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 rollout is in the early stages. The timeline provided outlines the initial rollout plans from Fall 2023 to Spring/Summer 2024.
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 Sprout, where we discuss a variety of leadership topics and share announcements and reminders about program offerings.
"Leading Lakers: Activate" Cohort Scheduled for August
The next cohort of Leading Lakers: Activate will begin August 2024. 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 July 11. This cohort will take place on August 7 and 15, on the Pew Campus in Seidman College of Business (SCB), Charles W. Loosemore Forum, room 1008A. Pods will meet once a month from September 2024-February 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 July 12.
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.