New Digital Badges Boost Professional Growth

Dan Stotz, executive director of Executive Education Programs for the Michael J. Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University, shares information on the newest digital badge programs designed to cultivate skills in leadership, business and more.

According to the education editor at the US News and World Report, digital badge programs are the #1 trend to watch in 2018. At Kennesaw State University, known for its innovation in teaching and learning, we’ve been designing high-impact digital badge programs since 2016.

The programs listed below were designed using best practices in “game-ification,” micro-learning and on-the-job application. We use an award-winning mobile-learning platform that will have you tackling challenges, conquering quests, and climbing the leaderboard. The KSU digital badge programs offer practical knowledge, backed by research, and proven in practice. Just enough knowledge, just in time, and delivered directly to your laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Leadership Excellence provides practical knowledge backed by research and proven in practice. You will learn how to achieve leadership excellence by mastering the eight leader roles and 24 leadership skills needed to achieve leadership excellence.

The lead instructor is Steve Olson, Ph.D., who is an expert in leadership and innovation, and has won nine teaching awards. This program is offered in partnership with Leadercast who is the world’s most-respected source of leadership events.

Account Management features best practices and the Clients for Life® client retention process developed by the Tenacity Center for Account Management and Client Retention. The program is designed to help organizations grow their business by doing a better job of retaining the clients they worked so hard to get. The program designers and instructors are world-renowned for their success in client retention.

Innovation White Belt Program will help you to develop a deep understanding of the practices and processes that drive the innovative ideas that truly create and deliver game-changing value. Topics include unraveling the mystery of innovation, innovating in three dimensions, creating a category killer, mapping the innovation genome, and visualizing your business model and prototype for profit. The lead instructor is award-winning Professor Dr. Steve Olson, an expert in leadership and innovation.

Read about the new Innovation Black Belt Program in our new blog post.

Professional Selling is designed by Coles College Center for Professional Selling faculty. The topics include prospecting and qualifying, handling objections, understanding the customer’s needs, presenting and delivering the solution, gaining the customer’s trust and commitment, and following up with empathy and professionalism. The lead instructors are Dr. Terry Loe and Dr. Scott Inks, professors and co-directors of the Center for Professional Selling.

Customer Centricity — the concept customer-centric marketing and what it means to be a customer-centric organization — is the focus of this program. The topics covered include the evolution of the marketing practice, the definition and strategic advantage of customer centricity, and the 10 strategies on how to integrate and organize marketing functions around the customer.

This program is offered in partnership with Professor Jagdish Sheth, internationally recognized thought leader, renowned scholar, author and business consultant known for his expertise in consumer psychology, relationship marketing, competitive strategy and geopolitical analysis.

Growing the Business focuses on focuses on understanding the current frameworks and structures that drive Shareholder Value. You will learn why the portfolio approach to this is the best framework for driving and measuring performance. You will learn how to develop strategies and tactics that will deliver profitable revenue growth. This program is offered in partnership with Dr. Sheth.

Cultural Mastery acknowledges as markets become more and more globally competitive, you will have to continuously adapt to new emerging realities.

This program expertly outlines the globalization of competition and markets by explaining in depth the underlying forces driving globalization and why leaders at all levels of the organization need to embrace a global mindset. The lead instructors are Dr. Sheth and Ricardo Gonzalez, a diversity expert and the author of The 6 Stages of Cultural Mastery.

Pat Summitt Leadership Program for Women is named after University of Tennessee’s iconic basketball coach, a trailblazer for women, and a highly-respected leader and author. She was titled the Coach of the Century, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and named one of the Top 50 Women Leaders by U.S. News & World Report. The Pat Summit Leadership Group and KSU have teamed up to offer a leadership program that teaches Pat’s legendary “Definite Dozen” principles for leadership and success.

Want to know more about these programs? Download the brochure, find course costs and more online or give us a call: 470-578-6765. Coles College also offers the Executive Certificate Program in Business Strategy, the Mini MBA Program. Get details on their website or call us to learn more.