IACPs membership has consistently requested programs addressing leadership development at all levels of service delivery. In January of 2018 as a part of the IACP strategic plan for workforce enhancement a membership wide needs assessment was completed. The needs assessment was completed to identify the leadership training needs of organizations and the challenges faced by organizations. The findings were presented to the IACP membership at the 2018 IACP Conference to validate the results and to begin the process of development.

Since the summer of 2018, IACP has partnered with SparkPoint Consulting to develop a leadership training program for leaders at all levels of service delivery. The intent to is impact existing workforce to be more skilled in their positions now and in the future.

Program participants will work as a cohort and engage in over 60 hours of learning activities over the course of a year to earn the IACP leadership distinction.

IACP is excited to announce this program will begin in October of 2019 with the first cohort of graduates to be recognized at the Annual Business Meeting in September of 2020.  The program will utilize the following types of learning to help participants develop and apply new and existing skills:

1. Self-Assessment
2. Two 2-day on site, seminar-style Anchor courses
3. Monthly Webinars
4. Independent and group project-based learning activities 

Competencies covered will address the following areas:

1. Workforce and Developing Leaders
   Build skills and confidence in identifying key characteristics of a successful workforce including on-boarding, employee and leadership development.
2. Communication
   Increase awareness of communication styles and competencies to be better connect with internal and external partners to further organizational goals.
3. Organization and Culture
   Development of higher-order leadership skills vital to the health and forward motion of an organization.
4. Analytics and Critical Thinking
   Build necessary thinking skills required at every level of the organization
5. Individual Competencies
   Self-identify and practice essential competencies setting participants apart as excellent role models and leaders within their organizations.

An example of the topics to be covered in the first anchor course starting in October 2019:

Anchor One (October 14 and 15, 2019) topics include: 

Communication Skills
Team Building
Organizational Assessment
Pitfalls
Managing Conflict
Self-Awareness
Emotional Intelligence
Difficult Conversations
Coaching
Employee Recognition and Development 

Webinar topics (fourth Tuesday of each month):

Goals/Expectations and Team Building
Streamlining communications
Collaborative Problem solving
Time and Project management
Best Practices for Meetings
Hiring/Onboarding/training
Employee engagement and feedback
Resiliency and finding margin
Organizational Culture
Setting Vision
Group project development and feedback

Anchor Two (April 13 and 14, 2020) topics include:

Staff Interviewing, Hiring, Training and Retention
Employee Engagement and Recognition
Motivating Others
Organizational Culture
Teaming and Building Cross-Functional Teamwork
Critical and Strategic Thinking
Effective In-House Training