CL Academy: Values-Based Leadership

JANUARY 14-15, 2026
1:00 - 4:30 PM Eastern  • 6 PDH Credits

Collaborative Learning, Inc. is offering an e‐learning program that you will not want to miss! This program will be presented in two (2) “live” half‐day sessions. All sessions incorporate high‐quality presentations by qualified instructors with Q&A and other opportunities for group interaction.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

This course focuses on a foundational aspect of leadership that is rarely discussed in depth in most leadership programs, but which is central to guiding organizations and the people in them and served by them. Values-based leadership helps sustain organizations as they tackle significant disruptions and navigate system-level changes. Leaders who espouse and enact key organizational values create supportive work environments that attract, develop, and retain employees who are motivated by opportunities for meaningful service to others.

This course provides insights and practical tools for instilling values-based leadership in your organization. It draws on the work of Richard Barrett and the Barrett Values Centre. The course will help participants understand:

• How an organization’s values support the fulfillment of its purpose, vision, and mission.
• How the collective beliefs and behaviors of the organization’s people (board members, managers and employees) are an expression of its culture.
• How individual and organizational values can be identified to analyze and influence their interplay and alignment.
• How to apply the Barrett Values Centre model to both individual and organization development
• How to guide culture and system-level organizational change

Participants will gain in-depth insight to the way values ground, guide and impact an organization’s operation and its success. The program will also provide tools for assessing individual and corporate values to understand which values support desired outcomes and which may be limiting. It will also demonstrate how a values perspective can be used in developing people and the organization, and how organization-wide changes can be more successfully implemented.

CL’s course presenters/facilitators bring to this course their broad knowledge and experience working with utility organizations, municipal governments, cooperatives, consulting firms, and construction contracting companies.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the link between organization purpose, vision, and values
  
• Use values-assessment tools to assess and guide a values focus in their organizations
• Identify their own individual values, how their actions align with those values, and how their values may impact the people and work they lead
• Recognize the values held by their organizations now and identify those that are needed for the future success
• Write clear and compelling values statements for their work groups or organizations
• Create better values alignment across their organizations, including the use of values in decision making
• Apply their understanding of values as cultural transformation tools to support whole-system change
• Act as change leaders for their work groups or organizations
  
  

KEY TOPICS

PROGRAM INSTRUCTORS

This course will be presented and
facilitated by two of our faculty members:

R. John Miner is an accomplished executive manager, engineer, educator and consultant with over 45 years of experience in the utility industry. He is President and owner of Collaboration Unlimited and Collaborative Learning, Inc. since 1995 and has worked as a management consultant since 1987, providing services to clients in the electric, water, wastewater and communications utility industries.  He lives and works out of Austin, Texas and Cedar, Michigan.

Dr. Betsy Aylin is an experienced executive and organization consultant with deep expertise in organization effectiveness and leadership development through experience in a broad array of industries. Betsy has over 25 years domestic and international experience working with organizations on strategic and business planning, organization change, leadership and management development, and building human resource capabilities.  She specializes in helping leaders set direction, build strong work teams, and drive results.

Tom DeBell is an independent consultant who works with Collaborative Learning-Collaboration Unlimited as a management / leadership consultant, instructor / facilitator and coach. He recently completed a successful 34-year tenure in the public utility sector, primarily at Riviera Utilities in Foley, Alabama. Transitioning from this career in November 2023, Tom embarked on a new journey as the founder of an executive and leadership coaching enterprise.  

Alicia Hooks is an independent consultant who works as a management / leadership consultant, instructor / facilitator and coach. She is an experienced executive with more than 30 years of experience in public service—including roles in public education, communications for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and 22 years in the electric utility industry. Alicia brings both passion and deep experience to her mission of serving people. Before joining CL-CU, she served as General Manager for the Greenville Electric Utility System (“GEUS”), Texas’ oldest municipally owned utility, in Greenville, Texas.  Alicia led a wide range of transformative initiatives across the organization.

LEARNING METHODS

This program is applications‐oriented, including high‐quality presentations Q&A, group interaction, and opportunities to check what you have learned.

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE?

• Executive Management
• Governing Boards
• Middle Management
• Frontline Supervisors
  
• Technical Professionals
  
  

REGISTRATION FEE:

$595 for Academy Members and CL contacts.

A discount of $50 per person for any organization that registers three (3) or more people. Each participant from a participating organization is required to be a paid registrant. No group viewing is permitted unless all participants are registered.  For larger group pricing, please contact us. 

Please register by January 7, 2026
Cancellations are accepted if request is made at least 10 days prior to start of the course. Within 1-10 days or "no show", the full registration fee will be charged. When possible, please send a substitute instead of cancelling. We do not charge a fee for registrant substitutions. 

For assistance contact Jillian.Wolfe@cl-cu.com.