Epic Leadership Online Course

Discover your Team’s Heroic Potential to Overcome Epic Challenges,
and Realize the Greatest Possibilities for Your Organization!

New Course Dates Forthcoming

Remember back when you were on fire with idealistic optimism? When everything was possible and your energy was boundless? Those of us who stay in the game of changing the world still have that flame, but for some of us, that fierce optimism of earlier days has been tempered by repeated setbacks, challenges, and unexpected opposition. And it’s no wonder.

For non-profits, these are perilous times.

Beyond the customary personal sacrifices that have long attended a career of service to the public good — the low pay, long hours, never-ending search for resources — non-profit leaders are now facing the additional demands and stress of a radically changing landscape, one that increasingly requires a search for entirely new sources of funding and often a complete re-orientation of long-time missions.

In many cases, formerly reliable funding sources are going dry and decades of progress are being reversed while program recipients’ need for services is growing exponentially. Meanwhile, the non-profit sector is undergoing massive leadership turnover at the same time that many senior executives are experiencing delayed retirements.

And we all know the challenges don’t end here. You and your team still have to invent radically new ways to work just to survive, much less deliver on your mission. And there is still so much yet to be done before you can hand the reins of leadership to the next generation in good conscience.

You know this is not a sustainable life for you or your team. You know you can’t keep going like this, but you make one more exception.

Silently, you offer one more sacrifice.

If this is your experience, you are not alone. Among mission-driven leaders, the habit of repeated, unexamined sacrifice is an epidemic. The best of the best are seduced by its call and are suffering from it. The question is, are you and your team among them?

Are you becoming a Mission Martyr ?

EL-Stressed-Man

Mission Martyr

/‘mi-shən ‘mär-tər/

noun

1. An individual who uses their own authentic commitment to helping or saving others as the conscious or unconscious justification for an unsustainable lifestyle of repeated personal sacrifice.

Have you seen these Warning Signs?

orange-arrowsPlanning for Burnout:

“We know that our ED won’t last, but we don’t have enough money to add more support staff.”

orange-arrowsAcceptance of Mounting Distress:

“Stress for me is just part of the job.”

orange-arrowsDeferring a Life:

“A family reunion will have to wait until we make it through this next funding cycle.”

orange-arrowsSurvivor’s Guilt:

“How can I possibly enjoy my accrued vacation time when good people on my staff are being laid off?”

orange-arrowsGallows Humor:

“Someday, this job is going to give me a heart attack, ha ha!”

EL-Stressed-Woman2Why do we put up with this life of increasing stress? Some of us have been living this life for so long that we don’t even realize how much of a toll it is taking. Others have accepted the lifestyle as unavoidable, saying “It’s just the price I agreed to pay when I chose a life of service.” Our newer co-workers who haven’t been in the trenches as long may still believe they are immune to the debilitating effects of accumulated personal sacrifice.

Is it even possible to make significant progress towards a more peaceful, joyful and balanced life of service?

Given the reality of the changing landscape, it may seem preposterous to suggest that any leadership program could result in significantly improved organizational effectiveness and personal life balance for you, your leadership team and your organization. And for most programs, it would be. But thousands of skeptical leaders have been empowered and enlivened by these concepts and skills, which have been developed and proven in every sector of the economy for over 30 years.

Real change is possible!

By discovering and unleashing the hidden, heroic potential of our teams we can dramatically improve our organizational effectiveness and radically restore work-life balance, and in doing so sustain our organizations, our teams and ourselves in ways we may never have dared to imagine.

EL-Heroic-Team-square

  • What if you could leave every meeting with your board feeling joyful, inspired and confident?
  • What if you had more new donors calling than you could keep track of?
  • What if you no longer dreaded walking into meetings with controlling, domineering people?
  • What if your team could learn efficiencies so dramatic that you freed up an entire afternoon each week to use however you liked?

What if you could save the world

AND make it home in time for dinner?

Griggs Leadership has developed this curriculum to provide the specific tools and breakthroughs necessary for you to ensure breakthrough sustainability for yourself, your team, and your organization. Traditional leadership training was not designed to create the kind of breakthroughs in effectiveness and stress reduction that we need today. EPIC LEADERSHIP was.

An Invitation From The Course Creator

As far back as I can remember I have been impatient, so much so that I got in a lot of trouble as a kid because I refused to accept the usual and customary ways of learning and working. I always believed there had to be a better way and I was constantly looking for it.

In addition, I have always had a deep sensitivity to fairness and justice. For example, when I was growing up the boys on my street tried to get me to go out “hunting” with them. But they were so much bigger than the little squirrels they stalked, and the boys had weapons. Their small prey had none. I couldn’t participate in the hunt because it wasn’t fair.

intent closeup croppedToday, I am happy to say that this value of fairness and my relentless impatience have become fused into an obsession with finding every possible tool and trick that can sustain those who are working for peace and justice in the world. After over 30 years of sharpening the saws of efficiency and sustainability, I am thrilled to make this course available to you. This is why the course in Epic Leadership was conceived: to help you identify and accomplish the breakthroughs you need in both organizational effectiveness and personal work/life balance.

You will not be perfect after you complete this program. You won’t have solved every problem you face. But through this course in Epic Leadership you can learn at least one powerful new skill each week that will allow you to eliminate one nagging point of stress and accomplish one key result that has eluded you. Think of it: 16 powerful new leadership skills; 16 stressors eliminated; 16 priority organizational results.

Come join us. I guarantee you will be well rewarded.

-Thomas Shelden Griggs, Ph.D.

About your course facilitator: Dr. Thomas Shelden Griggs

Save

Here’s What People Are Saying

Dan-EdelsonDan Edelson

Former Manager, IBM Global Services Strategic Outsourcing

I worked at IBM for nearly 17 years, attending numerous management training classes and assessment sessions. Since leaving IBM I’ve joined several boards and participated in numerous planning and strategy sessions including one just completed by Dr. Thomas Griggs.

His process for conducting a discussion is tremendously effective.

Pana-ColumbusPana Columbus

Co-Founder, Seven Generations Charter School, Emmaus, PA; Author and Award-Winning Playwright

Our community here in Asheville has been transformed from our weekend with Dr. Griggs. His discernment, power and skill at creating a safe container for intense issues and emotions is extraordinary. The conversations, the work people are choosing to do, everything has been impacted, especially around male/female relationships. Deep, courageous work has begun.

Jeffrey-GimbleJeffrey M. Gimble M.D., Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor, Center for Stem Cell Research & Regenerative Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine

By converting leadership training into something that is practical, Dr. Griggs gains immediate credibility. The training program identifies specific problem situations, reduces them to their fundamental elements, and applies specific, effective tools to help managers find solutions.

How can any course promise this much?

Epic Leadership was designed to provide the framework and tools to produce transformational change, the kind of change that only happens when we radically shift our approach to everyday problems.

This radical shift occurs when we learn to analyze chaotic situations and reframe chronic problems to make them solvable, and when we uncover and engage the previously hidden superpowers in our teams.

Epic Leadership is a highly interactive, cohort-based program in which you will join a diverse, engaged learning community and build connections with other non-profit leaders across North America and the world. This is your opportunity to share your emerging learnings, provide moral support, locate specific resources and more.

In 16 weeks, we will provide you with the knowledge and skills to produce breakthroughs for any organizational challenge you specify, including the greatest challenges facing non-profit leaders today.

Here’s what you will Receive

350+ Page Course Workbook with Readings and Exercises

The core teaching of Epic Leadership is contained in the workbook. Dr. Griggs will cover in depth the most important concepts, tools and skills in these pages, which are supplemented by the instructional audios and the live application sessions. Each Lesson also contains a number of key Exercises for participants to apply the principles and tools presented, either individually or in your work groups.

12 Hours Instructional Audio from Dr. Griggs

Dr. Griggs has also recorded extensive supplemental material for Epic Leadership to accompany the Course Workbook.  The audios review the essential points contained in the workbook and contain more precise explorations of some of the concepts and tools, as well as introducing additional material to provide added context and value.

16 Live Interactive Application Sessions with Dr. Griggs

Every week of our 16 week course, we will hold an hour-long Live Application Session where participants will bring their challenges, issues, questions and examples of the content of Epic Leadership at work in their lives.

A central principle of Epic Leadership is Learning While Working; that our learning is not divorced from the “other” work we are doing in our personal and professional lives but integrated such that the real challenges we face are the raw material for the learning process.

These Live Application Sessions will be held on Wednesdays beginning with our Welcome Session on 17th Jan, 2018 at 8:00pm Eastern (5:00pm Pacific) and then alternating between Wednesday mornings/afternoons at 1:30pm Eastern (10:30am Pacific) and Wednesday evenings at 8:00 pm Eastern (5:00pm Pacific)**.

*Note: Each of these Live Application Sessions will be recorded AND you will have the ability to submit questions ahead of time in the event you are not able to attend live.

Personalized Learning Plan

As one of your first assignments in the Epic Leadership program, you will develop a detailed 5-page Personalized Learning Plan. Using a template developed by Dr. Griggs, you will specify in detail the outcomes you would like to achieve for yourself, your team, and in your organization; as well as the specific skills you or your team need to ensure those outcomes.

Small Group Feedback and Support

An Integral part of the Epic Leadership experience is engaging with a work group. Whether you join as part of an intact work group or are assigned to a new group; you will have the chance to engage regularly with your group on course content and exercises, as well as provide feedback and perspective to help deepen your learning.

Collaborative Learning Community

A unique benefit of the Epic Leadership program is your access to a dedicated, cooperative learning community of your peers. As you go through the course, you will be able to gather and connect with other like-minded, service-oriented leaders to share your breakthroughs and insights and support each other in applying the principles and teachings.

Private Learning Portal

Everything in the course will be easily available through our private course learning site. You will have convenient access to all of the course materials, including audio recordings and workbook files, discussion forums where you can engage with other members of the Epic Leadership Community, as well as access to live application call sessions and recordings.

The Power of Teams

While the course is open to everyone, we assume that most of you are already working in groups. This course is designed to support intact teams and workgroups, both in the process of learning and in leading organizational change. To that end, we are offering a $200 discount to encourage organizations registering teams or workgroups of 3 or more individuals in Epic Leadership.

In Partnership with ManKind Project USA

ManKind Project is a global network of nonprofit charitable and educational organizations, with the stated purpose to “support men in leading meaningful lives of integrity, accountability, responsibility, and emotional intelligence.” In recognition of both our long-standing relationship and this current partnership, we are pleased to provide preferred tuition in the form of a $200 discount for sustaining members of ManKind Project USA.

ENROLL TODAY!

Epic Leadership tuition is $795 per person

Just $395 if registering as part of an intact group,

& are a sustaining member of ManKind Project USA!

$200 discount if registering as part of an intact work group!
$200 discount for sustaining members of ManKind Project USA!
Course begins 17th Jan, 2018.
Reserve your seat today!

Money Back Guarantee

If for any reason within 30 days of the course start date you decide the course has not delivered on its promises, we will refund your full tuition less an administrative processing fee.
If you are thinking of dropping the course for other reasons please contact [email protected] to discuss any accommodations that might allow you to continue. If you do need to cancel your participation you may apply for a refund, subject to the following limitations: If you apply within 21 days of registration you may receive a refund equal to the amount you have paid minus a $100 processing fee. After 21 days no refunds will be given, but you will be given credit towards participation in a future Griggs Leadership program, again in the amount you have paid minus the $100 processing fee.