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High-Performance Leadership
“Excellence is not an accident. In high-performance environments, leaders
have the courage to live their values and use the collective brainpower of
their teams.”
—Susan Lucia Annunzio, High Performance Leadership faculty
In today's business world, the strongest performers are those who focus less on control and more on culture, people, and connections. In this program, you'll gain techniques for building an authentic culture that's consistently engaged and innovative — and ultimately drives a superior level of performance. Through classroom learning, interactive practice, and networking opportunities, you'll come away a higher-performing leader.
The champions of today’s business world are those who tap into their belief systems and operate in ways that are authentic and genuine. When leaders are true to their values, they are able to confront challenges, embrace conflict, and tackle tough conversations. Regardless of whether their teams are located in one office or distributed around the globe, they attract a community of followers and give rise to a superior level of performance and an environment that’s consistently engaged and innovative.
By attending this program, you will:
- Understand the attributes that build —and destroy— a high-performance culture.
- Tap into the collective brainpower of top performers, learn how to deliver bad news, and build a trusted, authentic community.
- Explore how to attract and retain top talent
- Gain access to quantifiable global research designed to help executives master high-performance leadership.
An interactive, collaborative learning experience
In this program, you'll develop your skills in real-time by participating in group exercises with faculty and peer feedback. This program also incorporates an executive leader guest speaker who will share their personal leadership journey to further illustrate program concepts.
Guest Speakers:
(April Cohort) Aamir Paul, President of North America and member of the Executive Committee at Schneider Electric
(June Cohort) Eric Belcher, MBA ’95, CEO of Numerator
(Nov. Cohort ) Dave MacLennan, MBA ’88, Executive Chairman of Cargill
Location
Chicago Booth, Gleacher Center, Chicago IL
This program will benefit mid- to senior-level managers and executives who create value for their organizations. It is designed to help professionals in many industries and sectors—especially those in leadership functions undergoing dynamic change.
Titles include: innovation leader, change manager, senior project manager, operations manager, mid- to senior-level manager, director, vice president, and C-suite.
Susan Lucia Annunzio
Susan Lucia Annunzio is President and Chief Executive Officer of The Center for High Performance (CfHP). She is a strategic advisor to CEOs of leading global companies on strategy attainment and business transformation. Susan partners with senior executives to increase their ability to simplify complex strategic decisions through enhanced collaboration and creativity. She is a globally recognized speaker and thought leader on shaping and maintaining high-performance business environments. She has a strong track record helping leaders maximize returns on strategic, financial and human-capital investments.
Previously, Susan ran the research-based high performance consulting subsidiary of Hudson Highland Group, Inc., a leading international professional staffing and talent management solutions firm.
Under her direction, Hudson Highland completed the most comprehensive global study of knowledge workers ever conducted regarding the factors that accelerate or stifle high performance. Susan has presented on this study at such prestigious venues as the World Economic Forum, The International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change at the University of Greenwich, and Vacature’s 2004 “Talent Economy” launch event in Belgium.
Susan has been an Adjunct Professor of Management at the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business. She has been a guest lecturer at INSEAD business school in Fontainebleau, France, Kellogg Graduate School of Management and Instituto Empressa in Madrid. She also has taught at General Electric’s Crotonville Corporate Training Center.
She is the author of Contagious Success (Portfolio, 2004), a dynamic management book that revealed a global standard for high performance. Contagious Success was voted Fast Company’s Readers’ Choice selection in January 2005. Additionally, Susan authored two more prominent business books: Communicoding (Fine, 1990; Penguin USA, 1991) and Evolutionary Leadership (Simon & Schuster, 2001; Fireside, 2002).
She has been a guest on numerous local and national television and radio news programs and has been quoted extensively in the business press, including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, BBC, USA Today and Bloomberg.
Susan is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executives’ Club of Chicago and the University of Chicago Women’s Business Group. She also works with the Metropolitan YWCA of Chicago and The United Way.
Sonny Garg
Sonny is a board member and advisor to companies. He was previously Phunhousian in Chief at DNS Capital. Prior to DNS, Sonny spent 25 years as a senior executive or board member across many organizations in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. He launched and was responsible for the Energy division at Uptake Technologies. Prior to that, he was a member of the Executive Committee and the Chief Information & Innovation Officer at Exelon Corporation. Sonny also served in the administrations of Mayor Richard M. Daley and President William J. Clinton.
Sonny currently serves on the boards of The Invisible Institute, the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago and the Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and is an Executive in Residence at the Booth School’s Rustandy Center. He also a Henry Crown Leadership Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Sonny has a B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and an M.P.P. from Harvard University.
Introduction to High-Performance Leadership
• Learn what drives (and destroys) high performance
• Identify drivers and corresponding attributes of high-performing work environments
Encourage a High-Performance Environment
• What are the correlations between leadership styles and resultant behaviors?
• How do you identify and enable top performers?
• Explore how to attract and retain top talent
• How do you identify quick wins that can may be implemented immediately?
The Tenets of a High-Performance Environment
• How do great leaders manage change?
• The critical role of emotion
• The power of the 20/60/20 rule, unspeakable subjects, and making loud statements of change
• Recognizing and celebrating heroes within a company
Impactful Communication Strategies
• How to manage up, down, and sideways
• Tell the bad news: Straight Talk in Tough Times
• How to lead under pressure: crisis communications
Mindfulness and Self-Care Plans
• How employees grieve and manage stress
• Creating your own self-care plan
The Critical Necessities of Courage
• What values do you hold most dear?
• How do you “think like a leader”?
• What are leadership moments of truth?
The program was insightful, challenging, and fun. The experience challenged my previous assumptions about leadership and helped me grow into a transparent and authentic leader. Many of my fellow classmates are now trusted friends who I can reach out to with questions and advice as I continue my leadership journey.
—Daniel A. Neidig, Vice President, ITAMCO
Chicago has created a wonderful program to aid in the education of business leaders across all lines of business. I received practical tools that I can use immediately to make my associates feel more valued. I will be a better leader as a result of participating in this program.
—Peter Carey, National Asset Recovery Manager, Toyota Motor Credit Corp.
Great program! I will recommend it to others in my organizations at all levels, followers, management, and leadership. My regret is that this program was not available earlier in my career.
—Paul Ekstrom, VP, Customer Service and Information Systems, California Water Service Company
I am very pleased with the seminar and honestly believe that it will have a positive impact on how I position myself towards seeking greater responsibilities or aspire to higher ranks within my institution.
—Eduardo M. Borges, Managing Director Corporate Banking, Banco Santander Brasil S/A
It was a phenomenal, life-changing experience for me. I would absolutely recommend [this program] to others.
—Sanjay Radhakrishan, Senior Manager, Cognizant Technology Solutions
The course does an excellent job of pulling together and making more concrete practical lessons that, while they seem obvious, are too often not applied. Just as we're challenged to create a better environment in our companies, the environment that's been created at Chicago is very conducive to necessary reflection and experimentation to learn and be ready to apply the lessons learned when we get back to our own companies.
—Brian Keefer, EVP/COO, Bankers Insurance Group
This course was well designed and the presenters and instructors were very authentic; responsive and knowledgeable. The setting coupled with the energy of the participants provided for a powerful opportunity to reflect fresher and strengthen skills.
—Suzanne Sinclair, Vice President Marketing Strategic Initiatives, Zurich North America
This is the single best leadership training I have ever participated in. The quality of teachers and students was exceptional. Energy was high; focus and effort by all was outstanding.
—Andy Keimach, Executive Vice President, Munchkin, Inc
Tremendous program. The most valuable thing I've ever done for my career.
—Rick Strachan, Group President, Hanley Wood, LLC
Has to be one of the best programs I have taken. This program far outranks courses I took during my MBA, and I will be able to utilize skills/objectives learned.
—Joshua Kabisch, Sr. ACO, Office of Naval Research
Excellent learning environment with vibrant teaching and support staff.
- Usman Musa, Head Compliance Unit, National Pension
The class provides insight, hard data, and tools to transform the often unmet challenges of good leadership in the workplace into bridges for personal, team and organizational success.
—Joseph Grames, Deputy Group Leader, Jefferson Lab
I am thrilled that I took the time to take this week-long course and I know that I will make great use of the skills in wherever my journey takes me in my next academic (or other) leadership position!
—Amy Wolfson, Professor of Psychology, Loyola University Maryland, Inc
World class experience relevant and necessary post-MBA to compete and take your teams/companies to new heights of success.
—Dan Munivez, Senior Manager, Portfolio, Acquisitions & Divestitures, Delphi Corporation
The course was excellent and I believe it’s due to the significant attention to every detail above. The entire program was well organized but felt spontaneous and not canned.
—Janet Cunningham, Director US Regulatory Affairs, Dechra Veterinary Products, LLC
Upcoming Courses
| Date | Fee | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 17-21, 2023 | $11,500 | In-Person | Register now |
| June 26-30, 2023 | $11,500 | In-Person | Register now |
| November 13-17, 2023 | $11,500 | In-Person | Register now |