FranklinCovey Workshops
We are pleased to offer several FranklinCovey workshops to Tennessee Extension employees. We have a variety of in-person and virtual options covering topics like communication, leadership, trust, change, and more.
Leadership Development
We offer several programs to develop leaders within Tennessee Extension, including comprehensive leadership programs like LEAD95 and TELA, as well as ongoing workshops and webinars for leaders at all levels.
This monthly webinar series will cover the transformative principles of servant leadership based on leadership theory and research. Each session will explore a key characteristic of servant leaders, providing practical strategies and tools you can immediately apply in your daily work with colleagues, volunteers, and the people you serve. We’ll discuss ways to build stronger relationships, foster collaboration, and create a positive impact through service-oriented leadership.
Sessions will focus on ten characteristics and principles of servant leadership found in leadership literature, including: listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community.
2025 Dates
The Essence of Servant Leadership: Listening with Intention
January 22, 11:00 am
Description: This introductory session explores the core philosophy of servant leadership and focuses on the foundational characteristic of deep listening.
Cultivating Empathy: Connecting with Those You Lead
February 26, 11:00 am
Description: This session explores the importance of empathy in servant leadership and provides strategies for building stronger connections with your team.
Lead with Care: Supporting Well-being of Those You Lead
March 10, 11:00 am
Description: This session examines how leaders can support the well-being of their team.
Self-Awareness and Leadership: Understanding Your Impact
April 16, 11:00 am
Description: This session focuses on the importance of self-awareness in servant leadership and provides tools for understanding your impact on others.
Influencing Positive Change
May 7, 11:00 am
Description: This session examines the role of persuasion in servant leadership, emphasizing ethical and collaborative approaches to influence.
Leading with Vision: How to Inspire and Guide Your Team
June 4, 11:00 am
Description: This session explores the importance of conceptualization in servant leadership, focusing on the ability to think strategically and develop a clear vision.
Leading with Foresight: Anticipate, Adapt, and Thrive
August 13, 11:00 am
Description: This session examines the role of foresight in servant leadership, emphasizing the importance of anticipating future trends and challenges.
Stewardship: Leading with Responsibility and Accountability
September 10, 11:00 am
Description: This session focuses on the concept of stewardship in servant leadership, highlighting the importance of ethical management and social responsibility.
Investing in People: The Servant Leader’s Commitment to Growth
October 1, 11:00 am
Description: This session explores the servant leader’s commitment to the growth and development of those they lead.
Building Community: Fostering Connection and Collaboration
November 12, 11:00 am
Description: This concluding session examines the role of servant leadership in building strong communities within and outside the organization.
We are always hearing about so many great leadership and productivity books that we’d love to add to our reading list, but often we don’t have the time to get around to actually reading them. This recorded and ongoing webinar series will give you the condensed version of several popular leadership books, so you can enhance your leadership and productivity! This series is co-hosted with the University of Arkansas Extension and the Southern Region Program Leaders Network Program and Staff Development Committee.
UT Extension embraces its own Mission and Vision to be the premier educational organization for all Tennesseans by developing highly engaged personnel who serve their community, office, and Extension. Through leadership development, employees will become self-aware of their strengths, how to utilize those strengths to lead others and to grow an organizational culture where employees thrive and the communities we serve prosper. Extension aims to foster interest in and prepare employees for leadership roles across the organization and to enable participants to better serve as leaders in any role or capacity. Tennessee Extension employees are eligible to apply after 3 years with Extension.
LEAD95 is a comprehensive training program designed for County Extension Directors. LEAD95 is required for all new County Directors and is open to current County Directors. To enroll in LEAD95, contact your Regional Director.
Components include
- Four face-to-face training sessions
- LEAD95 County Director Toolkit
- Online learning
- Formal mentoring program
- LCE (Leadership Competencies in Extension) Multi-Rater Assessment
Additionally, the LEAD95 Committee works with the Extension Evaluation & Staff Development office to host THRIVE95, a leadership conference for County Directors.
As a member institution of the Extension Foundation, UT Extension employees have access to professional development offerings through the Extension Foundation. Most offerings are free as part of our membership with the Extension Foundation. Learn more by visiting their website below.
Access & Engagement
The Elevate Team’s mission is to facilitate conversations and learning with Extension professionals to equip and empower them to reach and engage diverse and underserved audiences within their communities.
Elevate is an internal staff development program for all Tennessee Extension Professionals. Elevate focuses on these objectives:
- Increase awareness and appreciation for cultural differences.
- Enhance cultural competency.
- Increase skills and confidence for engaging in difficult conversations.
- Develop and practice inclusive behaviors that create an atmosphere of belonging within the workplace.
- Build more inclusive communities by engaging diverse and underserved audiences in Extension programming.
Through book club discussions, workshops, webinars, and other learning opportunities, we explore the many, varied aspects of diversity and engage in ongoing dialogue as we all learn how we, as Tennessee Extension professionals, can create meaningful change in our spheres of influence.
2025 Upcoming Book Clubs and Webinars
Visit the page below to see all upcoming book clubs and webinars!
The UT Division of Access and Engagement impacts the University of Tennessee’s strategic vision through access, belonging, a culture of respect, and community. The division offers several professional development opportunities.
Online Learning
K@TE (pronounced “Kate”) represents “Knowledge and Training Excellence” and is the University of Tennessee’s comprehensive Learning Management System for training and professional development.
Teambuilding
Contact us for more information about scheduling a teambuilding workshop with your office or team.
Building Exceptionally Skilled Teachers (BEST)
Career Development
UT and UT Extension offer many ways to advance your career!
The CAP is a certification owned and administered by the International Association of Administrative Professionals. UT policy HR0465, Salary Increase for Passing the Certified Administrative Professional Exam, outlines provisions for non-exempt employees who perform clerical-secretarial and clerical-management duties to earn a 9% salary increase upon passing the Certified Administrative Professionals (CAP) exam. The UT Extension CAP Career Development Fund provides monetary reimbursement to encourage qualifying Extension non-exempt staff to participate in the process of attaining CAP certification and recertification.
Additional information about CAP see: https://hr.tennessee.edu/eod/coaching-services/cap/
Non-exempt staff employees at the University of Tennessee may participate in the Career Development Fund, a program supported by annual gifts from employees.
The fund provides the opportunity for employees to participate in job- and career-related development activities. A limited number of funds are set aside each fiscal year to reimburse departments and employees with total or partial support for training expenses. Once fund resources are committed in a fiscal year, the fund will no longer approve new applications until the next fiscal year.
The fund will provide up to $150 per recipient during each fiscal year.
To learn more about the promotion process for Extension positions, visit this page.
Extension Professional Associations
Tennessee has 6 professional associations for Extension professionals. Membership in a professional association provides valuable networking opportunities, professional development, and opportunities for recognition. Visit each of the associations’ websites for more information about membership, dues, conferences, and more.