrop of this executive professional development series.

Session 1- Ignite the Fire
The “why we do” is the key to the “how we do” and the “results we get”. In this session Ian Hill will lay the ground work for the program, putting participant’s hearts and minds in the right place for growth. Attendees will review the program and its various tools, define roles and responsibilities and establish their personal desired outcomes. Participates will also review the programs unique accountability mechanism which will support them in reaching their full potential. Attendees will leave with everything needed to get the maximum impact from the program and the inspiration to “ignite” the process of reaching their best.

Session 2- Agents of Change who understand, demonstrate, and exerts influence by building trusting relationships. We are hungry for leaders who have the courage, passion, and motivation that is respected by others so that barriers can be addressed and overcome.

• Participants will be able to define the vital role they plan in community building in these complex times
• Participants will be able to identify the difference between the “content” and the “context” of leadership
• Participants will be able to identify the impact of previous leaders in their life and the role they have played in shaping the leadership style that they employ today, and take the information to build the leadership style they envision for themselves.
• Participants will be able to better understand the skills needed to exert influence by building the trusting relationships needed to get things done.

Session 3- Big Picture Thinking.
That big picture or system approach is essential because the issues in our country and our communities are too complicated to be solved by any one sector or silo. While they are examining that big picture we would also like them to pay attention to, and apply some creative responses to the social, economic, environmental, and technology trends and issues that have the potential to impact our communities. Capra said that for leaders to be effective today, they needed to shift their thinking “from parts to whole”, from things to relationships, from structures to processes, from hierarchies to networks, from the rational to the intuitive, from analysis to creation” . In this broadcast Ian will explore the importance of a proactive, system thinking/ holistic approach and how to establish it as a pillar of your leadership style, as you strive to better Become a Community Builder! .

Participants will learn

• What systems thinking is and how it can make you more effective today
• How to generate creative and innovative ideas through an “outside the box” planning/problem solving approach.
• A proven “system” for the implementation of organizational change.

Session 4- Continuous Improvement for themselves, for others, and for their communities. That of course doesn’t happen without strong values, a moral compass, and a code of conduct that reflects those values. We all have heard about continuous improvement, and know that if we want to be our best we must continuously improve…so if we have heard it and know it, why is it that many individuals, departments and even communities are still doing things as they have always done and don’t seem to improve? Join us as we explore the second competency of a Community Builder; a Commitment to Continuous Improvement. Ian will help us establish a vision for our legacy, create a code of conduct to help that vision become a reality and provide tools to help us follow through on the commitments we have made to improve ourselves. All combining to help us be our best, as we do the important work of Community Building

Session 5-Catalysts for encouraging responsibility in others and for engaging and cultivating community ownership. That means that while we want to see leaders who understand the need to facilitate change, we also want them to believe in the power and possibilities of individual contributions.

We will discuss how to become a catalyst for responsibility. We will be discussing how to motivate and create buy-in in others and how to use that buy-in to get things done.

Session 6-Plan effectively. In this sixth and final session Ian will explore Building Communities through Effective Planning. The “community development” approach to planning has proven to be the most effective in creating great plans that have stakeholder buy-in and actually produce meaningful solutions to real problems. So if we want to be a Community Builder we better know how to be a catalyst and convener for effective planning to occur.

Ian Hill

Award Winning Change Agent and Business Leader

Humanitarian, Business Leader, and Award Winning Philanthropist, these are some of the words that often used when referring to Ian Hill. Whether running a multi-million dollar business operation with over 1000 employees, to spearheading first of their kind life-changing community projects, to a unique World wide initiative. Ian Hill has been recognized for being a catalyst for positive change throughout North America. Read more (pdf)

“Zig Ziglar, Les Brown, Lou Holtz, and Tom Peters all have… inspirational messages, but none of them can reach into your soul…like Ian Hill!.”
Steve Allen, Business owner. Elected official