engage. discover. grow. empower.
- Engage with peers and explore effective communication strategies
- Discover critical skills for success
- Gain valuable and relevant knowledge through practical exercises
- Empower and transform your team
Designed to develop skills of extraordinary leadership that can be immediately applied, our Leading EDGE Series consists of 12 unique courses offered January to December. Between 2017 and 2022, local companies invested over $460,000 in their
employees through Leading EDGE courses. Discover how Leading EDGE can build the mindset, skills, structure, and culture to transform your organization!
To qualify for the certificate, participants must complete a minimum of 44 hours consisting of 5 required courses and 6 elective courses (out of 7).
View our brochure.
- Topics in the series include:
- Coaching: Developing Others*
- Communicating for Superior Teamwork: Managing Your Communication Style*
- Communication Excellence: Managing Performance with DiSC*
- Delegating for Success
- Giving Recognition That Gets Results
- Leading Change at Every Level
- Mastering Conflict
- Negotiating Priorities and How to Say No
- Principles of Authentic Leadership*
- Providing Feedback That Works*
- Take Control: Reducing Email Stress and Overload
- Time Mastery Skills
* denotes required class
What did our participants say?
“I’m not currently in an official leadership position, but I’m a firm believer that anyone can be a leader at any level. I have coworkers who have completed the Leading EDGE Series in the past, and I have only heard them say great things about it. Plus, I absolutely love Parkland – my experiences have been so positive. Instructor Steve Welland was personable, knowledgeable on all the class topics, had clear communication, and created an inclusive environment that made it comfortable for us to open up and share personal/work examples. I’ve already begun using and sharing some of the knowledge I’ve learned in my day-to-day work and personal life.” – Bree Smith, Learning and Development Specialist, Christie Clinic and Parkland alumna
“Being a part of the Leading EDGE series has been a major benefit for the development of our team at Illinois Grain & Seed Equipment. Being able to understand other employees’ and my own communication style has helped us to make better business decisions and focus more on the things that benefit our organization. It has been a good experience to prioritize communication, time management, delegating successfully, and building trust with our team—Parkland has been an incredible asset in this. The staff and instructors have been great at understanding our needs and helped us achieve them. We will be using Parkland for the future development of our employees.” — Justin Kaeb, HR and Operations Manager, Illinois Grain & Seed Equipment
"Participating in the Leadership Certificate Series has given our staff a common language to use in talking about management and leadership issues. It has also helped us appreciate different styles of communication, arrive at shared expectations and improve team work. We’ve seen improvements in how some of our managers communicate with their teams and with one another. We definitely feel like the insights our staff bring back from these classes are creating a positive and lasting influence our culture." — John Melchi
“Steve Welland did a great job explaining the materials provided for each individual course, while using examples and exercises to demonstrate how to implement each of the key actions.” — Wade Lagle, Operations Supervisor, Urbana & Champaign Sanitary District
“One of the tenets of servant leadership is that as leaders, we have the privilege to serve others. That philosophy is at the core of Leading EDGE. They’ve helped me to hone my skills and network with other like-minded servant leaders in our community.” — Lisa Cheely, Director of People Development, Christie Clinic
“My experience participating in the Parkland Leading EDGE Series has been nothing short of impactful. I have learned, and continue to learn, new things each class. The best part is the caliber of the content I am learning; every class highlights significant skills I can use not only professionally but in my personal life as well. These skills are ones I didn’t realize I was missing but are true game-changers, crucial to success regardless of your industry or job title. I am so grateful to have been offered this opportunity by my employer, and I would highly recommend this series to anyone looking to learn and develop new skills that will continue to benefit them far beyond the classroom.” — Sierra Smith Rose
"There is truly no substitute for the invaluable benefit of learning how to better relate to housemates, classmates, instructors, supervisors, and colleagues. Striving towards increasing one’s development of working effectively as part of a team will help increase the likelihood of both personal and professional success. Moving forward in my professional capacity, I am so happy that the Parkland Leadership Certification Series has afforded me the opportunity to better manage priorities, manage time, manage others, realize the talents in others, resolve conflicts, and delegate for shared success. I will definitely take more personal and professional development classes at Parkland." — Debra Robinson, Quality Assurance Manager, ESS Clean