Shifting from Directing to Leading: Practical Skills for Transformative Leadership is a 4 part professional development series open to all members of the Association who aspire to be viewed as a leader within your own organization (team).     

This series is COPE approved.  This series is designed to complete all 4 series however, credit will be given per session completed.  

Overview:  In today’s dynamic and fast-paced work environment, the most effective leaders are those who move beyond giving directives to fostering collaboration, empowerment, and growth within their teams.  This coaching series is designed to help leaders shift from a command-and-control approach to a people-centered, purpose-driven style of leadership.  Through practical tools, evidence-based research, and hands-on-exercises, participants will learn to build trust, coach for growth, lead with vision, and empower their teams to excel.  Each session provides a structured blend of theory, practice, and peer discussion to ensure that participants walk away with actionable strategies they can immediately implement within their organizations.

January 9, 2025 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST      Session I:  Coach the person not the problem

Objective:  Teach leaders how to shift from solving problems to coaching individuals by focusing on the person’s growth, development, and ownership of challenges rather than jumping into advise-giving or fixing the issue.

January 16, 2025 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST      Session II:  Cultivating Emotional Intelligence and Empathy in Leadership

Objective:  Strengthen leaders’ emotional intelligence (EQ) and empathy, enhancing their ability to connect with, motivate, and inspire their teams.

January 30, 2025 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST      Session III:  Coaching for Growth and Autonomy

Objective:  Teach leaders how to shift from giving directives to coaching their team members to solve problems and make decisions independently

February 6, 2025 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST      Session IV:  Navigating Change with Resilience

Objective:  Equip leaders with tools to lead their teams through change effectively, focusing on resilience and adaptability during times of uncertainty.

Dr. Alexandra Walker 

has over 20 years of experience working in human services. From mental health and substance use treatment to reentry systems, she has been implementing innovative justice reform strategies in organizations big and small. Prior to founding ACJI with her partners, Alex has worked across the legal spectrum in residential treatment, jails, halfway houses, prisons, and community reentry programs with her most recent position being the Vice Chair of the Colorado Board of Parole. Throughout her career, Alex has been tasked with implementing numerous agency-wide and statewide initiatives to create socially significant outcomes. She led the design and implementation of a level system and case planning process across 32 halfway house programs for the Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice and held a key leadership role in the implementation of numerous legislative initiatives.

Alex is committed to the idea that organizations are in control of their outcomes. Said another way, she believes that there are reasons why socially significant outcomes have been elusive for many justice agencies and has dedicated her career to helping agencies uncover these critical, yet often overlooked, aspects of their work. As a Founding Member of the Alliance for Community and Justice Innovation, she partners with multiple government agencies to address alignment and implementation challenges that get in the way of service delivery. This work focuses on clearly identifying desired outcomes and building innovative systems to support the people, data, culture, and leadership factors that support the work.

Leveraging her experience as a public speaker and implementer, Alex specializes in facilitating small and large group workshops, presentations, and engagement events to identify and address the alignment and adaptive challenges of implementing transformational change. She is a primary facilitator and contributes to the design of the Implementation Leadership Academy and coaches organizational leaders in the application of Implementation Science. Alex holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a PhD in Sociology from Colorado State University.

Registration Information!

IPCSA members purchasing the 4-session ticket will receive a $20.00 discount.

Each of the sessions are stand-alone sessions and tickets can be purchased individually if a participant is unable to attend all 4 sessions.