Coming in January 2021 - A New Initiative for Executive Manufacturing Leaders

Leadership does not happen in a vacuum. Leading others to produce, to excel, and to improve happens in many contexts and within complex, interconnected systems. In today’s business environment, the importance of organizations and individuals working with the same mission, vision, and goals will be critical to remaining competitive. Recognizing this, UT CIS is partnering with Dr. Rupy Sawhney and his team at the UT Center For Advanced Systems Research and Education (CASRE)* to deliver a leadership training certification specifically for C Suite leaders. This new certification will combine Systems Thinking principles with Servant Leadership concepts that help key leaders to create a level of employee engagement, which will be a driver in the recruitment and retention of the workforce.

The certification format uses two classes per month for six months. Each month focuses on one of the following six modules:  Systems Based Problem Definition, Solving Problems Through Servant Leadership and System Reliability, Sustaining a Culture by Aligning Employee Interest with Organizational Values, Interaction Among Elements, Systems Verification and Validation and Maintenance for a Sustainable Solution. The final three months culminates with each participant finalizing their Strategic Organizational Portfolio that maps out the systems within their organization.

Successful organizations will need to understand how to build stronger collaborative relationships across their organizations that mutually address emerging needs and develop unique skillsets at all levels. Servant Leadership combined with Systems Thinking will empower top performing organizations to achieve a higher level of employee engagement based on the values of both the company and their people.

In this certificate program, leaders will explore cultural development to sustain organizational values based on critical problem solving. Using a comprehensive and integrated educational approach that includes technical, functional, and soft skills, this certification will help executive leaders understand and appreciate the systems within their organization and the people that make those systems work.

Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.

* The UT Center for Advanced Systems Research and Education is part of the University of Tennessee Tickle College of Engineering