Institute sharpens leadership skills

On August 5-6, the Center for Public Health Practice hosted its first Leadership Management Institute. Approximately 50 people from state and local public health agencies gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Columbus to polish their communication skills and sharpen their leadership abilities.

On day one, Jeffrey and Laurie Ford, a husband-and-wife team who co-authored the book The Four Conversations: Daily Communication That Gets Results (Berrett-Koehler, 2009), introduced participants to the four types of productive conversations that support vision, create trust and relationships, increase commitment and accountability, and improve leadership credibility.

Participants learned why these types of conversations are important and how to engage in them as well. For more information about Jeffrey and Laurie Ford, visit their web site at http://www.laurieford.com/index.htm.

That evening, a celebratory reception took place. We were joined by partners and friends in addition to workshop participants to:

• Celebrate the Office of Workforce Development's change to the Center for Public Health Practice
• Recognize those in attendance who are alumni of the Ohio Public Health Leadership Institute, and
• Welcome Michael Bisesi, PhD, our new director

Additionally, Jeffrey and Laurie Ford were present to sign books. All workshop participants received a copy of their newly released book mentioned above.

Day two began with trained World Café Facilitators Deb Helber and Tuesday Ryan-Hart engaging participants in a Café Conversation about a real and relevant issue related to public health.

A smaller group of about 20 individuals stayed for the afternoon to participate in a learning lab designed to teach skills and practices for hosting your own Café Conversation. Café conversations are an easy-to-use method for creating a living network of collaborative dialogue around questions that matter in corporate, government and community settings around the world. For more info, go to http://www.theworldcafe.com/index.htm.

If you would like to view the summary report of the World Café conversation that took place on Aug. 6 go to: Summary Report

For the full report, go to: Full Report