Training and Consulting for AEC Leaders

12 monthly 3-hour seminars build the understanding and skills to improve your leadership and communications performance and accelerate your career development.  Small, mixed- AEC group ensures individual focus and comfortable, full engagement.           Scroll down for full program description and enrollment. 

Are foggy conditions undermining your ability to plan next steps, solve pressing problems, explore opportunities?  Our Coaching will help you clear the fog, chart a safe course, achieve and surpass your goals.   How can we help you?  Email Bill Ronco to schedule a conversation to discuss your challenges and explore possibilities. 

No "canned" training here!  Our consulting  focuses first on you.  We design consulting with extensive input from you and plan them to fit your scheduling needs.  Popular projects include AEC Strategic Planning, Succession Leadership Training for senior leaders, and High Performing Team training for key project and department groups.  Email Bill Ronco to schedule a conversation to discuss your interests. 

Are you as effective in the difficult conversations that are key parts of your job as you are in your technical tasks? This AEC-specific, interactive online course will significantly improve your comfort, confidence and performance in the numerous difficult conversations that are key component of design and construction work. Course fee is $225. Sample the first 8 of 60 lessons lessons free.                  Enroll 

Participate because you have to. Without strong leadership and communications skills, even the most intelligent people struggle to lead effectively. The BLI program gives you the in-depth understanding, skills and strategies you need to add maximum value in your organization. 

Participate because you want to. Perhaps you’re already skilled at leadership and communications, but you want to improve further. The BLI program will both challenge and support your efforts.  The program provides new skills and tools, fresh ideas, advanced levels of performance and out-of-the box thinking. 

Participate because it’s challenging. Working in a small group from a strategic mix of businesses, you’ll learn how people outside your usual frame of reference think. You’ll work closely with people who share your interests, support and challenge you. 

Participate because it pays. With new skills and focus, it's only natural that you'll advance to higher levels in your organization and the building industry. The BLI program is one of the best investments you can make not only in your job performance and career development but also in your ability to help and challenge others, and to add greater value in your organization. 

•  Begin Startup Coaching Now. You begin the program immediately when you enroll with individual Coaching to clarify and working to achieve your most important goals.
• Small Groups.  Usual group size of 4-7 participants  ensures in-depth focus on your individual interests and natural relationship building with fellow participants 
• Group Workshops. Group workshops build essential understanding and skills in key building leadership competencies. 
• Pre-Work. To get the most from each workshop, we provide brief readings and assignments before the session.  
• Active Participation. In the workshops you participate comfortably, actively in discussing concepts, trying new skills and planning how to integrate the skills in your everyday work. 
• Homework. Assigned work at the end of each session to apply session concepts and skills and track your progress
• Convenient Scheduling.  For participants' convenience,  group members schedule the sessions, usually monthly at times that work for all participants.

 1. Improving awareness. Are others listening, accepting your ideas? Knowing how others perceive you is essential for effective leadership. You’ll learn strategies and skills to know in depth how others perceive you, and to respond effectively. 

2. Using 360 surveys and personality profiles skillfully. You’ve  done a  360 Survey and somewhat understand your Personality Type. You’ll learn and apply tools to translate your insights into effective everyday leadership practices. 

3. Clarifying goals. What is your Vision? What do you really want for your team, your organization, yourself? Can you communicate your Vision so others fully understand? You’ll learn methods to express your Vision and goals in a form that inspires, motivates and clearly explains your most important ideas. 

4. Developing and using a strategic plan. Can you use your Vision to develop an effective strategic plan for your organization? Do you understand what strategic planning is and why it’s essential for every organization? You’ll learn strategic planning methods and develop a strategic plan that meets your organization’s needs. 

5. Understanding business intelligence data. Revenue and profit, manpower and staffing, regional and global economy numbers - data really meets your needs? You’ll learn what a “balanced scorecard” is and develop one for your own leadership uses. You’ll master intelligent survey design and valid analysis.

6. Improving one-on-one communications. Negotiating, informal influencing, giving and receiving feedback. Your one-on-one communications skills can advance or undermine your best thinking. You’ll learn strategies and skills to consistently perform at high levels in the one-on-one situations that matter most for your work. 

7. Presentation skills. Do your presentation skills fully do justice to the quality ideas you’re presenting? Can you do better than “walking people through your slides” and tell a compelling story? The LCC program will take your confidence, comfort and impact on others to the higher levels your role requires. 

8. Leading productive meetings. Groups make so many key decisions and try to solve so many pressing problems. But groups too often make poor decisions and underperform. You’ll learn to run meetings that fully engage participants, tap into their best thinking and achieve optimal results. 

9. Interviewing skills. Your new hires provide the foundations of your organization. Will your interviewing skills identify “fools gold” candidates and lead you to the real thing. You’ll learn behavioral interviewing methods that enable you to distinguish between people who “look good on paper” and those will truly perform. 

10. Building your team. Are your people a group, or do they really function like a team? Hiring great individuals in no way ensures great team performance. You’ll learn skills to shape your people into a team that consistently performs at the highest levels.

11. Building a high performing organization. Positioning groups and departments Vision, Aware-ness, People, Communications, 

Numbers. Can you put the pieces together to build a thriving organization? Leaders Circle delivers that strategies, skills, book smarts and street smarts you need to breathe life into your best ideas.

BLI Program Fee and Benchmarking 

Fee for the complete Building Leader Institute program is $7,000. This includes twelve half-day seminars spread over a year, one-on-one coaching, readings, 360 Survey results, analysis and detailed action planning to enable you to act on your new insights.

Our fee compares very favorably with other leadership training. Typical five-day leadership seminars offered by the American Management Association, universities, and professional associations cost $6,000 - $9,000. The BLI costs less and delivers greater value than other leadership training.  

Enroll Now using brief form below for Oct 29 start

"Participating in the Building Leader Institute program was the best step in my professional career. Prior to participating, I had a 5-person Landscape Architectural firm, moderately successful but stagnating. The Leaders Circle group was tremendously cohesive, making for honest and at times blunt conversations. This helped me to see my weaknesses more clearly and take my to the next level. With Bill’s tremendous ability to push us out of our comfort zone and the support of the group my leadership skills soared. We are now a 14-person firm and recently named one of the best places to work in the South Florida Business Journal. We have created an office culture that would never been possible without Bill’s mentoring and skills the camaraderie of the group." 

Andrew Witkin, FASLA, President, Witkin-Hults Landscape Architecture; President, American Society of Landscape Architects 

"At the time I participated in the BLI, I was transitioning from my role as construction manager to my expanded role as advisor to the owner. I was able to strengthen my ability to observe, listen and communicate clearly by being more adaptable, resilient, self-initiating and collaborative. I learned to take responsibility for engaging others in building a working partnership, seeking what is important so that we could build trust among team members."

Mary Ann Williams, Program Executive, Skanska Corporation 

“I had just become a principal and felt it was important to get to the next level of independence and effectiveness.The BLI helped me understand strategic ways to work differently, and that truly unlocked my potential.” 

Eric Brown, AIA, LEED AP, Principal / Partner, PCA Architects 

“I walked away from our sessions with something tangible to implement in both my professional and, often times, personal life every single time.” 

Zachary Bergeron, Associate, Construction Economist, Vermeulens  

 “Thanks to skills gained in the Building Leader Institute, I was able to improve project communications resulting in more successful projects. Leaders Circle often challenged me and moved me out of my comfort zone.” 

Ralph DeFlorio, Director of Operations, Harvard Divinity School  

"In my new position as WSP’s National Director of Commissioning I have to solve MANY conflicts from all aspects of the business…from employee personal issues to high-level accounting allocations. I’ve been using the skills we worked on in the BLI often. In particular, the skills have helped me listen, instead of just waiting for my turn to talk. The same approach has also helped me in resolving issues at home with my 3 kids. In both cases, the skills have helped me be a better leader. 

 Scott Petit, Vice President, Commissioning, 

National Practice Director, WSP  

 BLI Program Return on Investment (ROI) 

The BLI program's Return On Investment investment has been impressive. Participants tell us the program has enabled them to:

• Win projects resulting from their improved relationship-building and conversation skills.
• Increase project profitability resulting from their improved ability to manage employees' performance.
• Reduce unwanted employee turnover resulting from your increased ability to provide effective mentoring
• Increase personal productivity resulting from their work to clarify your goals and improvetime management

Enroll Now, using brief form below for Oct 29 start