What You Will Learn

• Learn about the structure of trust and its role in team effectiveness
• Employ empathy as a means to foster trust within your team
• Provide concrete strategies to enhance trust among team members

About the Instructor

Liesl Hays is an author, entrepreneur, and human resources strategist. For over twenty years, Liesl has provided strategic direction to small, medium, and large businesses regarding their human capital needs. Most recently, Liesl was a Human Resources Strategist at one of the largest global Healthcare IT companies in the world. After leaving her corporate job in 2016, she opened her own Human Resources Consulting business called Aligned Talent Consulting. Liesl is a contributing writer for the wildly popular self-development website Lifehack, and you can find her behind the microphone weekly as a host of the Link 2 Lee’s Summit podcast.

In 2021, Liesl released her first book through Morgan James Publishing: Broken, Changed & Rearranged. This self-development book shares her journey of chasing the traditional paths towards success to discover she was woefully unhappy locked inside her 60-hour a week grind. Her inspiring story empowers others to step outside the traditional definitions of success to chase what provides them meaning. Liesl runs on coffee, “to do lists,” and the belief that exit interviews don’t lie-you’re just not listening. She lives in Blue Springs Missouri with her children, Mady and Ethan, and their unruly dog Bear.

What You Will Learn

• Understand how organizational climate factors such as communication, accountability, hiring practices, manager quality, and leadership quality impact overall performance.
• Learn how to implement systems that ensure your organizations values are consistently reflected in day-to-day behaviors.
• Discover key metrics to measure organizational climate aspects like internal engagement and outcomes.

About the Instructor

Dr. Kevin Sansberry II is a behavioral scientist and executive coach whose inspiring work is driven by the need for evidence-based, inclusive, and equitable approaches to urgently and proactively transform and coach leaders, eradicating toxic behaviors that threaten profitability, innovation, and the overall well-being. He is also the creator and host of the Toxic Leadership Podcast which reached as high as the number four nonprofit podcast in the United States in 2021.

What You Will Learn

In this interactive and multimedia-driven session, leaders will learn how to:

• Recognize and cultivate a culture of healthy feedback
• Contribute to and encourage feedback behaviors
• Ask for and receive meaningful feedback without becoming defensive
• Provide specific and sincere praise
• Deliver honest criticism in a kind and clear manner

About the Instructor

Mike Allison is the Vice President of Talent at Spotlight (Analyst Relations) where he oversees talent acquisition, leadership development, and employee growth/engagement. Spotlight was named Kansas City’s best place to work (medium-sized company) by the Kansas City Business Journal in 2023. Ingram’s magazine also bestowed similar recognition. Mike is also an Adjunct Professor and Bloch Executive Education instructor within the Bloch School at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC).

Prior to his role at Spotlight, Mike enjoyed over 22 years of healthcare IT leadership experience working at Cerner. His final role there involved leading a group of faculty who developed and delivered advanced education to cohorts of Veterans Administration (VA) clinicians, informaticists, and analytics professionals. He also worked with internal and external leaders on change management and other organizational development initiatives. Previously, Mike held executive responsibilities over Cerner’s client and associate learning organizations. His award-winning teams, many of which were internationally based, provided practical and effective end-to-end learning solutions to Cerner clients and associates around the world.

Mike also spent a year as the Vice President of Learning and Development at AMC Theatres where he led a team of learning professionals focused on building, supporting, and retaining talent across multiple guest-facing brands.

Mike regularly carries out public speaking engagements and provides coaching to business leaders across the Kansas City metropolitan area. He presents and instructs on diverse topics such as leading through change, emotional intelligence, holding difficult conversations, building a culture of feedback, advanced presentation techniques, cultivating trust, and executive presence.

Prior to working in the private sector, Mike was involved in city management for three years. He worked primarily as a management analyst for the city of Kansas City, Mo. He earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from Brigham Young University.

Mike is married to Amy Allison, a non-profit leader serving as the Executive Director for The Farmer’s House. They have three young adult children (girl, boy, girl). Besides being an avid family man, Mike is passionate about volunteering, seeing the world, hiking, music, disc golf, and all things San Francisco. He was born and raised in the “City by the Bay.”

What You Will Learn

Attendees will explore and understand the direct link between high emotional intelligence (EQ) and leadership success. Numerous recent studies show that society’s most effective leaders cultivate strong emotional intelligence skills. In fact, one such comprehensive study carried out across a variety of organizations determined that 90 percent top performers have high EQ. Leaders who incorporate EQ techniques into their lives experience great personal and professional gain. In addition to being grounded, they more easily seize new opportunities, manage difficult situations, make sound decisions based on fact, and set an energizing tone both inside and outside the workplace.

During an interactive and multi-media driven session, participants will discover:

• Qualities consistently possessed by great leaders
• Distinctions between intelligence quotient (IQ), technical quotient (TQ), and emotional intelligence (EQ)
• The four key elements which make up emotional intelligence
• Why influence and true leadership cannot occur without high EQ

Attendees will learn that in order to truly lead others and maximize results through EQ, one must:

• Master self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationships
• Exhibit genuine empathy. Make others feel it is about them and you have their best interests at heart
• Thoughtfully harness individual emotions and the emotions of others

About the Instructor

Mike Allison is the Vice President of Talent at Spotlight (Analyst Relations) where he oversees talent acquisition, leadership development, and employee growth/engagement. Spotlight was named Kansas City’s best place to work (medium-sized company) by the Kansas City Business Journal in 2023. Ingram’s magazine also bestowed similar recognition. Mike is also an Adjunct Professor and Bloch Executive Education instructor within the Bloch School at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC).

Prior to his role at Spotlight, Mike enjoyed over 22 years of healthcare IT leadership experience working at Cerner. His final role there involved leading a group of faculty who developed and delivered advanced education to cohorts of Veterans Administration (VA) clinicians, informaticists, and analytics professionals. He also worked with internal and external leaders on change management and other organizational development initiatives. Previously, Mike held executive responsibilities over Cerner’s client and associate learning organizations. His award-winning teams, many of which were internationally based, provided practical and effective end-to-end learning solutions to Cerner clients and associates around the world.

Mike also spent a year as the Vice President of Learning and Development at AMC Theatres where he led a team of learning professionals focused on building, supporting, and retaining talent across multiple guest-facing brands.

Mike regularly carries out public speaking engagements and provides coaching to business leaders across the Kansas City metropolitan area. He presents and instructs on diverse topics such as leading through change, emotional intelligence, holding difficult conversations, building a culture of feedback, advanced presentation techniques, cultivating trust, and executive presence.

Prior to working in the private sector, Mike was involved in city management for three years. He worked primarily as a management analyst for the city of Kansas City, Mo. He earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from Brigham Young University.

Mike is married to Amy Allison, a non-profit leader serving as the Executive Director for The Farmer’s House. They have three young adult children (girl, boy, girl). Besides being an avid family man, Mike is passionate about volunteering, seeing the world, hiking, music, disc golf, and all things San Francisco. He was born and raised in the “City by the Bay.”

What You Will Learn

• Differentiate between deep and shallow work and adjust your schedule to enhance productivity.
• Optimize your routine with thoughtful time management and decision-making techniques

About the Instructor

Liesl Hays is an author, entrepreneur, and human resources strategist. For over twenty years, Liesl has provided strategic direction to small, medium, and large businesses regarding their human capital needs. Most recently, Liesl was a Human Resources Strategist at one of the largest global Healthcare IT companies in the world. After leaving her corporate job in 2016, she opened her own Human Resources Consulting business called Aligned Talent Consulting. Liesl is a contributing writer for the wildly popular self-development website Lifehack, and you can find her behind the microphone weekly as a host of the Link 2 Lee’s Summit podcast.

In 2021, Liesl released her first book through Morgan James Publishing: Broken, Changed & Rearranged. This self-development book shares her journey of chasing the traditional paths towards success to discover she was woefully unhappy locked inside her 60-hour a week grind. Her inspiring story empowers others to step outside the traditional definitions of success to chase what provides them meaning. Liesl runs on coffee, “to do lists,” and the belief that exit interviews don’t lie-you’re just not listening. She lives in Blue Springs Missouri with her children, Mady and Ethan, and their unruly dog Bear.

What You Will Learn

Those in attendance will learn that in order to influence and persuade others:

• Solidifying trust must be a primary focus
• Your network must be defined, cohesive, and flourishing
• You must practice the law of reciprocity
• All “seven keys” of influence and persuasion must be leveraged

About the Instructor

Mike Allison is the Vice President of Talent at Spotlight (Analyst Relations) where he oversees talent acquisition, leadership development, and employee growth/engagement. Spotlight was named Kansas City’s best place to work (medium-sized company) by the Kansas City Business Journal in 2023. Ingram’s magazine also bestowed similar recognition. Mike is also an Adjunct Professor and Bloch Executive Education instructor within the Bloch School at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC).

Prior to his role at Spotlight, Mike enjoyed over 22 years of healthcare IT leadership experience working at Cerner. His final role there involved leading a group of faculty who developed and delivered advanced education to cohorts of Veterans Administration (VA) clinicians, informaticists, and analytics professionals. He also worked with internal and external leaders on change management and other organizational development initiatives. Previously, Mike held executive responsibilities over Cerner’s client and associate learning organizations. His award-winning teams, many of which were internationally based, provided practical and effective end-to-end learning solutions to Cerner clients and associates around the world.

Mike also spent a year as the Vice President of Learning and Development at AMC Theatres where he led a team of learning professionals focused on building, supporting, and retaining talent across multiple guest-facing brands.

Mike regularly carries out public speaking engagements and provides coaching to business leaders across the Kansas City metropolitan area. He presents and instructs on diverse topics such as leading through change, emotional intelligence, holding difficult conversations, building a culture of feedback, advanced presentation techniques, cultivating trust, and executive presence.

Prior to working in the private sector, Mike was involved in city management for three years. He worked primarily as a management analyst for the city of Kansas City, Mo. He earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from Brigham Young University.

Mike is married to Amy Allison, a non-profit leader serving as the Executive Director for The Farmer’s House. They have three young adult children (girl, boy, girl). Besides being an avid family man, Mike is passionate about volunteering, seeing the world, hiking, music, disc golf, and all things San Francisco. He was born and raised in the “City by the Bay.”

What You Will Learn

Leading Yourself and Others Through Change attendees will explore the concepts of adaptive and technical change and discover why we often default to applying technical solutions to adaptive problems. In a multi-media driven environment, leaders will learn how to better influence others by harnessing proven behavior science techniques and models. They will be challenged to think critically about their organization’s power dynamics and better comprehend what truly inspires those around us to take action. Leaders will consider their own “change challenges” as they learn how to connect personal, social, and structural factors to results.

Key concepts covered in the session include:

• Learn why most change efforts fail
• Discover best practices for engaging and leading others through change, on an ethical foundation, to achieve desired results
• Understand why people do not truly transition without an emotional connection being made
• Explore best-in-class change management models which help enable measurable results
• Go over the “Top 10” ways leaders must get out in front of change efforts if they are to be successful

About the Instructor

Mike Allison is the Vice President of Talent at Spotlight (Analyst Relations) where he oversees talent acquisition, leadership development, and employee growth/engagement. Spotlight was named Kansas City’s best place to work (medium-sized company) by the Kansas City Business Journal in 2023. Ingram’s magazine also bestowed similar recognition. Mike is also an Adjunct Professor and Bloch Executive Education instructor within the Bloch School at the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC).

Prior to his role at Spotlight, Mike enjoyed over 22 years of healthcare IT leadership experience working at Cerner. His final role there involved leading a group of faculty who developed and delivered advanced education to cohorts of Veterans Administration (VA) clinicians, informaticists, and analytics professionals. He also worked with internal and external leaders on change management and other organizational development initiatives. Previously, Mike held executive responsibilities over Cerner’s client and associate learning organizations. His award-winning teams, many of which were internationally based, provided practical and effective end-to-end learning solutions to Cerner clients and associates around the world.

Mike also spent a year as the Vice President of Learning and Development at AMC Theatres where he led a team of learning professionals focused on building, supporting, and retaining talent across multiple guest-facing brands.

Mike regularly carries out public speaking engagements and provides coaching to business leaders across the Kansas City metropolitan area. He presents and instructs on diverse topics such as leading through change, emotional intelligence, holding difficult conversations, building a culture of feedback, advanced presentation techniques, cultivating trust, and executive presence.

Prior to working in the private sector, Mike was involved in city management for three years. He worked primarily as a management analyst for the city of Kansas City, Mo. He earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from Brigham Young University.

Mike is married to Amy Allison, a non-profit leader serving as the Executive Director for The Farmer’s House. They have three young adult children (girl, boy, girl). Besides being an avid family man, Mike is passionate about volunteering, seeing the world, hiking, music, disc golf, and all things San Francisco. He was born and raised in the “City by the Bay.”

About the Instructor

Bryan Hong, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Entrepreneurship and Management Department. Prior to joining the Bloch School, he was a visiting assistant professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and an assistant professor at Ivey Business School in Canada. He completed his PhD in Business Administration at the University of California-Berkeley.

What You Will Learn

• Leverage Dr. Sansberry’s expertise to understand the importance of aligning top-level leadership around a unified organizational and role-based vision.
• Explore strategies for fostering cultural alignment across the organization, ensuring that core values are lived out in everyday actions.
• Gain deep insights into the concept of shadow culture-the unspoken, often hidden aspects of an organization’s culture—and learn how to identify and address it effectively.

Understand Your Shadow Culture

Subconscious Attitudes – The underlying, often unspoken beliefs that influence behavior.
Hidden Norms – Unofficial rules and expectations that guide behavior but are not formally recognized.
Assumptions – Unquestioned beliefs about how things should work within the organization.
Dissenting Behaviors – Actions that go against the formal culture but are tolerated or ignored.
Overshadowed Values – Core values that are stated but not reflected in everyday actions due to competing priorities.
Workplace Dynamics – The informal relationships and power structures that shape how work gets done.

About the Instructor

Dr. Kevin Sansberry II is a behavioral scientist and executive coach whose inspiring work is driven by the need for evidence-based, inclusive, and equitable approaches to urgently and proactively transform and coach leaders, eradicating toxic behaviors that threaten profitability, innovation, and the overall well-being. He is also the creator and host of the Toxic Leadership Podcast which reached as high as the number four nonprofit podcast in the United States in 2021.