Wally Zastrow Leadership Academy

Leadership Impact

Session I: Taking Your Leadership Pulse
October 19-20, 2023 • Holiday Inn at the American Center, Madison

• Assess your current leadership strengths and opportunities to grow.
• Develop a leadership goal to strengthen your effectiveness as a leader.
• Identify the three core values to guide your daily practice of leadership.
• Explore how changing your mindset can make you a better leader.
• Better understand the role of failure in becoming an exceptional leader.
• Build an Academy team to support you on your leadership journey.
• Master the technology used to support your success in the Academy.

Session II: The Leader as an Innovator
November 9-10, 2023 • Holiday Inn at the American Center, Madison

• Review your emotional intelligence assessment and target 1 area to improve.
• Understand the leader's role in organizational innovation.
• Practice the 5 skills of innovative leaders.
• Create a systematic approach to organizational innovation.
• Develop new problem-solving skills involving creativity/design thinking.

Session III: The Leader as a Communicator
December 7-8, 2023 • Holiday Inn at the American Center, Madison

• Identify your preferred communication style and strengths (True Colors Assessment.)
• Become more effective working with styles that clash with yours.
• Prepare for and practice having candid conversations.
• Develop new listening skills.
• Practice your storytelling skills to create stronger connections.

Session IV: Building High Performance Teams
February 1-2, 2024 • Holiday Inn at the American Center, Madison

• Develop a team culture that supports high performance.
• Experiment with the power of expectations to understand its relationship performance.
• Create a User Manual so team members know what you expect when working with you.
• Practice leading a meeting in real time to solve a problem in a high-performance context.

 Session V: The Leader as a Change Agent
March 13-14, 2024 • Holiday Inn at the American Center, Madison

• Explore an effective change management model.
• Develop strategies for leading and sustaining change.
• Learn new tools for implementing and effecting change in complex environments.
• Practical ways to motivate followers in the change process.
• Learn when to make a decision yourself and when to make a group decision.

Session VI: Focus on the Future
April 24-25, 2024 • Holiday Inn at the American Center, Madison

• Learn what it means to engage upstream thinking
• Apply everything you learned to date to work on a real-world problem.
• Learn new techniques about how to build community and balance stakeholder expectations.
• Build your leadership system to help navigate major change.
• Leverage the purpose of leadership to pursue your mission and future.

Academy Graduation
May 16-17, 2024 • WASBO Spring Conference
Attendees that successfully complete the academy will be recognized at the WASBO Spring Conference.

 

REGISTER NOW!

 

 

"The Leadership Academy has made me a better person. It has given me tools to be a better person to work with. Understanding myself and knowing how to understand other people. It impacts more than just work environment. It impacts your whole life."
- Karl E. Volkmann, Business Manager

 

“The Leadership Academy was hands-down the best professional development I’ve ever done. I learned a lot about myself personally, and I think that learning a lot about yourself personally allows you to grow professionally. It helped me understand how to connect with my own colleagues in a different way, which overall has benefited our district as we move forward trying to create the best possible space for our students and staff.”
- Sarah Viera, Business Manager, Board President-Elect for 2023-24

 

“The Wally Zastrow program was a great opportunity to dive deep into leadership strategies that go far beyond school operations. From prioritizing people and projects to role playing crucial conversations, this program definitely helped grow me as a leader. I also appreciated growing relationships with people from across the state, that I would not have met otherwise!”
- Jeremiah Johnson, Chief Operations Officer, Current WASBO Board of Directors Member, Midwest Facility Masters Conference Committee Co-Chair

 

“No matter what position you’re in or what phase of career you’re in, the Leadership Academy is useful. There’s people here within half dozen years before retirement, and there’s new business managers and facilities directors. It’s useful at both work and home!“
- Jason Demerath, Business Manager, 2022 ASBO Pinnacle of Achievement Award recipient in honor of 2021-22 Zastrow Project

 

“So much of our professional development is focused on the technicalities of our job and things we need to know to do a good job. This is really more focused on leadership and how we can work with people and grow in that capacity.”
- Erica Pickett, Business Manager

 

“The Wally Zastrow Leadership Academy is one of the best professional development activities I have been involved in as a school business official. The academy will push your limits and make you a stronger leader in your district and better understand who you are as a person. Don’t be afraid of the commitment because it will be well worth your time no matter what stage you are at in your career!”
- Joe Marquardt, Business Manager, Current WASBO Board of Directors Member

 

Pricing

WASBO District Professional Member pricing for the Wally Zastrow 2023-24 Leadership Academy is $2,106. Price of these six, two-day academy sessions includes:

• Coaching/Support from academy faculty
• Networking through online tools
• Leadership Assessment
• Emotional Intelligence Assessment
• True Colors Communication Style Assessment
• Noon meal each day

Attendees are responsible for all travel and meals outside of the session days.

Full payment must be received by November 17 and NO REFUNDS will be issued.

Begin Your Journey

The Wally Zastrow Leadership Academy is open to all District Professional members. Registration is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Only a limited number of registrations are available. Register today to continue your leadership journey. All applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Minimum of 1 year experience in your current job;
• Must have input or decision-making authority for strategic decisions involving the school district;
• Written letter of supervisory support to participate in all academy sessions.

Upon registration, participants will be asked to submit responses to following two essay questions:

1. Tell us about a real person who influenced your life. What values did this person demonstrate that were important to you?
2. After reviewing the leadership learning objectives, which topics do you feel most confident about and which ones do you think will be most challenging?

Need or want talking points to describe the Wally Zastrow Leadership Academy? Get them here!

Register for the 2023-24 Wally Zastrow Leadership Academy Today!

Hotel Accommodations are the responsibility of participants. WASBO has secured a block of rooms at a discounted rate.

Due to the nature of the materials and goals of this academy, participation is limited to District Professional members only.

Wallace E. Zastrow

Wallace E. Zastrow was a champion for education. Graduating from Whitewater State Teachers College with a B.A. and an M.A. in business from the University of Iowa. He was a teacher of business education at Fort Atkinson and Whitefish Bay High Schools and School Administrator for the Waukesha School District. Serving at UW-Whitewater, he was the former Director of University Relations.

His passion for the profession was demonstrated in several areas. Wally was a charter member of WASBO and served as the associations' first Executive Director. Through his leadership, WASBO gained recognition and respect as an outstanding educational organization within the State of Wisconsin and ASBO International. His legacy of leadership lives on today for each WASBO member!