Skills Training & Keynotes
We believe that adult learning is most powerful in settings that are interactive and experiential. Our keynotes and workshops provide an informative, supportive, and fun group environment to explore professional development topics. We also emphasize skill-building and the importance of finding concrete takeaways that can be implemented immediately through the action-planning component of our programs. Our content has been delivered at organizations, university-based Executive Education programs, and industry association events.
How does this service benefit your company?
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For Participants
Gives access to high-quality training and actionable best practices
Increases skills and confidence
Reinforces that the firm is investing in them
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For Internal Networks
Creates community within internal networks like parents’ or women’s groups or early career networks
Offers targeted support where it’s needed most
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For Organizations
Cost-effective way to invest in larger numbers of employees
Employee retention and satisfaction
Culture building
- Skills trainingWorkshop Topics
Browse our sample topics for skill-based training. We enjoy partnering with our clients to customize existing programs or design a bespoke program from scratch, with the goal of best meeting participants’ needs.
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In this workshop, you will explore effective team leadership as a combination of habits, mindsets, and behaviors. You will learn to adopt a coaching and mentoring mindset, integrate empathy into your leadership style, and discover best practices for launching and leading high-performing teams and deal processes. Delegation skills will be a key focus, including clear communication and problem-solving for delegation issues.mentees, faster. Our program maximizes this powerful relationship through a proven mentorship structure, resources to guide it, and training on best practices. We help participants build and deepen relationships, enable goal-setting and employee advocacy, and clarify the multiple hats within mentorship and sponsorship, resulting in a unified process for all participants and leaders. And because mentorship competencies are universal relationship skills, the impact outlasts the program: participants become stronger managers, coaches, and developers of talent in every setting.into measurable, actionable steps driving your growth.
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Effective performance management is a year-round process that thrives on real-time feedback, going beyond year-end reviews and periodic check-ins. This workshop will equip you with strategies for using feedback to guide individuals toward greatness through brief, ongoing conversations that include both praise and constructive criticism. By exploring the ideal mix of positive and developmental feedback and leveraging powerful frameworks like Situation-Behavior-Impact (SBI), Feed Forward, and Radical Candor, you’ll gain straightforward tools to make your feedback—verbal or written—specific, actionable, and highly motivating. Additionally, you will learn how to tailor feedback to individual needs and understand the limitations of the traditional 'feedback sandwich' approach. These strategies apply to even the most challenging conversations with colleagues and external stakeholders alike. We will also discuss how to take control of your own development by actively seeking feedback, identifying the coaching in criticism, and turning it all into measurable, actionable steps driving your growth.
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Discover how to manage yourself better to take more control over your time and productivity. Use the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize urgent and important tasks. Use intentionality and strategy to manage your time, carve out dedicated slots for high-value work, and adopt productive habits like time blocking, task batching, and weekly reviews. Become proactive in “designing" your professional and personal time to make the most of the 168 hours you have every week.
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Feedback can often be interpreted as criticism rather than the gift that it is. This workshop helps juniors reframe feedback as guidance toward greatness and learn how to implement it to level up and become a valued team member who makes a manager’s life easier. We’ll focus on using judgment, being proactive, soliciting feedback, and how to account for differences in work and communication styles. The result is a team of juniors who not only know how to implement feedback when given but actively seek it and welcome it, leading to a culture of more continuous improvement throughout your organization.
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The biggest challenge in mentorship programs? Assigned pairings often stay superficial and transactional, while organic mentorship thrives. Mastering Mentorship closes that gap, giving you the structure, skills, and tools to build genuine, mutually beneficial relationships with your mentees, faster. Our program maximizes this powerful relationship through a proven mentorship structure, resources to guide it, and training on best practices. You will learn how to build and deepen relationships, enable goal-setting and advocacy, and clarify the multiple hats within mentorship and sponsorship. And because mentorship competencies are universal relationship skills, the impact outlasts the program: you’ll become a stronger manager, coach, and developer of talent in every setting.
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Unlock the power of your key relationships to drive your company's growth and career success. This workshop begins by reshaping your perspective on networking and then moves into actionable strategies. These include mapping and evaluating your current network, cultivating sustainable networking habits, and optimizing the benefits of conferences and events. Discover the art of progressing beyond small talk, fostering more meaningful interactions that enhance and solidify relationships. Elevate your relationship-building skills to forge a robust network that provides valuable information and impactful connections and partnerships.
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It is never too early or late in a career to curate a powerful "board of advisors" to guide your development. Mentors and sponsors are key members of that board, yet these relationships often need to be clarified or developed to the depth they could be. In this session, you will learn how to assemble a board of advisors, the key distinctions between mentors and sponsors ("mentors talk with you and sponsors talk about you"), how to deepen both organic and matched relationships, and how to make yourself "sponsor worthy" to attract the attention of those well-positioned to advocate on your behalf. By investing time and effort in cultivating these relationships, you can accelerate your professional growth and focus on your career goals.
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This workshop for junior employees will introduce them to the foundational principles I teach in-depth to mid-level and senior leaders, emphasizing receiving and implementing feedback effectively. I also cover intentional up-leveling, growth versus fixed mindsets, building a personal brand, and utilizing mentors and sponsors. Juniors will learn the habits and behaviors to implement now to grow into influential leaders and feel empowered by being in the driver’s seat of their careers. They will also learn tools to make their managers’ lives easier and have more impact in their role.
- speaking engagementsKeynote Topics
These topics offer actionable takeaways like our skills workshops. However, they are more easily scaled to the format of a lunch-and-learn or targeted for workplace groups like new parents, women’s groups, etc.
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Transitioning from working person to working parent can be one of the most exciting and transformational times in a professional's life and career. It can also be one of the most challenging to navigate. Whether this is imminent or many years away, it’s essential to understand the current parental leave landscape and the best practices for successfully handling the distinct stages before, during, and after leave. This session will examine this topic from multiple perspectives: individual (yourself and your partner), work team, and organizational culture. The emphasis will be on preparing you to advocate for yourself and ways to influence the broader parental leave conversation in your organization if you so choose.
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Explore the intricacies of navigating dual-career relationships in our engaging workshop, designed for couples striving to juggle their professional and personal lives better. Understand the most common models of dual-career partnership, which can inform how you define success through life’s changing chapters. We'll shift the focus from work/life balance to work/life fit, addressing the “design challenge” of integrating rewarding careers into a rich, fulfilling life. Through interactive discussions and Q&A, this workshop offers valuable strategies for couples to “have it all together.”
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Learn to enhance your leadership and problem-solving skills by examining and refining your automatic thinking patterns. Our mindset is one of the most critical performance factors in any given scenario. Yet, we often need to be made aware of how we frame situations and how our perspective either helps or hurts practical actions we could be taking. Mindset awareness and management is a tool used by executive coaches, and in this session, you will learn how to coach yourself to be more flexible and adaptive in your thinking. Through practical techniques, real-world examples, and interactive exercises, you'll walk away with more awareness, confidence, and ways to get unstuck.
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In a world where time is finite and precious, it's easy to feel pulled in countless directions, leaving little room for what truly matters. But here's the secret: you have more control over your time than you might realize. In this talk, we'll unveil the keys to reclaiming your most valuable resource—time. We'll guide you through strategies to identify and safeguard the moments that align with your deepest priorities. With powerful tools like the Wheel of Life and the Eisenhower Matrix, you'll gain a panoramic view of your priorities in work and life and learn ways to carve out time for what matters most.
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Regardless of career stage, there are many ways to exhibit leadership. In this workshop, we will apply a 4-step framework for making the most of leadership moments we find ourselves in or create intentionally. The emphasis will be on cultivating internal confidence and exhibiting leadership behaviors that others see and hear. Topics include defining “leadership” and why leadership is an action (not a position), framing leadership development as a continual process of growth, and pinpointing your upcoming leadership moments, referred to as "Opportunities to Shine" (OTS). Participants will have time to reflect and walk away with action items they choose to implement going forward.
All these programs include:
Planning & Customization
We partner with our clients to customize existing programs or design from scratch, with the goal of best meeting participants' needs. We create surveys or review organizational data to customize talks for your audience.
Participant Resources
We select relevant pre and post-session resources, and custom handouts allow participants to capture their reflections and concrete follow-up actions.
Workshop Delivery
We offer workshops both in-person and virtually, allowing for teams working remotely to come together for group learning.
Program Administration
You have the option of collection of participant feedback and a post-session debrief with a synthesis of themes and suggestions for future programming.
Client Results
- FAQQuestions our clients often ask
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The length can be scaled on many topics from 30 minutes to 3 hours. We can focus on fewer topics with more of a lecture-style experience or create a longer workshop with a broader lens and more hands-on, interactive time.
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The skills trainings are on topics that lend themselves to more interactive components like breakout groups. These are also topics more directly related to day-to-day work. The keynote topics lend themselves to more discussion and solo reflection and tend to be more geared towards work-life balance conversations.
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All sizes. These topics can be tailored to a small group of 8 or fewer, or can be delivered to the whole firm.
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Yes. The cost will usually reflect extra time for content creation and customization, depending on what is needed. We’ll provide you with an accurate quote for your desired skills training or keynote.
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Absolutely. We will work with you on “naming and framing” — the best title, program description, and internal messaging for your group.
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Yes. Like all of our programs, we keep your specific population in mind when shaping this content, including covering the topics that come up most frequently in our coaching sessions and group programs.
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Yes. Contact us to set up a consultation, and Michelle will help you determine which topics will be best suited to your audience and goals.
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While AWC generally specializes in the investment industry, Michelle has facilitated for other types of firms, educational institutions, and government groups. Contact us to see if we’re a good fit for your organization.
Explore Our Services
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Executive Coaching
Results-driven 1:1 coaching that develops the skills, mindsets, and habits that make leaders exceptional.
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Parental Transition Coaching
For expectant parents and their managers navigating the time before, during, and after parental leave.
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Team Leadership Programs
Cohort programs that help mid-level leaders build a practical plan for managing (down and up).
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Mentorship & Sponsorship
Equips both mentors and mentees with the skills that make these relationships truly impactful.
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Skills Training & Keynotes
Group workshops built on proven frameworks and designed for immediate application, not abstract theory.
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Women's Programs
Tailored programming to build skills and cultivate community, strengthening your pipeline of women leaders.