IDDBA Leadership Certificate Program

Business Acumen & Strategy with Ann Martel
How will your organization create, sustain, and extend competitive advantage for the long term? Business acumen and strategy are the cornerstones of success in business. As your leadership responsibilities expand, you need to understand the impact of every decision on the strategic and financial goals of your organization. The pace of business and technological change is increasing. Top managers and leaders need to bring their “A” game to every organizational decision and opportunity.

This program addresses the full strategy planning cycle. We begin with business acumen to assess the organization and the business environment today. You’ll then explore business strategy to evaluate and select winning competitive strategies. Finally, we address strategic choice to identify the actions and metrics for implementing strategy for the long haul. The program uses a combination of interactive discussions, groupwork, case analyses, and peer based learning to facilitate learning and practice in strategic analysis. You’ll gain deep insight into evaluating business situations and making effective strategic decisions.

You will return to your organization with both a broad understanding of general business and strategy as well as insightful assessments of your own current strategic practice. Throughout the program, you’ll explore the circumstances and capabilities of your own as well as peer organizations. You will leave with a road map for assessing business challenges and leading change and be ready to take on greater responsibilities with more long-term impact.

• Learn how to assess your company’s position, market, and potential opportunities
• Examine your company’s current status and the external environment
• Explore the competitive strategies that create long-term sustainable competitive advantage in your industry
• Identify and assess your organization’s key resources, capabilities, and assets that drive competitive advantage
• Utilize frameworks for measuring and managing strategic initiatives and outcomes
• Become familiar with key financial metrics and the foundational concepts for measuring financial results
• Integrate strategy planning and tools into an actionable plan for implementing strategic initiatives
• Improve your general business skills by learning key strategic and financial terminology

Effective Negotiations with Deb Houden
Effective negotiators are skilled at asking thoughtful questions, listening effectively, and separating issues from personalities. This program will help you gain an understanding of the art of negotiation through interactive exercises, real world examples, and peer learning. In this program, you’ll learn the specific steps of the negotiation process. Through interactive role-playing, case scenarios, peer discussion, and review of proven business negotiating strategies, this program will help you think through challenging situations and trade-offs to become a more effective negotiator.

• Understand your strengths and weaknesses to help you negotiate more effectively
• Effectively plan BEFORE you start to negotiate
• Manage emotions during negotiation
• Learn to ask effective questions
• Strengthen the ability to effectively listen
• Separate issues from personalities
• Develop alternatives before negotiating
• Learn to walk away
• Effectively close the deal

Leading in a Modern Era: The Power of Inclusion with Kate Schlesinger
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to the success of individuals and organizations. Biases influence interactions and decision making in the workplace, building barriers to diversity. Professionals need to be prepared to effectively interact with and lead the multigenerational, diverse workforce in today’s business environment.

This leadership session leverages research and theory from experts at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and delivers it through engaging, facilitated discussions and activities. Participants will explore the foundations for an inclusive culture and prioritize those elements that are impacting performance at their organizations.

• Explore core diversity, equity and inclusion concepts and the KIND framework for nurturing inclusion
• Build the base knowledge of unconscious bias, multigenerational differences and microaggressions and identify common triggers in the workplace
• Learn how to lead and respond effectively to situations where issues are being perceived and demonstrated
• Develop key team and personal behaviors and actions to help you and your organization become more productive, inclusive and culturally competent

Your Keys to Executive Leadership - Artell Smith
Whether you are currently an executive or aspire to that role, this session will give you the knowledge, frameworks and tools you need to know to be an effective executive, now or in the future. Key focus areas include:

• Purposeful Leadership- Creating a deliberative approach that maximizes your strengths and passions while achieving organizational goals
• Aligning the Organization: utilizing strategy, culture, process, resources, and other key drivers of performance effectively
• The Leaders Role in Driving Change - Your role and the method for leading sustainable change
• The Ideal Change Sponsor - What do change agents and the front-line need from you? How to over-predict for change to ensure success!

Details*

• Dates: Fall Dates 2025 Coming Soon
• Tuition for IDDBA members thru June: $2995.00 per person
• Tuition for IDDBA members after June: $3295.00 per person
• Tuition for Non-Members: $3995.00 per person
• Class size is limited to 25 participants
• Tuition includes session materials and retail tour
• Sessions will be on the UW-Madison campus at the Fluno Center
• Hotel Information
  • Hampton Inn & Suites Madison Downtown
    440 W. Johnson St. Madison, WI 53703
    • Reservations may be made by calling the Hampton Inn & Suites Madison Downtown direct at 608-255-0360 and mention the IDDBA group block to receive the rate of $131 (+ tax) per night.
• If you have questions contact Michele Tietyen education@iddba.org.

*REFUND/CANCELLATION POLICY: If the program is cancelled for any reason, there will be full refunds. If the program is not cancelled, but an attendee chooses not to attend, there will be a refund minus a $49 admin fee IF another person is able to register for the seat. If the seat is not filled, it will be a forfeiture of the full tuition amount. Note: A paid tuition is allowed to be transferred to a colleague within the same company with the company's approval.