Management and Leadership Best Practices for Professional and Business Growth in Knowledge-Based Organizations

Learn how to be a 360° manager and leader.

Discover the scope and depth of your job.

As a manager in a knowledge based environment you often wonder:

- How much should I manage the work under my responsibility?

- Is it true that I should just hire the right people and let them do the work?

- Do I need to be a leader? or a manager?

- How should I communicate with peer groups and upper management and enlarge my sphere of influence?

- How should sales and marketing needs influence the goals and execution of my job?

- To achieve higher performance with my organization I need to focus mainly on people management and metrics. How should I invest in these areas? How can I put my organization on a new trajectory?

- I know teamwork is important. But how do I promote this concept in my organization? How can I make employees work in a teamwork fashion inside their groups and with other groups outside my organization?

A Guide to Higher Performance in Management and Leadership

Learning to be a successful manager and leader is a journey of discovery and development.

This course will accompany you in this journey with the most useful best practices for reaching the balance of management and leadership that's right for your specific environment.

From an ocean of theories, ideas, advice and guidance, I gleaned the methods that I have personally tried in my decades of experience in the trenches of management and leadership positions in technology-based, small and large companies, and with hundreds of managers in technology based companies in my consulting practice. I present to you only the ones that work and that are suitable for today's fast-changing environments.

As you listen to the course, you will discover the deeper purpose and the far reaches of your current job, and then you will go through sets of managerial and leadership skills that are absolutely required in order to be a successful manager in today's environment, such as: understanding strategy and translating it into your job, inbound and outbound communication skills, the role of marketing and sales and how they should influence what you do, people management skills for today’s workforce, and metrics which is the most effective driver to higher performance levels.

To multiply the effect of everything you will learn in the course, the last module discusses teamwork and how to make it thrive in your organization.

Features and Benefits

You start the course with discovering the deeper purpose and the far reaches of your job, and develop a solid structure to define and evolve it continuously in lockstep with the changing needs of the organization. We review the tools that will help you translate the concepts you choose to apply into short and long term plans that are ready for execution by your organization, in a teamwork fashion.

Continuing with the course will enhance those managerial and leadership skills that are absolutely required in order to be successful in today's environments. The structure that you build at the beginning of the course will ensure that all the learnings are incorporated to take you to higher levels of performance and job satisfaction.

Enhance those managerial and leadership skills that are absolutely required in order to be successful in today's environments. Focus on them and you will see major improvements in the performance of your organization. 

The course will introduce models that will help you understand the strategy of the larger organization, and incorporate it into the goals and actions in your specific area of responsibility. 

Effective communication is the basis of all management and leadership. A full module will help you explore and design your own methods of influencing upper management, peers groups, and the employees in your organisation; It will teach you how to be a good outbound communicator as well as an inbound communicator. 

Do you understand well enough how the front lines of sales and marketing drive their success? The course will give you the basic understanding that should influence the way you execute the work in your area. 

As a manager and leader of an organisation you have to understand people and how to motivate, drive and influence them. In today's work environments, people do not respond well to pure hard-core direction, unless it includes the so-called softer elements of understanding their motivations and their work related circumstances. The course will teach you how to work WITH people, as opposed to doing things TO or FOR people. 

Today's businesses are, in effect, all about data and their related technologies. Modern day managers need to have a good grasp of basic statistics and understanding of facts and data. A full module is dedicated to these basic metrics that every manager should feel at home with.

High levels of teamwork will multiply the effect that all these learnings will have on your organization. The course ends with a discussion and a series of examples on how to incorporate and apply the teamwork mindset. It's not enough to state that "we are a team"; the manager and leader of the organization has a major role in making this happen.

About Sarah Zohn

My experience, that I will share with you in this course, comes from decades of executive leadership positions in technology companies, as well as from mentoring leadership teams of quite a few dozens of companies.

Personally, and with my clients, I covered a broad range of functions, from VP of Engineering to VP in Sales, Services, Operations, Product Management, Product Marketing and more. I’ve worked in huge multinationals and in smaller companies, spanning over continents and cultures, to a point of now being a sought-after C-level mentor, consultant and speaker.

I am known for working hands-on-deck with leadership teams to build growth strategies and capabilities from the inside out, and to face the volatilities of technology businesses with the right productive attitudes.

I am a published author in three languages, English, Spanish and Hebrew.

Testimonials

VP Technology, Client, 2019

Here's one thing that was actually surprising to me working with Sarah as a consultant in our organization: there is a lot of tension, friction and he-said-she-said intra-and inter-department that can be resolved by doing the processes, boundaries and communication channels right. Sarah is an expert in that: she's quick to analyze issues and "tells it like it is", focusing rigorously on creating a better flow. She goes into nuances and uses a lot of her vast experience, mixing a very factual and rational approach with a very humane touch: things also must be done in a positive and considerate fashion. Having the right processes goes a long way towards that, as it turns out.


SVP Product and Engineering, Client, 2018

Sarah has been working extensively with multiple departments in my workplace - so she had a very wide view which few people in the organization have, let alone knowing how to act on it…

Sarah worked as a consultant to the leadership team of our company. Although I joined towards the very end of her engagement with the company, I could clearly see the great impact she had on the R&D group.

She worked with and mentored the team, helping them become more efficient, communicate better, define roles and responsibilities, set priorities and in general move from a young startup mentality to an efficient R&D organization.

Sarah’s vast experience helped shape and enhance the R&D group and I am very glad to recommend her.


Head of Program Management, Client 2020

I've had the privilege of having Sarah as a coach while she consulted our Product and R&D teams.

Sarah has years of experience in the tech field. With great patience, she transferred her knowledge and helped me to build effective and efficient internal processes, role definition and improve my management skills.

Sarah really cares about her customers and does the best effort to see them succeed. Any company would be lucky to have Sarah as a coach, she earned my highest recommendation!


Director of R&D Operations, Client, 2018

Sarah worked with my support team over a period of about a year. She helped us with organizational considerations, deep role definitions, processes and metrics. In every interaction with our team, we learned a lot from her, she drove us to improve on all fronts of our activities. More than anything I appreciate how she cares about the success of every team member, and how she guides the team-leads to continue improving.


Director of Product, Client, 2018

Sarah was mentoring our product team on how to be more efficient. While she introduced a lot of new concepts, she is also a great listener, making sure new processes fit our organization. The result is tailor-made for our needs, resources and culture.

In addition, she held One-on-One sessions with the team members that were always educating and food for thought.


VP of Business, Client, 2017

I worked closely with Sarah when I ran the business unit at our company.

Sarah helped my team and myself to implement new working methods that made our day to day more effective and efficient. She brought with her a great deal of knowledge, experience and successful methodologies, and she knew how to adapt them to our specific needs, using real examples from the field.

Sarah also helped me as a member of the management team of the company, and it is clear that her work with the other units in the organization helped the entire organization grow and improve.

She was very dedicated to our company, and it was very important for her that we succeed.

I would be very happy to cooperate with her again.


SVP, Investor Relations, Colleague, 2013

Sarah and I worked together for over a dozen years as executives at EMC Corporation. Sarah is an operations pro, of the sort that nearly every senior leader seeks out, but rarely finds. In the midst of great change or strategic inflection points, she is able to calmly see the big picture, and logically bring about clear solutions in a way that makes the organization (and the people) she represents shine. She was well known for her organizational analysis, process redesign, goal and measurement constructs, global acumen, and ability to execute. Moreover, Sarah brought a knowing and confident smile to every interaction.

Course Curriculum

  1. 01

    • Introduction

    • See How Much You Will Learn!

    • Workbook for Module 1
  2. 02

    • The Managers Role: Role Definition as a Work Tool

    • Defining the Job: Five Functions, Five Perspectives

    • The Meaning of Your Role: Discovering Depth

    • Discovering Depth: Manager and Leader

    • Discovering Depth: Ecosystem and Constituencies

    • Discovering Depth: Operational Strategy That Leads to a Plan of Record

    • Discovering Depth: Work Management

    • Discovering Depth: People Management

    • Discovering Depth: Managerial Relationships

    • Workbook for Module 2
  3. 03

    • Setting and Achieving Goal: Hybrid Process for Productivity

    • Hybrid Goal Process for Productivity: Concepts and Work Values

    • Hybrid Goal Process for Productivity: Goal Management Systems & Methods

    • Hybrid Goal Process for Productivity: Planning and Execution - Goals and Tracking

    • Hybrid Goal Process for Productivity: The Whole Job - Long and Short Term

    • Workbook for Module 3
  4. 04

    • Understanding Company Strategy: Go-To-Market and Operational Strategies

    • Go-To-Market Strategy: The Delta Model

    • Go-To-Market Strategy: Pivoting with New Ideas

    • Go-To-Market and Operational Strategy: Making Strategic Decisions

    • Workbook for Module 4
  5. 05

    • Inbound Communication Skills: For Managers and Leaders

    • Inbound Communication Skills: Fundamentals

    • Inbound Communication Skills: Effective Emails

    • Inbound Communication Skills: Feedback in Communication

    • Inbound Communication Skills: Sensitive Communication

    • Inbound Communication Skills: Collaborative Communication Systems

    • Workbook for Module 5
  6. 06

    • Outbound Communication Skills: External and Outbound Must-Have Communication Skills for Managers and Leaders

    • Outbound Communication Skills: Everything is a Story

    • Outbound Communication Skills: Storyboarding for Business

    • Outbound Communication Skills: Clean Up Your Slides

    • Outbound Communication Skills: Speaker Controlling the Room

    • Workbook for Module 6
  7. 07

    • B2B Marking Basics Every Manager Should Know

    • B2B Marketing Basics: Marketing Themes and Building Blocks

    • B2B Marking Basics: Information and Analysis Segmentation

    • B2B Marketing Basics: Market Position

    • Workbook for Module 7
  8. 08

    • B2B Sales Basics Every Manager Should Know

    • B2B Sales Basics: Access to Information

    • B2B Sales Basics: Relationships and Consultative Selling

    • B2B Sales Basics: Tips for Head of Sales in Turbulent Times

    • Workbook for Module 8
  9. 09

    • Organizations: Culture, Structure, People - YOUR ROLE in Managing People

    • Organizations: Culture, Structure, People - Company Culture

    • Organizations: Culture, Structure, People - Reasons to Reorganize

    • Organizations: Culture, Structure, People - Groups and Organizational Processes

    • Organizations: Culture, Structure, People - Organizational Health Tools and Assessments

    • Organizations: Culture, Structure, People - Managerial Behaviors

    • Workbook for Module 9
  10. 10

    • Friend of Numbers: Metrics and Feedback

    • Friend of Numbers: Process Metrics and Feedback

    • Friend of Numbers: Organizational Metrics

    • Friend of Numbers: Productivity, Performance, Quality Metrics

    • Friend of Numbers: Metrics for Making Managerial Decisions

    • Workbook for Module 10
  11. 11

    • Manager and Leader AND The Team

    • Workbook for Module 11

Join Now!

Click below to start your journey and gain from the experience of managers and leaders at all levels in knowledge-based environments. Be quick to join the road to a successful and fulfilling career in leadership positions.


Individual buyer:

Retail price: $750

Introductory period price: $499 including all the bonuses listed below.


Corporate package of five copies of the course:

Retail price: $3,375 (10% discount)

Introductory period: $2,250 (10% discount) including five hours of individual or team consulting sessions, worth $4,000.

Management and Leadership - 360 Best Practices

Bonuses

  • Bonus #1

    As an introductory-period bonus, you will be entitled to a private consulting hour with Sarah. This bonus is worth $800, and you can use this time to plan your learning, review your personal student workbooks and get answers to all your questions.

  • Bonus #2

    Companies that purchase a corporate package of five copies of the course during the introductory period are entitled to five hours of consulting sessions for individuals or groups.

  • Bonus #3

    Corporate Packages of five copies of the course entitle the customer to a 10% discount.

FAQ

  • How is this course different from other management courses?

    This course doesn't subscribe to magic formulas or panaceas because learning to be a successful manager and leader is a journey of discovery and development. From an ocean of theories, ideas, advice and guidance, I gleaned the methods that I have personally tried in my decades of experience in the trenches of management and leadership positions in technology-based, small and large companies, and with hundreds of managers in technology based companies in my consulting practice. I present to you only the ones that work and that are suitable for today's fast-changing environments.

  • What is the one thing that will have the most impact on the performance of an organization?

    There are two. If you’re looking for the two areas that will have the fastest and most influence on the performance of your organization and its success in delivering improved results, focus first on enhancing your people management skills and adapting them to the nature of today’s workforce. Secondly, incorporate metrics, even at the most basic level, to drive managers and teams to much higher levels of ownership, which results in noticeable improvement in performance of the entire organization. There are two specific modules in this course that will guide you through the initial and further steps of elevating your organization to much higher performance levels - better people management, and working with metrics.

  • Being an expert in my area of responsibility. Why isn’t it good enough?

    Being an expert in your area of responsibility could, actually, work as a double edged sword. When your team or organization learns to lean on your expertise to the extent of developing a dependency, sooner or later it will suffocate any drive for innovation that’s so critical to the success of the organization. Moreover, your team expects you to know more about the larger environment - your leadership depends on being able to explain the larger ecosystem. Successful managers and leaders have a broad scope of understanding and influence. This course will augment your knowledge of the entire ecosystem around you, and will help you prepare methods to continuously evolve this knowledge and the cross functional initiatives that might result from it.

  • What functional areas is the course good for? Is it mainly for Engineering?

    Even though the course takes a lot of its learnings and methods from the knowledge-based engineering discipline, it is mostly the engineering spirit that it borrows for application in all other functions of the organization. The principles of this engineering spirit are about finding methods for the work that we do, and opportunities for repeatable actions. I believe that effectiveness and efficiency, without suppressing creativity, are foundations of engineering that are applicable to all functions.

  • I am at the operational level, why do I need to understand strategy?

    In knowledge-based environments it’s not enough to manage the work and people under your responsibility; you are expected to lead, and your success depends on it. Understanding the strategy of the larger organization or business is critical to developing as an influential leader. This course will help you develop as a well balanced manager and leader, with all the skills that are essential to function as such.

  • I am at the strategic level, why do I need to understand operations?

    It is often said that strategy is only ten percent of the road to success; the rest is execution. Strategies that are formulated in complete detachment from the realities of operations mostly fail. Moreover, a lot of good strategic moves emerge directly from opportunities on the operational side. This course will educate you on the key principles of managing and leading work and people, so that you could develop executable strategies. The course will also open your eyes to many of the common failure mechanisms and scenarios, so that you will be able to test your strategies before they move into costly execution.

Start Your Journey Today!

By taking this course you’re showing your commitment to yourself and to your organization to continuously strive for excellence in your management and leadership. Step-by-step and piece by piece you will transform the entire organization and your larger sphere of influence into an execution machine that’s driven by strategy. As you gain more control over the destiny of your organization, you will also enjoy higher job satisfaction and career development.

Get Started Now!