Online Programs

• Understand the panic response of your “emotional basement,” cognitive biases, and sub-conscious risk and reward calculations, and with this, how to get “smarter than your brain”;

• Advance beyond situational awareness to inform your leadership decisions with deeper understanding in order to effectively guide others;

• Identify stakeholder interests and build common ground to foster trust and inspire innovative solutions, so that conflict and distractions less likely hinder forward progress;

• Explore how to lead critical pivots and shift the focus of activities to meet changing present and future needs, transforming what you do and how you do it;

• Establish the underlying foundation to achieve mission-critical objectives by fostering the behaviors and synchronous action that are necessary during a demanding crisis.

We encourage applications from leaders in public, private, and non-profit organizations, national & international. NPLI courses are attended by leaders and aspiring leaders in emergency management, C-Suite executive, law enforcement, business, intelligence, fire, health care and public health, military, cyber-security, humanitarian, philanthropic, security, community organizations, and more.

• Discover how to build your influence beyond authority and how to lead up to your boss, thereby
  navigating the sensitive political/executive-professional interface;
• Recognize the challenges of knowledge acquisition in a complex event –including the mysteries
  of COVID-19 -and develop proficiency in systematically “driving to the knowns”;
• Discern the perspectives and interests of divergent stakeholders–and their conflicts -and how
  to systematically negotiate mutually acceptable solutions;
• Distinguish the evolution of time in a crisis, and how to guide analysis, strategy, and decision-making
  over multiple “Arcs of Time,” from the initial crisis through conclusion;
• Grasp the moral and ethical tests inherent in any high-consequence crisis and how to avoid
  going over the “No Line” that is your moral compass.

We encourage applications from leaders in public, private, and non-profit organizations, national & international. NPLI courses are attended by leaders and aspiring leaders in emergency management, C-Suite executive, law enforcement, business, intelligence, fire, health care and public health, military, cyber-security, humanitarian, philanthropic, security, community organizations, and more.

Designed for mid-level professionals on a desired career track for a leadership role in crisis preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation, security/intel and business continuity. Participants from federal, state, and local government agencies, private, and non-profit organizations who are charged with managing a team or group and include team leads, directors, mid-level managers, project/program managers, analysts.

Short essays in response to three questions you will be asked.

One, 2-hour, on-line social event to allow for participant introductions and networking prior to the beginning of the course.

Each day will consist of three sessions; sessions are 2 hours in length. Session times are 9:30 – 11:30 AM, 12:30 – 2:30 PM, and 3:00 – 5:00 PM EST. Students will invest a total of 30 learning hours.

Monday: INTRODUCTION

9:30 AM– 11:30 AM, Session 1: The Fundamentals of Meta-leadership

Learning Objectives:

1. Provide the basics of the Meta-leadership thinking and practice model.
2. Understand the nature of complexity and the role of leadership.
3. Set goals and expectations for the course.

12:30 PM – 2:30 PM, Session 2: Toolkit basics

Learning Objectives:

1. Introduction to the tools in the Meta-leadership Toolkit.
2. Basic understanding of the application of the tools.
3. Begin to build the thinking and practicing Meta-Leader.

3:00 – 5:00 PM, Session 3: Traps

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand how the traps could impede Meta-Leaders progress.
2. Gain a working knowledge of how to identify, avoid, and free yourself from a trap.

Tuesday: BUILDING THE CHARACTER OF THE META-LEADER

9:30 – 11:30 AM, Session 1: Navigating Your Brain

Learning Objectives:

1. Grasp the basics of navigating the brain of the Meta-Leader.
2. Begin to value and engage in self-awareness techniques.
3. Understand the power of influence over authority.

12:30 AM – 2:30 PM, Session 2: Emotional Intelligence

Learning Objectives:

1. Gain a basic understanding of the emotionally intelligent Meta-Leader.
2. Develop the capability to put emotional intelligence into practice.
3. Understand the relationship of emotional intelligence and navigating the brain.

3:00 – 5:00 PM, Session 3: Your Moral Compass

Learning Objectives:

1. Consider the implications of a moral compass.
2. Define and recognize virtuous behaviors of the Meta-Leader.
3. Understand the traps associated with poor use of the moral compass.

Wednesday: THE TRANSACTIONAL META-LEADER

9:30 – 11:30 AM, Session 1: Connectivity

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the value of mutually beneficial human relationships.
2. Learn to lead up, down, across, and beyond.
3. Develop a basic ability to create a Situation Connectivity Map.
4. Identify traps associated with dis-connectivity.

12:30 – 2:30 PM, Session 2: Driving and Efficient Process

Learning Objectives:

1. Develop the capacity to utilize the POP-DOC decision model.
2. Understand the value of the Cone-in-the-Cube to manage perceptions.
3. Grasp the key concepts of knowledge acquisition via the Driving to the Knowns Tool.

3:00 – 5:00 PM, Session 3: Resolving Conflict – Driving Collaboration

Learning Objectives:

1. Gain a basic awareness of the Walk-in-the-Woods as a concept to resolve conflict.
2. Understand the importance of resolving conflict.
3. Develop a working knowledge of the tool to drive collaborative problem solving.

Thursday: THE TRANSFORMATIONAL META-LEADER

9:30 – 11:30 AM, Session 1: Pivot

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand when and how to PIVOT demonstrating adaptability to changing conditions.
2. Value the need to routinely assess your team and the situations in which you lead to know when a PIVOT is needed.
3. Identify traps that may occur when a leader fails to PIVOT effectively.

12:30 AM – 2:30 PM, Session 2: Transformative Lifecycle

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the fundamentals of the Meta-Leadership transformative lifecycle
2. Gain an ability to apply the lifecycle in their workplace.
3. Identify the traps associated with failure to transform or failure to utilize the lifecycle appropriately.

3:00 – 5:00 PM, Session 3: The Arcs of Time

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the general concepts related to Arcs of Time.
2. Develop a working knowledge of how to:
   1. Design and construct your own Arcs of Time,
   2. Develop a strategy that will help you traverse each arc you design.
3. Identify the traps or missed opportunities associated with poorly designed arcs or inadequate strategies to successfully traverse them.

Friday: LEARNING LAB

9:30 – 11:30 AM, Session 1: The character of the Meta-Leader

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand the key principles of the character of the Meta-Leader.
2. Differentiate between positive and negative character traits.
3. Recognize the consequences of poor character.

12:30 – 2:30 PM, Session 2: Connecting, Acting, Adapting, and Responding

Learning Objectives:

1. Gain a greater understanding of the power of connectivity over dis-connectivity.
2. Attain a greater working knowledge of POP-DOC as a decision making tool.
3. Become more aware of the value of the Arcs of Time and the Transformative Leadership Lifecycle to enable adaptation and response.

3:00 – 5:00 PM, Session 3: Summary and Conclusion

Learning Objectives:

1. Continue to build and strengthen your Meta-Leadership NPLI network
2. Understand the principles of Meta-Leadership.
3. Become motivated to apply the Meta-Leadership tools in the work you do.

This program is designed for senior policy makers and operational leaders in federal, state, and local governments, elected officials, non-profit organizations, and the private sector in fields of emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation roles as well as security, business continuity, and crisis management. These individuals must have strategic planning or operational leadership responsibility or be on a career track leading to such a position.

Two 90-minute orientation and project development sessions two weeks prior to the program. You will be introduced to your fellow classmates and NPLI faculty in order to begin building relationships. You will participate in an asynchronous assignment between the two sessions for project teams to meet and begin to define their project deliverable.

Participants will work together to build project teams in advance of the opening session and we will assign NPLI faculty to teams to aide in the project process.

The December program session will consist of 10 (ten) two-hour sessions offered over five days beginning on Monday and concluding on Friday. You will have a one-hour break between the two sessions. We will also conduct two 60-minute social sessions on Tuesday evening and one on Thursday morning that all students will participate in.

Class 1 Monday: Introductions, tech intro, and set up on complexity

Learning objective: Understand complexity and the essential role the leader plays to help navigate these situations to reach the best possible outcome.

Class 2 Monday:  The Meta-Leader in Action. Guest speaker with participant one discussion.

Learning objective: Understand Meta-leadership in practice and grasp the pragmatic use of the concepts and tools.

Class 3 Tuesday: Uniting Stakeholders in Complex Problem Solving (TSA case)

Learning objective: Explore the practical, integrated application of the three dimensions of Meta-Leadership. Discern the perspectives and interests of divergent stakeholders and how to integrate them into a viable path toward a mutually acceptable solution.

Class 4 Tuesday: Project Team Working Session

Learning objective: Move from forming to norming as a team through team-specific breakout sessions. Achieve alignment. We will discuss the project objectives and tangible deliverables with NPLI Faculty mentors in attendance.

Class 5 Wednesday: Mastering Transformation and Time (Coronavirus case)

Learning objective: Understand how crises unfold over a series of phases—arcs of time—that leaders help shape in terms of severity, duration, and velocity. Grasp the transformation life cycle as a guide as you distinguish between transactional, transformational, and transitional activities across multiple arcs from the initial incident through the conclusion of the event.

Class 6 Wednesday: Who Are You? Becoming Your Best Leader Self (Dana Born)

Learning objective: Explore your “dual narratives” to better understand your authentic self as well as how to use the assets of both positive and negative experiences to inform your meta-leadership practice.

Class 7 Thursday:  Project Team Working Session

Learning objective: Continue honing the project in team-specific breakout rooms. Prepare for the Friday presentation. Faculty mentor in attendance.

Class 8 Thursday: Innovating in Crisis (Super Storm Sandy case)

Learning objective: Know how to “not let a crisis go to waste” in terms of engaging non-traditional stakeholders, rapidly reengineering processes, and stimulating fresh approaches to mission-critical challenges

Class 9 Friday: Building Actionable Situational Insight (Case TBD)

Learning objective: Recognize the challenges of knowledge acquisition in a complex event and develop proficiency in systematically “driving to the knowns” as you employ the Situation Connectivity Map and POP-DOC Loop.

Class 10 Friday: Project team presentations and Conclusion by NPLI faculty.

Students will participate in 2 (two), two-hour sessions per month for a total of 8 sessions. One session will be held on a Current Challenge Discussion and the other session a Team Project check-in. There will also be a monthly individual reflective exercise.

1. Current Challenge Discussion: Held once a month, this session will be based on our Guest Speaker’s topic for one hour followed by an “open mike” discussion of leadership issues.

Learning objective: Build cohesion within the cohort and address current challenges.

2. Project Check-in: Each team will present current project status, what challenge is next, and receive input from faculty and/or other participants. NPLI Faculty will serve as a panel for all teams.

Learning objective: Ensure that all project teams are on track and applying the meta-leadership concepts and tools. This will be an opportunity for classmates and NPLI faculty to provide support to ensure each team is guiding the development of the Meta-leadership Team Projects that could have significant impact in the nation’s preparedness and response efforts.

Individual Reflective Exercise: A short exercise based on a provided question by the NPLI faculty to be completed on the course website. The sum of these exercises will become your personal report that you will summarize in a final document to be submitted at the end of the concluding session in June.

Learning objective: Encourage a growth mindset and foster ongoing self-development through reflective practice while continuously strengthening your Meta-leadership skill set.

Ten, two-hour sessions beginning Monday and ending Friday.

Class 1 Monday: Your Leadership Journey

Learning Objective: Reflect upon and share how they have grown as meta-leaders over the past six months

Class 2 Monday: Navigating with Your Moral Compass

Learning Objective: Understand the moral dimensions of leadership decisions and actions

Class 3 Tuesday: Negotiating as a Meta-Leader

Learning objective: Explore the Conflict Mode Index and Walk in the Woods as tools for negotiation, conflict resolution, and complex problem solving [Potential guest speaker, Peter Gaultier]

Class 4 Tuesday: Project Team Presentations I

Class 5 Wednesday: Project Team Presentations II

Class 6 Wednesday: The Politics of Homeland Security

Learning Objective: Grasp the political dimensions of leadership and how to navigate them without compromising personal or professional principles.

Class 7 Thursday: Swarm: The Outcome of Effective Meta-Leadership (Panel discussion)

Learning Objective: Investigate the behavior principles of Swarm Leadership through the Boston Marathon Bombings case study and a discussion with several people who led during that event.

Class 8 Thursday: Project Team Presentations III

Class 9 Friday: The Meta-Leader in Action:  Guest speaker

Learning Objective: Understand Meta-leadership in practice and grasp the pragmatic use of the concepts and tools.

Class 10 Friday: Conclusion: Principled Meta-Leadership and Graduation

Learning Objective: Delve into the 15 principles of meta-leadership as guide for future practice and development.