Leading Lakers
Leadership Development Program
Leading Lakers is Grand Valley State University’s leadership development program for faculty and staff. It is designed to support leadership development and growth around the eight employee core competencies. This is a multi-tiered program, with each tier building on the previous offering; therefore, each tier is a pre-requisite to advance and participate in the next offering.
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Timeline
The Leading Lakers curriculum previewed to campus on October 25, 2023. The first cohort of Activate began November 8, 2023, with the second session of Activate beginning in March 2024. The inaugural cohort of Accelerate began in May 2024.
After the initial implementation, Activate cohorts continue to begin at regular intervals, with one offering in fall and one in winter each year. Accelerate is a 10-month program engagement with new cohorts beginning each year in May.
Tier System
There are currently three tiers of programming in the Leading Lakers curriculum: Activate, Accelerate and Amplify.
Activate (Tier 1)
Activate (tier 1) will build a shared baseline of skills and knowledge on topics that will prepare leaders for roles with direct reports. This includes leaders with direct reports that are new to the institution, internal leaders who have obtained new roles with direct reports, or leaders that wish to grow their leadership skills and prepare them for future roles with direct reports.
Accelerate (Tier 2)
Accelerate (tier 2) will take a deeper look at leadership skills and knowledge through the lens of the core competencies and leverage experiential learning outcomes.
Amplify (Tier 3)
Amplify (tier 3) will focus on executive leadership in roles with a title of Director and above, who have completed Activate and Accelerate. This tier is in development and will launch once the initial tiers have been well established and are being delivered consistently and sustainably.
Participation
Starting in 2024, cohorts for Activate (Tier 1) began being offered regularly throughout the year. The first cohort of Accelerate (Tier 2) began in May 2024. All interested in participating in the tiered leadership program must first complete Activate.
The Talent Management team plans to offer all Leading Lakers programming regularly to provide ample opportunities for interested participants to engage in programming in the future. Please monitor the HR newsletter and communications that will include future registration opportunities. You may also check this page regularly for future session offerings.
We strongly encourage interested participants to join us at the Leadership Roundtable events, posted in Workday, where we discuss a variety of leadership topics and share announcements and reminders about program offerings.
"Leading Lakers: Activate" Upcoming Cohort Schedule
The next cohort of Leading Lakers: Activate will begin winter 2025. All individuals interested in engaging in the leadership programming must start by completing this foundational tier 1 program, Activate.
To participate, submit your interest for the upcoming cohort of Activate by January 31. This cohort will take place on Wednesday February 26, 2025 and March 5, 2025, on the Health Campus in the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH), room 104. Pods will meet once a month from March-August 2025. Pods will schedule their own monthly meeting date/time based on member availability. Participation in both days of programming, as well as the monthly accountability pods, is required for completion of the Activate program. Cohort participation selection will be confirmed by February 5, 2025.
All regular, full-time employees (AP, PSS, Faculty, MGS, POAM, COAM, Security Staff) are eligible and encouraged to submit an interest form. The Activate program is open to any employee who has an interest in growing as a leader regardless of supervisory status. Current leaders with direct reports are strongly encouraged to submit their interest to participate.