Building and Leading Resilient Teams

Collective resilience is the team’s ability to overcome adversity, and then adapt and grow together because of that adversity. Resilient teams are the key to both individual and organizational resilience. Resilient teams are stronger together and they make learning and change possible. This program will engage participants in guided discussion regarding leadership models and theories supported by research to build stronger climate, culture, and team resilience.  

Each session will build on the foundations of climate to build a more resilient and productive team and organization.  In modules 1-3, a basic review of motivation and climate theory will be discussed as support for remaining modules. Modules 4 and 5 will focus more deeply on methods teams can take to overcome challenges and solve problems, while modules 6 and 7 will focus on the role of mission, vision, and values in creating strategy and creating a climate and culture for continued personal, team, and organizational growth.  

Event held online via Zoom. Zoom link will be available on course page in “My Courses” upon event registration. 

This program, when attended in its entirety, offers 21.0 CEs for Psychologists, 21.0 IL CEUS for Counselors and Social Workers, 21.0 BBS California CEUs for LPCCs, LPSW, and LMFTs, 21.0 NASP CPDs for School Psychologists, 21.0 ISBE CPDs for Illinois Educators, or 21.0 SHRM PDCs for Human Resource Professionals

Participants will also receive a training certificate and be eligible to sit for the Resilient Based Leadership Program Certificate Exam. 

Course Pricing

Refund Policy:

100% of tuition is refundable up to 48 hours before the program. Within 48 hours of the program there will be no refunds.

*Event requires a minimum of 5 participants. In the event of program cancellation, registered participants will be issued a full refund.

Upcoming Sessions

Fall 2024

Leadership Lunch and Learn

Mondays -Thursdays

December 2nd – December 19th, 2024

9:30am-10:45am PT / 11:30am-12:45pm CT / 12:30pm-1:45pm ET

Online through Zoom. Zoom link will be available on course page in “My Courses” upon registration.

Program Overview

Module Descriptions and Objectives

When morale is low, performance suffers. When morale is high, performance can soar. This session evaluates the role team climate has in building a strong team. Participants will discuss the difference between climate and culture and the role the team leader has in building a positive climate. Module 1 provides an introduction of climate and motivational theories to serve as the cornerstone for future sessions. Practical tips will be shared on how leaders can begin to foster a positive climate within their teams.  

Objectives:  

  1. Discern between climate and culture.
  2. Identify methods to build a positive climate.
  3. Apply climate building practices to organizational use.

Developing cohesion enhances well-being, reduces stress, and enables your team’s creativity and collective decision-making. Cohesive teams in the workplace are better able to overcome adversity, and then adapt and grow together because of that adversity. Module 2 will discuss the roles of social and task cohesion in building more effective teams. Specifically, this presentation will evaluate the benefits and challenges in building a strengths-based team and the research backed methods of supporting team cohesion.  

Objectives: 

  1. Define cohesion and discuss the different types of cohesion found on a team. 
  2. Identify why team cohesion is important.
  3. Discuss methods leaders can use to build team cohesion.

When people have a sense of purpose for the work that they do, they are more motivated and committed. Module 3 takes a deeper look into motivational theory and how it can be used in support of building purpose and commitment on a team. Specifically, the overlap between motivational theories of Maslow, Hertzberg, Hackman and Oldham, and Wolf will be discussed in their relation to the motivated socio-cognitive theory of climate to identify methods of building purpose and commitment within the team. Finally, participants will discuss methods leaders can take to support motivation and commitment within their teams.  

Objectives:  

  1. Explain the connection between motivation and purpose in building a productive team.
  2. Describe the methods of promoting motivation and commitment on a team. 
  3. Describe the relationship between commitment and motivation when working on a team

When people work together as a team, they create shared experiences that they can learn from. Module 4 will discuss Klob’s Experiential Learning Cycle. Participants will reflect on the 4-stages of the cycles and the varying learning styles of their team while participating in Klob’s learning style Analysis of self and team. Through this practice, participants will discuss how understanding the learning styles of their team members assists with creating stronger teams to reach team goals within the learning cycle.  

Objectives:  

  1. Explain experiential learning cycle and its application to team learning.
  2. Discern between different experiential learning styles. 
  3. Discuss the leader’s role in goal setting.
  4. Describe the difference between commit goals and stretch goals and their role in the learning cycle.

As a follow-up to Module 4, Module 5 will discuss the role of psychological safety (Edmonson, 1999) in team growth. Participants will discuss the methods of building and supporting psychological safety including the role of constructive dialogue, and how psychological safety and constructive dialogue work together to create shared knowledge and greater team growth. Participants will then explore how shared knowledge is utilized to create shared mental models and the benefits and challenges of single and double looped learning when building team efficacy.  

Objectives: 

  1. Apply strategies to enhance psychological safety. 
  2. Describe the impact of constructive dialogue.
  3. Explain shared mental models and their impact on team efficacy.
  4. Discuss the difference between single loop and double loop learning and each’s impact on team efficacy.

Organizations that cannot learn are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Gaining a competitive advantage is hard. Maintaining a competitive advantage is even harder. Module 6 focuses on the different types of competitive advantage and how organizational leaders can embrace change when building strategy focused on mission, vision, and values. Participants will discuss the elements of the continuous improvement model and its use in team growth. Additionally, participants will explore the connections between mission, vision, values, goals and strategy and their relationships to team learning and embracing change. Finally, the session will discuss strategies for when distractions occur within the team and how to evaluate the cause of distractions and appropriate follow-up methods.  

Objectives: 

  1. Explain competitive advantage in relation to growth strategy and continuous improvement.
  2. Discuss the relationships between mission, vision, values, and goals. 
  3. Describe how culture and strategy work together to achieve vision. 
  4. Apply evaluation strategies to limit distractions.

Building on Module 6 and serving as the conclusion for the program, Module 7 focuses on knowledge emergence and diffusion in an effective team and organization. Participants will discuss the role of team cognition when enacting change and systematic improvement. Participants will learn how knowledge emerges with the team and the role of the leader in supporting knowledge emergence. Finally, participants will discuss methods of knowledge diffusion including the benefits of communities of practice in supporting knowledge diffusion and a positive climate.  

Objectives:  

  1. Explain how team cognition leads to goal attainment. 
  2. Apply best practices for knowledge emergence and diffusion.
  3. Discuss the role of communities of practice in building effective teams.

About the Instructor

Chris Whitt, Ed.D., RBLP-T, CSSBB

Dr. Chris Whitt is the Manager of the Office of Continuing Education at The Chicago School. With over 20 years experience working in education and education leadership, her background includes building and maintaining community partnerships, instructional design, accreditation and compliance, employee coaching, instructional leadership, social emotional learning support, and  program management. Additionally, Dr. Whitt has and continues to hold positions as a board member and officer for multiple local and state level planning boards. She also provides support in executive coaching and HR through through CLW Coaching, and supports interns as a clinical coach at The University of Virginia. Dr. Whitt has a passion for continuing professional and team growth through targeted learning and positive climate building.

Dr. Whitt holds a Doctor of Education and an Education Specialist Degree in Education Leadership from Liberty University, a Master of Science in Instructional Systems and Bachelors of Science in English Education from Florida State University. She’s also earned certifications in Online Instructional Design, K12 Administration, Secondary English, English as a Second Language, Reading Specialist, and is a Resilient-Based Leadership Professional Trainer and Certified Six Sigma Black Belt. 

Building and Leading Resilient Teams Competencies

When morale is low, performance suffers. When morale is high, performance can soar. Climate is about the shared perceptions and attitudes of teammates. Your team’s climate can change quickly, for better or worse, based on your actions and the actions of teammates. You will be taught how to raise your team’s morale by creating a positive climate for people to work in. The result will be more flexibility, creativity, and openness to new ideas. Positive emotions help people cope with stress. Teams that work in a positive climate are better able to bounce back from adversity, and then adapt and grow together because of that adversity.

Create Positive Leader tasks:

  • Analyze team climate.
  • Earn trust.
  • Treat people with respect.
  • Enforce accountability.
  • Encourage people to have fun.
  • Demonstrate character.
  • Keep the team informed.

The best measure of a team is how well it performs under pressure. When the going gets tough, the tough get going…by working together as a team. This maxim holds true for front-line teams, executive teams, and all other teams in between, including yours. You will be taught how to boost teamwork by developing the cohesion of your team. The result will be more supportive and dependable relationships. Developing cohesion enhances well-being, reduces stress, and enables your team’s creativity and collective decision-making. Cohesive teams in the workplace are better able to bounce back from adversity, and then adapt and grow together because of that adversity.

Develop Cohesion Leader tasks:

  • Analyze team cohesion.
  • Organize people to work in teams.
  • Promote trust between team members.
  • Ensure mutual respect between team members.
  • Train the team.
  • Manage expectations.
  • Talk about setbacks.

When your people have a sense of purpose for the work that they do, they are more motivated and committed. You will be taught how to provide purpose in the workplace by challenging people to be their best. Most people are looking to grow personally and professionally. You should challenge each person on your team to learn new skills. You should challenge the team to learn new collective skills together. You can also provide purpose by helping your team understand how their work supports the organization’s mission. When people have a sense of purpose at work, they are better able to bounce back from adversity, and then adapt and grow together because of that adversity.

Provide Purpose Leader tasks:

  • Analyze individual purpose.
  • Show genuine concern for people.
  • Encourage individual learning.
  • Delegate responsibility.
  • Empower decision-making.
  • Keep people focused on the mission.
  • Be there when the going gets tough.

When people work together as a team, they create shared experiences that they can learn from. As a leader, you are expected to facilitate this experiential learning process. Learning is how teams solve problems and overcome challenges. You can lead the learning process by ensuring that your team is constantly reflecting on its past and present experiences to assess performance and find ways to improve. As your team develops new ideas for improvement and change, you will need to approve and prioritize those ideas. Most importantly, it’s your responsibility to make sure these ideas get put into action, tested, and validated. Some ideas will work; some will not. Either way, team learning has occurred.

Facilitate Team Learning Leader tasks: 

  • Analyze team learning capacity.
  • Orient on team goals.
  • Encourage constructive dialogue.
  • Build new mental models. 

Organizations that cannot learn are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Gaining a competitive advantage is hard. Maintaining a competitive advantage is even harder. To survive and compete over time, organizations must be willing and able to learn and to change. In fact, without learning, there can be no change. This is true for individuals, teams, and organizations of all types. And just like individuals and teams, when an organization bounces back from adversity, learning is how it adapts and grows. Resilient organizations are learning organizations. In learning organizations, leaders at all levels build and lead resilient teams.

Support Organizational Learning Leader tasks:

  • Analyze organizational learning capacity.
  • Promote a shared vision.
  • Foster knowledge emergence.
  • Ensure knowledge diffusion.

Learn More About Building and leading Resilient Teams

Completing this program in Building and Leading Resilient Teams satisfies the education/training requirement for all three levels of RBLP® leadership certification exams. If you are interested in sitting for a certification exam, please apply here

Continuing Education Information

Beus, J. M., Smith, J. H., & Taylor, E. (2018) A theory of climate: Explaining the formation and function of organizational climates. Academy of Management: Proceedings, 1. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2018.66 

Golden, B. (2021). The benefits of positive emotions for inhibiting anger: Positive emotions help create new ways of responding to anger arousal. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/overcoming-destructive-anger/202104/the-benefits-positive-emotions-inhibiting-anger 

Grand, J.A., Braun, M.T., Kuljanin, G., Kozlowski, S.W.J., & Chao, G.T. (2016). The dynamics of team cognition: A process-oriented theory of knowledge emergence in teams. [Monograph] Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 1353-1385. 

Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the job diagnostic survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60(2), 159-170. 

Herzberg, F. (1964). The motivation-hygiene concept and problems of manpower. Personnel Administrator, 27, 3–7. https://www.worldcat.org/title/personneladministrator/oclc/1762122 

Herzberg, F. (1966). Work and the nature of man. World Publishing Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The motivation to work (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Hollingshead, A. B., Gupta, N., Yoon, K., & Brandon, D. P. (2012). Transactive memory theory and teams: Past, present, and future. In E. Salas, S. M. Fiore, & M. P. Letsky (Eds.), Theories of team cognition: Cross-disciplinary perspectives (pp. 421–455). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. 

Johnson, B., Down, B., Le Cornu, R., Peters, J., Sullivan, A., Pearce, J., & Hunter, J. (2014). Promoting early career teacher resilience: A framework for understanding and acting. Teachers and Teaching, 20(5), 530-546. doi:10.1080/13540602.2014.937957 

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 

Lancefield, D. (2023). Don’t let distractions derail your company’s strategy. Harvard Business Review.  https://hbr.org/2023/04/dont-let-distractions-derail-your-companys-strategy 

Maslow, A.H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370-396. 

Millard, M. (2022). Central principles of the continues improvement models. KaiNexius. https://blog.kainexus.com/continuous-improvement/central-principles-of-the-continuous-improvement-model 

Mohammed, S., Rico, R., & Alipour, K. (2021). Team cognition at a crossroad: Toward conceptual integration and network configurations. Academy of Management Annals. https://business.ecu.edu/news/2022/03/04/team-cognition-matters-can-promote/ 

Pravslova, L.N. (2022). Practice emotional inclusion at work, not toxic positivity: “Faking happy” makes us sick. Emotional inclusion helps healing and belonging. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/positively-different/202206/practice-emotional-inclusion-at-work-not-toxic-positivity 

Whitt, C.L. (2022.). “A missing link: Exploring the connection between school climate and teacher retention” (2022). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 3522. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/3522  

This program meets APA’s continuing education STANDARD 1.3: Program content focuses on topics related to psychological practice, education, or research other than application of psychological assessment and/or intervention methods that are supported by contemporary scholarship grounded in established research procedures.

This program meets APA’s continuing education GOAL 3: Program will allow psychologists to maintain, develop, and increase competencies in order to improve services to the public and enhance contributions to the profession.

Target Audience: Mental Health/Wellness Practitioners, Social Workers, Psychologists, Educators/Teachers/Administrators, HR, Decision Makers, Executive, Leadership, Front Line Supervisors, Leaders, Business Owners, anyone who wants to become better leaders in their life and career.

Psychologists. This program, when attended in its entirety, is available for 21.0 continuing education credits. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is committed to accessibility and non-discrimination in its continuing education activities. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is also committed to conducting all activities in conformity with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology maintains responsibility for this program and its content. 

Counselors/Clinical Counselors. This program, when attended in its entirety, is available 21.0 hours of continuing education. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) to provide continuing education programming for counselors and clinical counselors. License Number: 197.000159. 

Social Workers. This program, when attended in its entirety, is available for 21.0 hours of continuing education. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) to provide continuing education programming for social workers. License Number: 159.001036 

MFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs. Course meets the qualifications for 21.0 hour of continuing education credit for MFTs, LPCCs, and/or LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. If you are licensed outside of California please check with your local licensing agency to to determine if they will accept these CEUs. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to offer continuing education programming for MFTs, LPCCs, LEPs, and/or LCSWs. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is an accredited or approved postsecondary institution that meets the requirements set forth in Sections 4980.54(f)(1), 4989.34, 4996.22(d)(1), or 4999.76(d) of the Code. 

School Psychologists. This program, when attended in its entirety, is available for 21.0 hours of continuing professional development. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s School Psychology Program is approved by the National Association of School Psychologists to offer continuing professional development. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology  maintains responsibility for this continuing professional development activity. 

Human Resource Professionals. Course meets the qualifications for 21.0 Professional Development Credits for Human Resource Professionals.  The Chicago School of Professional Psychology  is approved by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM Certification Program (SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®). For more information about SHRM certification or recertification, please visit www.shrmcertification.org

Illinois Educators. This program, when attended in its entirety, is available for 21.0 hours of continuing professional development. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is an approved provider for continuing professional development by the Illinois State Board of Education.  

Non Psychologists. Most licensing boards accept Continuing Education Credits sponsored by the American Psychological Association but non-psychologists are recommended to consult with their specific state-licensing board to ensure that APA-sponsored CE is acceptable. 

*Participants must attend 100% of the program in order to obtain a Certificate of Attendance.

Disclaimer for all programs: If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. Please address questions, concerns and any complaints to [email protected]. There is no commercial support for this program nor are there any relationships between the CE Sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants, or other funding that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest. 

The Chicago School is an Authorized Education Partner with Resilience-Building Leader Program. The Chicago School is authorized to provide a 7-week certificate program in Building and Leading Resilient Teams that prepares students to sit for the Resilience-Building Leadership Professional® (RBLP® ) series of certification exams

The RBLP® series of certification exams are administered by the Resilience-Building Leader Program only. Completing a program of instruction does not guarantee a passing score on any exam administered by the Resilience-Building Leader Program. “RBLP”, “Resilience-Building Leadership Professional”, “Learn More. Lead Better.”, and the RBLP shield logo are trademarks of the Resilience-Building Leader Program, Inc.