Teach

He is simply a master teacher.

J. Patrick Murphy, DePaul International (testimonial)

Whether it's a university classroom, a conference plenary, boardroom, or around a kitchen table, Mark's contagious enthusiasm, theatrical style, and sense of humor make his actionable presentations come alive. No matter what the content - keynotes or customized presentations, one offs or courses - and no matter what the duration, Mark is dedicated to the learner through engaging delivery and give-and-take interactions. His mastery was recognized at Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Business through the Mandel Teaching Award and during his tenure years as a Full Teaching Professor at DePaul University School of Public Service, he was consistently ranked by students as the most effective professor.
 

Thank you so much for your enthusiasm + wisdom. Can't wait to do good great!!!
Dublin Ireland Social Enterprise Course Particpant (testimonials)

Future Leaders Program

Participants loved Dr. Light’s interactive workshops.
Mallory DePrekel, Manager; Learning, former Career and Volunteer Engagement, McGaw YMCA, Chicago (testimonial)

Everyone knows how hard it is to find top talent. Wouldn't it be so much better to have a group of pre-vetted candidates to choose from? Motivated and talented, ready to advance? Right in front of you in your organization? Candidates who attended an honors seminar tailored for your organization and led by a street-smart top-tier teacher and certified leadership and management skills coach? Enter the Future Leaders Program!

An advancing leader is a strong individual performer, works well with all types of people, is judged to have leadership potential, and is interested in learning more about leadership in general and one’s preferred leadership style in particular. In addition, an advancing leader has the support of their supervisor who will provide on-going coaching, mentoring, and support during the four day-long sessions:

1.  Leading Self: Participants will use the symbolic and structural frames from Bolman and Deal’s four-frame approach  to create a professional development plan including pragmatic assessments (DiSC Management and Gallup’s Strengths Finder), vision, values and personal missions.

2.  Leading Others: Participants will use the human resource frame to gain pragmatic tools that enable effective leadership and management of others, including teams, peers, supervisors, and direct reports.

3.  Leading Work: Participants will use the political frame to explore managing conflict and advancing personal interests; learn about and practice decision-making protocols, creative problem solving, and time management tools; and work on strategic and operational planning for each participant’s chosen work project.

4.  Leading Change: Participants will deepen their understanding of organizational change, major leadership approaches, and ethical leadership and practice.

To support learning, each participant recevies three one-on-one 45-minute individual coaching sessions (typically by phone) primarily focused on the person’s professional development plan. Succession planning is all the rage these days. But it's not only for top level leaders; it is a leadership development ethos that equips employees with the tools they need to be successful. Welcome to the Advancing Leaders Program.

Sustainable Strategy Program

Don't miss this opportunity.

Matt Pieper, Executive Director, Open Hand, Atlanta (testimonial)

The Sustainable Strategy Program achieves powerful mission impact and bottom-line results for agencies. Subscribing to Michael Porter's advice that "the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do" (1996) and built upon Mark Light's Results Now book, the right answers come from five questions: Why, Where to go tomorrow, What gets done today, Who does what, and When did it happen.

The SSP is cohort-based action learning to build long-term organization capacity. Up to five agencies (each one brings as many as four top-level people) to learn about and build sustainable strategy for their agencies. Each SSP includes four all-day, hands-on learning sessions spread across a twelve-week period. Between sessions, participants receive on-site teaching, coaching, and training to support their work on "assignments" for the next session. In the last session, attendees deliver their final pitch to a panel of funders and influencers.

All – not most, not some – of the participants were enthusiastic.
Kathy Palumbo, Director of programs, The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (testimonial)

The Strategic Board

Thank you for the tremendous job facilitating our Board retreat. You hit it out of the ballpark.
Daniel J. McCabe, Chief Administrative Officer, CareSource Management Group

The Strategic Board takes trustees to a new level of performance. In this this eye-opening and interactive workshop based upon his best-selling book, participants discover the Four Complaints, Seven Realities, Five Great Questions, and Two Easy Fixes of governance. In addition, participants will build rock-solid duties and standards of conduct for the board, board member, and the executive director. The retreat will also clarify what and how many committees should help the board accomplish its duties (hint: you can count them with one hand). Finally, board members will revisit the mission and generate ideas for future strategies. All in about six hours of highly energized activity that stays on topic, is fun, and accomplishes a great deal. 

Finding George Bailey

Wow, what great energy!
Participant, Managing Conflict workshop, Community Foundation for Monterey County, CA (participant evaluations)

He is underpaid and overworked, his organization lives from payroll to payroll, and he is saddled with hard working, loyal, but not always competent staff. He is George Bailey, the central character in Frank Capra’s classic It’s a Wonderful Life. In this uplifting and always practical workshop with film clips, Mark Light challenges the myth of the larger-than-life heroic leader and instead introduces George Bailey as a purposeful, strategic, driven, adaptive difference maker – a wonderful leader with a wonderful life. It’s year-round wonderful, but also a perfect holiday treat that delivers real results.

"You're a rockstar at our program!"
James Abruzzo and Alex Pino, Co-founders, Rutgers University Institute for Ethical Leadership (testimonial)

1422 37th AVE, Suite 6
Seattle, WA 98122
(312) 799-1117
mark@firstlightgroup.com
MarkLight.com, FirstLightGroup.com, and GoodGreat.org are web addresses
owned by First Light Group®©. This website was last modified 8-1-23