Fundamentals of Leadership
(Formerly Known As Fundamentals of Supervision)
Leadership development is one of the highest-return workforce investments a company can make.
Leadership isn’t built in a day—it’s cultivated through coaching, practice, and reflection. Strong frontline leadership is consistently identified by employers as one of the most critical factors in employee retention, engagement, and productivity. WCEDA’s Fundamentals of Leadership (FOL) program helps emerging and existing leaders develop the soft skills that drive measurable results: better communication, higher engagement, and stronger teams.
FOL provides practical, skills-based leadership training focused on the real challenges faced by supervisors and managers in today's workplace.
Why This Program Matters
Employers consistently report that new supervisors are often promoted because of technical skill — not leadership ability. Without leadership training employees disengage, turnover increases, productivity declines, and workplace culture suffers.
Leadership development is one of the highest-return workforce investments a company can make.
Coaching that Builds Corporate Gains
Our approach goes beyond traditional “training.” Participants are coached to apply what they learn—turning ideas into habits, and habits into measurable improvement. Because the program is informed by your organization’s needs assessment, coaching conversations are grounded in real workplace dynamics rather than generic scenarios.
Examples of Topics Covered
While the program is customized based on insights gathered during an organizational needs assessment, leadership development typically focuses on the real challenges supervisors and managers face in today’s workplace.
Examples of topics that may be explored include:
- Skills and responsibilities of effective leadership
- Delivering feedback and setting clear expectations
- Navigating workplace dynamics and managing difficult conversations
- Transitioning from colleague to supervisor
- Delivering meaningful performance feedback
- Managing time, energy, and focus in demanding work environments
- Creating psychological safety and trust
- Preventing harassment and discrimination
- Leading a multi-generational workforce
- Building employee engagement
- Handling conflict productively
- Leading teams through change
Elizabeth Oplatka, Gateway Technical College
Leadership and Supervision, Business and Workforce Solutions
Liz is an experienced consultant, coach, manager, educator, and business/government journalist with a unique combination of proven competencies in organizational psychology, organizational development, communication, strategic leadership, and change management. Liz coaches and teaches current and future leaders; supports and influences businesses; uses proven tools to assess current behaviors, need and program effectiveness; builds lasting teams and coalitions; improves employee engagement; revitalizes struggling enterprises and helps developing organizations through growing pains.
She has been coaching, consulting, and training in organizations and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate programs for more than 15 years. Prior to that, she practiced what she preaches as a business and government journalist known for turning around floundering enterprises and offering leadership expertise to the industries she covered. She also worked as an employee assistance professional, coaching and counseling in the Loyola University Health System Employee Assistance Program.
Liz earned a dual master’s degree in organizational psychology and counseling from the Adler School of Professional Psychology; a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism of Northwestern University; and a liberal arts BA from Illinois Wesleyan University.
Questions? Ready to discuss in more detail? Contact us below.
The following are companies that have found WCEDA's training programs valuable.
