Leadership and Professional Development

Take your leadership and communication skills to the next level — one lunch break at a time! Join our TLC Virtual Lunch and Learn Series, where each one-hour session explores a key leadership, teamwork, or communication topic. Each session stands alone — pick the ones that fit your interests and schedule!

Featured TLC Topics:
Authentic Leadership (11/14)
Leaders Building Trust (12/5)
The Art of Active Listening (12/12)
Crucial Conversations: Communicating Clearly When It Matters Most (2/6)
Active Listening for Stronger Communication (2/13)
Strengthening Resilience: Personal & Relational Skills (2/20)
Preventing Burnout: Tools for Leaders & Teams (2/27)
Emotional Intelligence: Skills for Stronger Leadership (3/6)
Coaching Conversations that Develop People (3/20)
Navigating Difficult Interactions (3/27)
Giving and Receiving Feedback with Confidence (4/3)
Psychological Safety: Creating Teams Where People Can Speak Up (4/10)
The Foundations of Trust in Leadership (4/17)
Working Across Generations: Strengthening Collaboration & Communication (4/24)
Leading Through Change (5/1)

Why Attend?
Practical tools you can apply immediately
Skills to strengthen your leadership and communication
Build trust, resilience, and emotional intelligence
Flexible, one-hour format designed for busy professionals

Enhance Your Leaderships Skills and Performance. The Madison College Leadership Academy will help you understand human behavior, improve productivity and manage relationships effectively at all levels of your organization. Learn how to address challenges and find opportunities with practical tools and strategies you can apply right away. The Academy consists of eleven leadership topics.

Change Management in Action will provide the theory and practice of Change Management in organizations today. Understanding and building Organizational Change Management will be essential to leading projects and enabling users to learn new ways of working. Students will engage in case studies and a hands-on project to create deliverables that benefit an organization undergoing transformational change. Topics include organizational change management, leadership engagement, communications strategy, learning and development, resistance and resilience, organizational redesign and sustainability post go-live.

**Please note that the first and last Saturday class (Feb. 14 and Mar. 21) will be in person at our Commercial Avenue Campus.

Unlock the power of emotional intelligence to become a more confident, empathetic, and effective leader. In this interactive boot camp, you’ll learn to recognize and manage emotions—your own and others’—to strengthen communication and trust. You’ll practice handling difficult conversations with professionalism, resolving conflict with confidence, and using coaching techniques to motivate and develop your team. Walk away with practical tools to lead with clarity, empathy, and impact.

To earn this credential, learners will focus on effective management techniques for delegation, motivation, change management, and leadership styles, and apply these techniques through assessments, simulations, role-plays, and case studies.

Boost your effectiveness as a leader by learning how to manage performance, make better decisions, and stay focused under pressure. In this hands-on boot camp, you’ll sharpen your critical-thinking skills, master practical time-management strategies, and discover techniques to build personal and team resilience. Walk away with tools you can use immediately to drive productivity, accountability, and lasting results.

Build the confidence and skills to lead with purpose from day one. In this interactive boot camp, you’ll learn how to set clear expectations, communicate with impact, and delegate effectively to empower your team. You’ll explore the transition from peer to leader, strengthen trust and accountability, and develop the essential habits that create a positive, engaged workplace culture.

Key to a productive, respectful and cohesive workforce is the ability to recognize the values and needs of the various generations and diversity present within the workforce. Understanding how each communicates, learns, values structure and leverages technology dictates how an organization must position its' vision, values, and business strategy to achieve buy-in and support for the greater mission. Also addressed are the underlying causes, motives, factors, and catalysts for disagreement. Through the recognition of different values and viewpoints, resolution and often avoidance can be actively obtained by recognizing the behaviors and actions/reactions involved with conflict.

This course is designed to familiarize participants with basic Spanish communication skills and cultural awareness needed to interact with Spanish-speaking employees, patrons, co-workers and customers in the workplace. We will cover the basic grammar structures of the language and incorporate essential vocabulary, phrases and dialogues used in the work setting within a context of cultural awareness and a global mindset.

This course empowers both corporate and education professionals to confidently communicate in public settings beyond their classrooms and workplaces. Whether presenting at board meetings, conferences, or community events, participants will develop practical skills to speak with clarity, authenticity, and impact.

Through interactive workshops and real-world scenarios, participants will learn techniques for structuring compelling messages, managing stage presence, handling Q&A sessions, and adapting their communication for diverse audiences. The course also offers tools for managing nerves and using storytelling to connect.

By the end of this course, participants will feel equipped to advocate, inform, and inspire with professionalism and poise in various public settings.

Learn to write to make the best first impression and to be recognized as ready for the next step in your career through clear and concise communication. Employers place clear and concise communication skills at the top of their list when evaluating job applicants. This course will provide you with tips and techniques to quickly elevate your writing skills for success.

Master the art of public speaking across settings and audiences. You’ll learn core presentation skills, how to read a room, and how to adapt your tone, style, and delivery for different audience sizes and formats—including virtual and hybrid. Explore when to use humor, how to engage listeners, and how to prepare for any venue so you can present with confidence and impact.

Difficult and Crucial conversations shape expectations, relationships and outcomes. Leaders must plan and execute crucial conversations in the workplace to develop high-performing teams and negotiate important topics. Learn how to build cooperative and rewarding relationship, improve team culture and effect positive change in behaviors.

Transform your interview experience through strategic storytelling. In this 2-hour workshop, you’ll learn how to craft compelling narratives for behavioral interviews and elevator pitches. You’ll practice communication frameworks, create strong value-add statements, and build confidence through role-play. With 80% of the session dedicated to hands-on mock interviews and real-time peer feedback, you’ll leave ready to deliver your story with impact.

Good teams become great when members trust each other enough to prioritize ‘we’ over ‘me.’ Without trust, teamwork crumbles into doubt, low effort, and endless conflict. This course dives into the power of trust, guiding you to build positive, productive relationships with your superiors, peers, and direct reports. You’ll explore the 3 C’s and 5 Waves of Trust, learn to rebuild trust, and discover the impact of high-trust environments on team success.

As said by Peter Drucker, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." Learn the impact organizational culture has on company performance and what leaders can do to drive desired culture.

Unlock the power of emotional intelligence (EQ) and transform the way you lead, collaborate, and succeed in the workplace. In this engaging course, you’ll dive into the four core competencies of EQ and discover actionable strategies to improve communication, build stronger relationships, and foster a positive work environment.

Ready to take your hiring process to the next level? This course will guide you through every step of conducting outstanding job interviews, from thorough preparation to impactful follow-up. You’ll learn how to design insightful interview questions, set a welcoming tone, and ensure a fair, positive experience for every candidate. Gain the tools to identify top talent while building a strong reputation as an employer of choice.

Gain the skills, strategies, and insights to build and lead high-performing teams. Discover the traits that set successful teams apart from dysfunctional ones, and learn how to overcome common barriers to effective teamwork. You’ll explore the stages of team development, master techniques to lead teams with confidence, and uncover practical ways to elevate team performance. Get ready to inspire and empower your team to reach its full potential.

Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to leave a lasting impression. In "Moments of Truth," we explore the key touchpoints where customer perceptions are formed and loyalty is won or lost. This course delves into understanding customer journeys, identifying critical moments that impact brand perception, and designing memorable, positive interactions. Perfect for professionals in customer service, marketing, and sales, this course will equip you with the skills and insights needed to turn everyday interactions into extraordinary experiences.

Unlock the skills to negotiate with confidence and effectiveness. This course covers essential strategies, including setting goals, understanding prerequisites, defining your Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA), and mastering the negotiation stages. Learn to prepare effectively by developing a strong Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) and countering common tactics. Through interactive exercises and real-world scenarios, you’ll practice techniques to close negotiations successfully. Ideal for professionals seeking to enhance deal-making skills and build mutually beneficial agreements with partners, clients, and stakeholders.

Transform your meetings from time-draining obligations into focused, results-driven sessions. In this course, you’ll learn to plan and lead effective meetings that generate ideas, share information, and inspire action. Discover techniques for targeted preparation, purposeful agendas, and productive discussion. Master essential follow-up strategies to ensure accountability and momentum. Perfect for managers, team leaders, and professionals, this course will equip you to lead meetings that make the most of everyone’s time and energy.

Being promoted into a role that requires supervising a group of former peers is a common challenge. At the core of this challenge is the shift from a focus on the work to a focus on the team. Learn how to make the shift from peer to leader.

To learn strategies to be more productive, effective, and resilient in response to workplace requirements and stress.

Step into a safer, more respectful workplace with this essential course on bullying and harassment. Discover the key differences between these behaviors, the legal protections available, and the roles and responsibilities every employee and leader holds in preventing a hostile work environment. Gain practical steps you can take if harassment happens to you, and learn how to be a proactive ally in creating a healthy, positive workplace.

This course explores workplace stress, its consequences, coping and mitigation techniques, and how to build a resilience workforce.

Start your Lean Six Sigma journey with this self-paced online course—no experience required! You’ll explore how Lean and Six Sigma improve quality, reduce waste, and streamline work. Learn key roles, tools, and the benefits of process improvement, plus what to expect in advanced training like Yellow or Green Belt. Complete all lessons to earn your printable White Belt Certification and build skills to support improvement projects at work.