Strategic Leader Certification Support

Identify one leadership situation where how you use your time and influence will matter to the business.

This should be something real and current, such as:

• A priority that needs clearer ownership
• A decision that impacts results beyond your immediate role
• An area where misalignment is creating inefficiency or rework

In a few short responses, explain:

1: What the situation is

2: Why it matters to the business or to your leader, including what results, metrics, or risks are affected

3: Where your influence (not authority) will be required

4: How you plan to intentionally invest your time and attention differently as a leader

5: Which other teams or functions could be impacted by how this situation is handled

Coaching Prompts:
If you’re unsure where to start, consider questions like:

• Where are priorities competing across teams or departments right now?
• What issue would your leader likely want someone to step forward and help solve?
• Where could stronger alignment between people or teams improve results?
• What leadership situation would benefit more from influence than authority?

Choose a project or improvement initiative that you’ve played a role in, lead, or are considering.

1: How did/does it support the financial side of the business?

2: Where does it create financial value, or prevent financial loss?

Coaching Prompts:
If you’re unsure where to start, consider questions like:

• Where does your team’s work most directly affect cost, productivity, or delivery?
• What improvement opportunity could make a measurable difference to business performance?
• Where might operational decisions be made without clearly understanding their financial impact?
• What initiative could help your team contribute more clearly to the company’s financial success?

Identify one area of your team’s work where results are tracked, but true accountability or clarity may be lacking.

Choose a real metric, scorecard measure, or performance indicator you are responsible for or closely connected to.

In a few short responses, explain:

1: What the metric or result area is and how it is currently tracked

2: What the current performance trend or data is showing

3: Where accountability is clear and where it may be unclear or inconsistent

4: How this metric connects to broader business results such as cost, throughput, quality, or customer impact

5: Which cross-functional partners are influenced by this metric and how misalignment could affect them

Coaching Prompts:
If you’re unsure where to start, consider questions like:

• What result area would your leader care most about improving right now?
• Where does performance vary but the root cause isn’t fully understood?
• Which business outcomes would improve if teams focused on the right metric?
• Where could clearer ownership or visibility improve results?

Identify an upcoming conversation where how you communicate will matter to the outcome.

This should be a real situation, such as:

• Addressing misalignment or confusion
• Resetting expectations
• Giving feedback that has been avoided or softened
• Navigating resistance or tension around priorities or performance

In a few short responses, outline:

1: What the conversation is about and why it matters

2: What outcome you want from the conversation

3: What risks or challenges you anticipate

4: How you plan to approach the conversation differently based on what you learned in the workshop

Coaching Prompts:
If you’re unsure where to start, consider questions like:

• Where might unresolved tension or misalignment be affecting team performance?
• What topic do people seem to avoid discussing openly, even though it impacts results?
• Where would greater clarity between people or teams prevent future problems?
• What conversation could strengthen trust, accountability, or expectations?

Identify one change that is happening or about to happen within your team, department, or area of influence.

This could be something like:

• A process change
• A new expectation or way of working
• A shift in priorities, structure, or responsibilities
• A change being driven by another group that your team must adopt

In a few short responses, describe:

1: What the change is and who it affects

2: Why the change matters from a business or leadership perspective

3: Where resistance or confusion is most likely to show up

4: How you plan to support adoption and minimize disruption using what you learned in the workshop

Coaching Prompts:
If you’re unsure where to start, consider questions like:

• What change is happening in your organization that will affect how work gets done?
• Where might people be uncertain about expectations, priorities, or direction?
• What change would benefit from stronger leadership support or communication?
• Where could better alignment help people move forward more confidently?

Complete the coachability assessment and continued growth assignment

Upload all completed assignments to your Manufacturers Alliance Account by the due date

Coaching Prompts:
If you’re unsure where to start, consider questions like:

• Where have you recently received feedback that challenged your thinking?
• What leadership skill would make the biggest difference in your next role?
• Where could being more open to feedback strengthen your leadership effectiveness?
• What development area would your leader likely encourage you to work on?