ACEC/MA Odyssey Leadership Program - FY2027

Description

Leadership skills development course for senior management, middle management, and anyone who has been identified as a high potential leader.

Odyssey Class size is limited to 22 people. Only two people per firm can register at this time, but we will have a waiting list. 

Program Overview
Odyssey is a comprehensive program of nine monthly sessions addressing the following topics:

• Applying leadership principles
• Leadership versus management
• Understanding yourself and others as a leader
• Communicating to motivate
• Leading difficult/strong-willed people
• Leading in conflict situations
• Leading change: motivating individual change and leading organizational change
• Empowering and growing others: delegating, coaching, mentoring, empowering
• Taking and controlling personal/career risk
• Defining a personal leadership style
• Inspiring leadership in others and creating a leadership culture

Three Self-Discovery Activities During The Program
The three self-discovery activities foster long-term skills development:

• Creating a well-defined personal vision
• Defining a personal leadership style
• Creating a personal longer-term plan to continue growing leadership skills

The ACEC/MA Odyssey Leadership Program is open to ACEC /MA members and non-members. The 9-session interactive program includes an individual one-on-one coaching session. Students create a personal vision as part of the program.

The Jennings Group 
The Jennings Group LLC, specialists in engineering and technical leadership programs, leads Odyssey. Over 2,000 people from 200 organizations and 28 countries have participated in their programs. Faculty includes Kate Kaynak, PhD, college professor and founder of a 40-person publishing industry start-up, and Nicholas Kessler, policy analyst and former Deputy Commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission.

Who Should Participate: Senior management, middle management and anyone who has been identified as a high potential leader. Typically, participants have 10 to 15 years of experience.

Certificate Requirements: Enrollment in the ACEC/MA Odyssey Leadership Program is a commitment to learning and professional development. To gain the full benefit of the Program and to be recognized as an  ACEC/MA Odyssey Leadership Program graduate, you must attend all 9 sessions including the one-on-one session. Any missed sessions require make-up work assigned by the course instructors. At the discretion of the course instructors, those attendees missing more than one session may not graduate. Class members may request to make up missed classes.

PDH Credit: 58 PDHs. ACEC/MA, through the Registered Continuing Education Program, is providing professional development hours to meet certain continuing  education requirements for licensure in some states. New York, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Oklahoma require pre-approval of PDH sponsors. This program has not been pre-approved in those states.

S C H E D U L E

Each of the eight full day sessions will be held from 8 AM - 4:30 PM at The Conference Center at Waltham Woods, Waltham, MA. 

September 24, 2026: Session 1 - Leadership Principles

October 22, 2026: Session 2 - Understanding Yourself and Others Better

TBD, November 2026: Session 3 - Individual meetings—One-on-One Coaching sessions (Virtual)

December 17, 2026: Session 4 - Communicating to Motivate

January 21, 2027: Session 5 - Leading Strong-Willed/Difficult People and Leading in Conflict Situations

February 25, 2027: Session 6 - Leading Change: Creating Environments For Change and Overcoming Resistance to Change

March 25, 2027: Session 7 - Empowering and Growing Others: Delegating, Coaching, Mentoring, and Empowering

April 8, 2027: Session 8 - Taking & Controlling Personal Risk; Defining Your Personal Leadership Style  

May 20, 2027:  Session 9 - Inspiring Leadership In Others; Creating A Leadership Culture; Creating a Personal Growth Path; Graduation Reception follows at 5 PM.

If necessary due to weather issues, a snow date is scheduled for June 10, 2027. 

If you have to miss a session due to an emergency, there will also be a separate virtual schedule for 2 half-day afternoon Zoom sessions each month, except in November, with ACEC members in others states.