Classroom Program Overview:

Our classroom programs are deliverable in almost any traditional conference or meeting setting and can be cost-effectively provided to groups ranging from 40-50 participants to audiences of more than 500.  The largest group to which we have delivered a classroom version of a battle-based program is 1,300 in February 2011.  

The classroom model combines case studies, battle maps, video clips, Powerpoint slide content, facilitated geneeral discussions, and small group work as part of the design.  They are highly interactive among participants and strongly iterative between facilitators and the audience.  The proprietary case studies act as the centerpiece, and the programs are designed modularly to accommodate differing delivery requirements.  The general rule of thumbe is two hours of program time for each case study included, with six-eight hours as an optimal program length.  However, if a client wants a more lasting impact and a more focused deliverable as part of the process, a 1.5 day (12 hour) approach is recommended so an overnight period and a targeted work assignment figures into the reflection time for the participants.  The minimum program time is four hours.

We have three categories of classroom programs:

• Battle-based Programs
• Theme-based Programs
• Individual-based Programs

Battle-Based Classroom Leadership Programs

These programs are typically utilized as cascading mechanisms or follow-on activity from a prior onsite battlefield-based program.  They are designed so that participants will share an understanding of the same context, characters, cases, language and leadership lessons as participants who have attended a program on that battlefield.  People emerge with the same kind of focused strategies for leadership development and improvement in effectiveness as they do from our corresponding battlefield experiences.  With the ability to create highly customized classroom experiences, Battlefield Leadership is the only company to currently offer classroom versions of its battlefield programs from Gettysburg, Little Big Horn, and Normandy D-Day, and we also offer a program based on the first pitched battle of the Vietnam War between the US Army and the North Vietnamese Army in November 1965, called Forest of the Screaming Souls: Battle of Ia Drang Valley. 

Theme-Based Classroom Leadership Programs

Participants in our case study and video-based classroom experiences can also benefit from our theme-based leadership programs.  Our theme-based classroom programs focus on the following key thematic elements, and they contain cases based on individuals from different periods of history who were faced with similar challenges and who demonstrated similar principles through their leadership examples: 

• “Leading in Crisis”
• “Leadingin Transition”
• “Leading with Character”
• "Leaders of Character, Competence and Courage: 3C Leaders" 

Individual-Based Classroom Leadership Programs

We also offer Classroom Leadership Programs based on key figures from history, both contemporary and past, whose decisions and actions have had a pivotal role in shaping the history of their times, their countries or the entire world.  These Individual-based classroom programs include such notable leaders as:

• Ernest Shackleton - Famed Antarctic Explorer (see Shackleton tab for detailed information)
• Nelson Mandela - South African Leader for Civil Rights (see Mandela tab for more detail)
• Winston Churchill - British Statesman and Champion of Freedom (see Churchill tab for more detail)
• Abraham Lincoln - The Great Emancipator and teambuilder (see Lincoln tab for more detail)

Methodology & Delivery
Combining pre-reading with the use of highly effective technology and mixed media such as Powerpoint slides, video clips, and case studies, our battlefield classroom programs can be delivered in traditional corporate conference venues to groups as small as 20 participants or as large as 1,400 participants all at one time. 

Our programs are designed in a modular fashion so sessions of differing lengths and depth can be developed to meet an organization’s objectives and needs.  Working in advance to create a highly customized session, we can highlight selected combinations of case studies and battle events in order to emphasize certain lessons or messages.  Or, the programs can be intermittently delivered in an interstitial mode to fit differing agenda needs, or as featured parts of broader agendas for corporate meeting or conference plans.

The standard classroom program length is eight hours, but can be expanded to 12 hours if needed.  A minimum length of four hours is required, which allows time for the necessary context and overview of the battle and for an in-depth examination of two leadership case studies, along with concluding exercises and comments. Each added case study requires two additional hours of program time.

Benefits
There are a number of benefits to our classroom programs, including:

• Highly Effective – Our battle-based classroom programs replicate all but the physical experience of being on location where these historic events occurred.  This feature makes it extremely beneficial for companies desiring to communicate the leadership culture, language and lessons from our battlefield experiences to their peer colleagues and direct reports who could not participate in programs on the battlefields.  Our theme-based classroom programs are ideal settings to bring to life the leadership aspects of the characters and situations from those programs.
• Cost-Efficient – Because these programs can be conducted onsite or at a client’s location of their choosing, these programs can be a highly cost-efficient way to introduce or extend leadership training programs to a larger group of leaders and managers.
• Highly Customized – By gathering information from pre-session interviews or teleconferences with program sponsors and/or HR leaders, we can focus in on specific events, characters and dynamics of the battlefield programs or the theme-based programs to make each classroom experience highly relevant and situational to all participants and the needs of that organization.

Leadership Elements Explored and Discussed
Leadership elements, including themes or competencies, can be meaningfully addressed in a simple and powerful manner via the case studies and the content of our classroom programs.  Our classroom programs help explore and discuss such leadership elements as:

• The impact of thorough preparation and planning on execution under pressure
• Providing clarity of intent, direction and expectations
• The importance of knowing and understanding resource capabilities – human, material, and technological
• Making decisions with incomplete or inadequate information
• Communicating a compelling vision and enrolling peers and subordinates in decisions and initiatives
• Distinguishing critical from important – prioritizing decisions and actions
• Taking initiative in ambiguous or chaotic situations
• Creating team alignment and a sense of team achievement
• The importance of monitoring succession readiness and ensuring succession