The Leadership Institute

Dare to Lead Training Retreat

November 9–12, 2023

Callaway Gardens

Pine Mountain, GA

About Dare to Lead™ Facilitated Training

We need braver leaders and more courageous cultures. The world is desperate for daring leaders who are self-aware, know how to have hard conversations, hold themselves and others accountable, build trust, lead with empathy and connection, take smart risks that lead to innovation, reset quickly after disappointments and setbacks, and give and receive feedback – especially when it’s tough.

Based on the research of Dr. Brené Brown, Dare to Lead™ is an empirically based courage-building program designed to support leader agility, team effectiveness and culture change. The most significant finding from Brené’s latest research is that courage is a collection of four skill sets that are teachable, measurable, and observable.

These skill sets are:

Rumbling with Vulnerability: Facing risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure with courage and clarity.
Living into our Values: Identifying, operationalizing, and practicing the beliefs that we hold most important.
BRAVING Trust: Creating or deepening connections in relationships and teams based on the seven elements of trust.
Learning to Rise: Learning and growing from the failures, setbacks, and disappointments that are inevitable when we are brave with our lives.

If you have additional questions about this training and to find out if it is right for you, please reach out to Lori Auten at lauten@fcongroup.com.

Welcome to the Leadership Institute

Founded in 2005, the Leadership Institute at Columbus State University is a university-based consulting group. We have worked with more than 200 organizations and helped develop thousands of leaders. We work with leadership at all levels, from front-line supervisors to senior management executives, to develop and enhance their skills by engaging them in challenging, interactive sessions.

At the Leadership Institute, we are ready to help make your team’s learning experience customized to your needs.

Our services range from executive coaching to companywide leadership development programs. We offer a safe space that supports leaders on their journey.

Services

Assessment Tools

Board Certification

Disruptive Leadership

Executive Coaching

Leadership Development

Research and Focus Groups

Speaking Engagements

Strategic Planning

Team Building

The Forum

Turnkey Conferences

Meet Our Team

Our skilled team of facilitators and consultants has more than 75 years of combined experience and is ready to assist with your leadership development needs.

Learn More

What Our Clients Say

In a time when local governments are challenged to be more innovative and cost effective in delivering services to our citizens, we looked to The Leadership Institute at Cunningham Center to develop a program for our senior leadership team. We identified our leadership strengths and developmental needs both individually and as a team.

Kay Love, City Administrator
Roswell, GA

The Leadership Institute at CSU has facilitated leadership development for Leadership Columbus since 2008. Through their use of assessments, they have helped participants gain a better understanding of themselves and how they can better utilize their skills in their workplace and personal lives to be more productive. They are an asset to our programs and our Chamber.

Amy Askew Bryan, EVP for Leadership & Community Development
Greater Columbus Georgia Chamber of Commerce

As long as we are in existence, we are going to need to continue leadership development for all levels of our people. The Leadership Institute has taught us how to better communicate with each other. We look forward to a continuing relationship with them.

Niles Bolton, CEO
Niles Bolton Associates

It was critical for us to evaluate how we do business. The Leadership Institute at CSU provided us with the tools, resources and professionalism to take us to the next level of staff and organizational development. We are the only CVB in the state that has the national and state accreditation because of The Leadership Institute. Not one does it better than they do.

Peter Bowden, CEO
Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau

Some people think that non-profits don't have to focus on vision, leadership or strategy, but that's not true. We are stewards of public funds and must ensure we are aligning our goals and actions so we can accomplish our outcomes. The Leadership Institute has been a big help in strengthening Enrichment Services as a non-profit organization.

Belva Dorsey, CEO
Enrichment Services

The Leadership Action experience that we participated in was a truly unique and bonding experience. I believe that our ability to connect with each other in the office will be stronger due to the team building and collaborative nature of this humorous experience. We will definitely be back!

Jenifer Davidson, Counter Coordinator AG and Natural Resource Talent
UGA Extension - Columbus

I've told everyone over the years that your sessions were some of the best leadership courses I've ever had!

Candace Lee, President
Towns County Chamber of Commerce

I was one of the recent graduates at the GACVB conference in Savannah. I enjoyed the Leadership Institute. Honestly, it required some real digging and soul-searching; it wasn't easy. But it made me better and I appreciate that -and that you work with the GACVB to provide this for us. All of you were great instructors/leaders. I‘m proud to have completed the program.

Becky Wilson, VP Marketing & Research
Visit Perry

I wanted to tell you how great this training was, this was my 5th Emergenetics class and your presentation was truly one of the best! You did a great job! Thank you for all that you did to make it so good!

Anne Parker, Director of Enrollment
Brookstone Schools

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for the outstanding job you did coordinating the program! When we first sat down to determine what employees needed for their career development, It was a spontaneous array of thoughts. Leadership Institute was able to take those thoughts and pull together a program that was designed perfectly to meet our needs. We were beyond impressed with the training provided by the staff. Again, I wanted to let you know that we greatly appreciate the effort of the Leadership Institute. Your service is highly appreciated and we look forward to continuing our partnership.

Latonya Rolland, Employee Services
Columbus Water Works

2022 Snapshot of Leadership Institute

(Two pie charts and a bar chart) Chart 1. Top Topics: Assessment (33%), Strategy (28%), General Leadership (17%), Teams; Chart 2. Feedback: 71% selected 'Extremely Useful for Skills to Transform How I Lead Others,' 91% selected 'Strongly Agree There Is Overall Learning Value for Strategies and Takeaways'; Chart 3. Industries: Non-profit (50%), Healthcare (35%), and Hospitality (15%)