In these most challenging times, people are looking for leadership. They are looking to you for leadership. There are three core leadership skills that are critical to be the leader that people will want to follow-building trust, storytelling, and delivering bad news.

In these times of turbulent change, building trust is more important than ever. This program will focus on identifying the "enemies" of trust (e.g., incomplete communication, inconsistent messages). To be the leader that people will follow requires that you build three kinds of trust-Personal (Do they trust you and your leadership?); Organizational (Are the decision-making processes clear and transparent-and fair?); and Strategic (Is the organization doing the right things in terms of goals and strategies?)

Second, a highly effective leader must inspire others and storytelling skills are essential. Storytelling is "the language of leadership" and it is a skill that is so critical to keeping people focused on your leadership and achieving mission success during times of turbulent change. This program will outline the elements of effective storytelling that will inspire people to follow your leadership.

Finally, leading change during these challenging times frequently involves the delivery of bad news. Nobody likes to deliver bad news, but you can develop the skills and the ability to more effectively deliver bad news and keep people engaged and motivated. This program will outline a three-phase model of leadership skills (and self-management tips) for communicating bad news more effectively-Preparation, Delivery, and Transition.

Dr. Robert J. Bies is a Professor of Management and Founder of the Executive Masters in Leadership Program at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University. In addition, he is co-author of the book Getting Even: The Truth About Workplace Revenge-And How to Stop It, which Jossey-Bass publishes.

Dr. Bies has received the Best Teacher award at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. At Georgetown, he has twice received the Joseph Le Moine Award for Undergraduate and Graduate Teaching Excellence at the McDonough School of Business; he received the Outstanding Professor of the International Executive MBA Program (IEMBA-2) at the McDonough School of Business; he received the Outstanding Professor of the Executive Master's in Leadership Program (2008) at the McDonough School of Business; he received the Academic Council Professor of the Year Student Choice Award (2011) at the McDonough School of Business; he was voted MBA Professor of the Year by MBA students at the McDonough School of Business, Spring 2011; and he was voted Outstanding Professor of the Global Executive MBA Program (2012) at the McDonough School of Business.