Leadership in Focus
Academic Leadership Academy
Leadership in Focus Winter Series
Our "Leadership in Focus" series provides regular opportunities to connect with fellow academic leaders while exploring key topics in academic leadership. We offer engaging sessions each term, designed to foster meaningful dialogue and shared learning. Each session centers on a specific focus area that frames the content and activities, ensuring relevant and actionable insights you can apply in your leadership role.
Winter Series Overview: Together, these three workshops provide academic leaders with frameworks, skills, and collegial support for building cultures where people and teams flourish. This three-part series is ideally taken as a set and can also be taken as stand-alone workshops.
Who Should Attend: Academic leaders responsible for building and maintaining culture within their academic units.
Upcoming Programming
January 30, 2026
1:00PM to 3:00PM
(2 hours)
Strong academic cultures are built through the behaviors we amplify and what we address. This workshop helps academic leaders identify their role in shaping culture and develop confidence in identifying and addressing challenging behaviours. Through case studies and peer discussion, participants will explore constructive approaches to challenging conversations. Participants will leave with strategies they can implement and practical tools for amplifying culture building behaviors and addressing challenging behaviours with compassion.
March 20, 2026
1:00PM to 3:00PM
(2 hours)
Strong academic cultures require clear performance expectations and consistent support for meeting them. This workshop focuses on establishing, communicating, and upholding performance expectations. Participants will explore the role of ongoing feedback in driving improvement and how to address performance concerns. Through case studies and examples, we'll discuss how to create systems for feedback and performance conversations that balance support with accountability. We’ll explore how to build a culture where expectations are transparent, feedback is normalized, and excellence is supported. Participants will leave with tools for clarifying expectations in their units, confidence in proactively using performance management processes, and strategies for creating feedback cultures that develop people's capacity.
April 24, 2026
1:00PM to 3:00PM
(2 hours)
Each academic leadership role involves navigating unique challenges where the path to resolution isn't always straightforward. Through peer triads, participants will have an opportunity to gain new insights, perspectives, and strategic advice on a challenge they are facing. Using a structured peer feedback protocol, small groups will work through situations participants are navigating - whether related to behavior, performance, culture-building, or the messy intersections of all three. Participants will have the opportunity to present a challenge and serve as consultants for others. The structured protocol utilizes powerful questions, offering multiple perspectives, and thinking strategically about change to the challenges presented. Participants will leave with fresh insights on their own challenge, practice perspective taking and asking powerful questions, and a strengthened network of colleagues who understand the complexity of academic leadership.