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The Appreciative Way
Enabling Innovation at the Speed of Life           
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Conflict to Collaboration

Creating Cultures
of Excellence

Assessing Skills and Discerning Calls

Appreciative Inquiry Based Guide to Mutual Ministry Reviews

  • Templates and Worksheets
  • For Congregations
  • Individual Performance
  • Coaching Strategies

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The Leadership Coach

Rob Voyle

The Rev. Dr. Rob Voyle is a leader in the development and use of appreciative coaching in his work with clergy.

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The Appreciative Way

The Appreciative Way
Discover the essentials of the
Appreciative Way in this fast
read format book by
Rob and Kim Voyle.

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Welcome to Yes!3

The Appreciative Way

Yes!3 is designed to help you
grow an appreciative culture
within your congregation by
helping parishioners create
a purpose centered life
in which they can say:

  Yes! To God
  Yes! To Their Neighbor
  Yes! To Them Self

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Training Program: Appreciative
Leadership for Transformation

We define a leader as:" someone other people choose to follow."

This leads to three coaching questions
that are asked and answered during this training:

  • Why would someone follow you?
  • Where would they end up if they did follow you?
  • How would they be treated on the way?

From Sharman to Chief

For the past 60 years our applied theology has focused on chaplaincy and pastoral care.

This program is designed to teach you the 5 core competencies
of a Leader or "Chief" as distinct from the skills of a Shaman.

Training Schedule: Appreciative Leadership for Transformation

No Appreciative Leadership for Transformation workshops are scheduled at this time.

Please see training schedule for a complete listing of all training programs.

Handout: The Seven Positions of Leadership

Where do you "stand" in relationship to the people you lead?
Where do you "go to" you when you are in conflict with those whom you lead?

In the Leadership Training Program we use the 7 Positions of Leadership to develop your versatility and competence as a leader.

  Free Instant Access To Handout  

Appreciative Leadership for Transformation

In addition to being a "stand alone" program this 5 day program is also part of:

Course Description

Leadership Development

The ability to lead groups of people through change is rapidly becoming a core requirement of successful ministry. Research on leadership development has shown that leadership is:

  • Not simply an innate ability of extraordinary people
  • The things ordinary people do to get groups of people to achieve extraordinary things
  • A set of skills that can be taught and learned as a series of specific competencies

From Chaplains to Leaders, or Shaman to Chiefs

For the past 60 years the church's primary applied theology training has been Chaplaincy training. While that is great training for chaplains it does not prepare clergy to be leaders of congregations.

This is the program to move you from
being your congregation's chaplain to being their leader.

Appreciative Leadership Training is at the heart of what the Clergy Leadership Institutes does.
See About Us for more information on our understanding of leadership development in the Church.

Training Outcome

Following training participants will be able to positively and uniquely answer the three leadership questions: 

  • Why would people follow me?
  • Where would people end up if they did follow me?
  • How would they be treated on the way?

Executive coaches taking this course will learn how to coach a client to be able to answer these questions.

Learning Objectives

Because this is a multi-day program specific learning objectives are provided for each day.

Specific Leaning Objectives Day 1:

Participants will be able to:

  1. Describe the basic theory and practice of Appreciative Inquiry as it relates to leadership development and performance;
  2. Distinguish the core competencies and activities of effective leaders as distinct from other forms of helping such as counseling, pastoral care, chaplaincy or psychotherapy;
  3. Use the core leadership competencies as the basis of executive and leadership coaching;
  4. Understand the structure of teams and identify the core relationship the leader has with respect to the team that they lead;
  5. Assist leaders to identify how their core relationship with their team changes under conflict and to identify more effective relational positions to effectively meet specific leadership challenges;
  6. Explain the appreciative approach to creating sustainable change and transformation and the role of the leader in facilitating such change;
  7. Understand and utilize, as a leader or coach, the power of resistance to transform "stuck states;"

Specific Leaning Objectives Day 2:

Participants will be able to:

  1. Choose effective coaching assessment instruments based on their validity, reliability, and the client's developmental needs;
  2. Understand and minimize potential negative impacts of possible gender or culture bias or other misuse of assessments such as "pigeon holing," "excuse reinforcement," or "labeling;"
  3. Integrate appropriate assessments into an overall executive coaching scheme;
  4. Understand the power of 360 degree assessments and the benefits and risks of using such instruments in conjunction with assessing a client's readiness for such coaching;
  5. Explain the background, appropriate use, and administration of the Leadership Practices InventoryTM (LPITM);
  6. Use the LPITM and the core competencies of a leaders as delineated by the LPITM as a foundation for executive leadership coaching and development;
  7. Explore and invent a variety of strategies as a leader to: communicate a shared vision, challenge the organization's way, model expected action, encourage the heart, and enable others to act;

Specific Leaning Objectives Day 3:

Participants will be able to:

  1. Explain the background, appropriate use, and administration of the Myers Briggs Type IndicatorTM (MBTITM);
  2. Explain the limitations of the MBTITM and situations where it is not valid such as personnel selection;
  3. Use the MBTITM in organization development, team building, and executive coaching.
  4. Explain the background, appropriate use, and administration of the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations OrientationTM (FIRO-BTM);
  5. Use the FIRO-BTM in organization development, team building, and executive coaching;
  6. Synthesize information from a variety of assessments and practical observation to identify and develop a client's leadership strengths.
  7. Use a variety of appreciative leadership strategies to identify and join organizations at their life-giving best, to grow their best, rather than join in the organization's dysfunction and exacerbate negative spirals of enfeeblement;

Specific Leaning Objectives Day 4:

Participants will be able to:

  1. Create an organizational learning culture as the foundation for designing appreciative performance reviews to enhance employee performance;
  2. Use the coaching spiral of resources to identify the most powerful place to intervene in an individual or an organization to create sustainable change and transformation;
  3. Use the coaching spiral to understand conflict and system anxiety to transform conflict into collaboration based on shared values and purpose;
  4. Understand and use the four domains of Emotional Intelligence, self-awareness, social-awareness, self-management, and social skills as a leader or when coaching a leader;
  5. Facilitate a leader's self-differentiation by using appreciative strategies to transform or resolve internal conflicts, critical voices, or sense of failure;
  6. Use appreciative strategies to resolve performance anxiety;
  7. Build a leader's sense of grounded and engaged resourcefulness in the face of external criticism and conflict;

Specific Leaning Objectives Day 5: (half-day)

Participants will be able to:

  1. Use a social construction understanding of reality to engage diverse groups within the organization to lead and shape the preferred future of the organization;
  2. Synthesize leadership and coach learn into a congruent whole that has integrity with core values;
  3. Plan next steps and identify resources to achieve personal and professional goals;

Who Should Attend This Program

Although this program is designed with clergy leaders in mind, it would also be appropriate for leaders and coaches who can articulate and reflect psychologically and theologically on their leadership or coaching roles.

Lay leaders, executives of not-for-profit organizations, and coaches who coach such leaders have attended and benefited from this program. It is especially relevant for:

  • Clergy
  • Leaders who coach or mentor staff and volunteers
  • Executive coaches who work in the area of leadership development

This program will have a mix of people including:

Continuing Education Credit

This program qualifies for 30 hours of continuing education credit.

Partial continuing education credit is not provided. You must attend all 30 hours to receive continuing education credit.

Board Certified Coach (BCC)

The Appreciative Way's Certificate of Appreciative Coaching is a BCC founding CCE-approved coach training program. This program provides 30 contact hours of training toward The Certificate of Appreciative Coaching.

Pre-Training Leadership Assessment

Upon registration for the training participants will receive instructions and access codes to complete several online assessment inventories that are commonly used in the executive coaching and leadership development field.

The results will be incorporated into the intensive training session. One of the instruments the "Leadership Practices Inventory" is a 360 degree instrument and will require several members of the clergy person's congregation or the coaches work environment to also complete the inventory.  Because this will take time to accomplish early registration and planning is essential.

Workshop Format

The workshop will typically be conducted in a retreat setting with:

  • Didactic presentations
  • Experiential learning of specific approaches and strategies
  • Personal practice and experience of appreciative process
  • Time for personal reflection and meditation
  • Corporate prayer
  • Opportunity for creative reflection on the past and anticipation of the future

Typical Workshop Schedule:

The following is a typical workshop schedule. The exact schedule may vary depending on location.

For each specific program a flyer with dates, schedule times, and continuing education hours can be found on the training schedule page.

Day 1-4
9:00-12:00        Morning Session with brief mid-morning break.
12:00-1:30 pm   Lunch
1:30-3:15 pm     First Afternoon Session
3:15-3:45 pm     Walking Meditation and Reflection, (opportunity for synthesis and to manage energy);
3:45-5:30 pm     Second Afternoon Session

Day 5:
9:00-12:00        Morning Session with brief mid-morning break
Some programs may have an additional afternoon session.

Check the program flyers on the training schedule page for specific program details.

No evening events are scheduled. Residential participants may gather after supper for socializing and informal conversations about the material that is being presented.

Some variations in the daily schedule may occur depending on the training location.
The specific schedule will be included in your registration material.

The above schedule includes lunch for commuters. When residential accommodation is provided, residential participants will also be provided with Breakfast and Supper during the course of the week.

Attention is paid to managing personal energy during the training program while maximizing participants opportunities to learn. Because this training is intense we recommend people make appropriate travel plans and can begin the first days training rested so as to get the best possible return for your tuition expenses.

Program Materials and Pre-Reading

Beyond completing the pre-training assessments, no pre-reading or backgound in Appreciative Inquiry is required for this program.

You will be provided an extensive (approximately 300 page) workbook. Participants will be able to access additional online resources after the completion of the program.

For those interested in pre-reading we recommend the following:

Costs for 2024

  Tuition Fee    Early Bird 4 weeks before session:
Within 4 weeks of session:
$1175
$1250

Specific times and costs of all programs may vary depending on the hosting organization. Please check the schedule and registration page for additional workshop specific information.

Accommodation

Accommodation and facility use fees are extra and are dependent on the training locations and will be specified on the registration forms. Meals between sessions are typically provided for commuters.

Cancellation and Refund Policy

Tuition Refunds

The tuition portion of your registration is completely refundable, minus a 5% service fee, up to the day of starting the program. Tuition fees can be transferred to an alternative program without penalty.

Accommodation Refunds

Any commuter or accommodation fees will be assessed within one month of a program if the reservation is cancelled. Commuter or residential accommodation fees can not be transferred to other programs.

For more information please see our Cancellation Policies.

Presenter

Rob Voyle is an ordained Episcopal priest, psychologist, and executive coach. He is the Director of the Clergy Leadership Institute. Rob was an original faculty member, and taught for five years at the College of Executive Coaching where he taught and coached hundreds of personal and executive coaches how to use appreciative inquiry as a basis for their coaching work.

 

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