Team Lead Master Class

Practical management, operations, and people skills for team leads, supervisors, and emerging managers who need to deliver better results without burning themselves — or their teams — out.

This was one of the best courses I have taken in my 10 year career with the GOA. Ferenc provided an in-depth training on fundamental principles of being a leader within the GOA structure. His approach is very thorough and could be applied to any role. Ferenc has opened my mind to many helpful tips and tricks on improving my productivity and the bonus mentorship calls were a plus! I am already noticing better results in my work. I highly recommend this to anyone seeking to further their career development, generate better habits and refine their processes.

Tara Stephens

District Recreation Engagement Officer

Government of Alberta

You were probably promoted because you were good at the work.

Maybe you led wildfire teams, coached sports teams, coordinated projects, ran operations in the field, or became the person everyone relied on to get things done.

You already understand responsibility, teamwork, accountability, and leadership under pressure.

But running a team inside an organization is a different challenge.

Now you are expected to manage workload, improve systems, develop staff, navigate bureaucracy, balance competing priorities, deliver results, and make the operation run better.

That is a very different job.

The Team Lead Master Class is designed for front-line managers, team leads, senior supervisors, program leads, and emerging managers who are responsible for people, performance, service delivery, operations, and results.

It is especially relevant for Government of Alberta employees and other public-sector leaders, but the concepts apply just as well in municipalities, non-profits, agencies, boards, associations, and small organizations where people are expected to do meaningful work with limited time, limited resources, and high expectations.

If you want a more productive team, better systems, stronger staff accountability, improved client service, and a healthier work environment, this program was built for you.

The problem: most people are never taught how to run an operation

Many supervisors and managers already have leadership experience.

They know how to motivate people.

They know how to step up when things get difficult.

They know how to take responsibility.

What they often have not been taught is how to:

Build systems that scale
Manage workload and capacity
Improve processes
Reduce backlog
Create accountability without micromanaging
Delegate effectively
Use metrics that actually matter
Improve client service
Hire better people
Develop staff intentionally
Manage performance issues
Work effectively with senior leadership
Balance competing priorities
Turn organizational goals into practical action

That is where many capable leaders get stuck.

They become the bottleneck.

They solve every problem themselves.

They spend their days reacting instead of improving the operation.

They work harder and harder while the underlying systems stay the same.

This program is about changing that.

What makes this different

This is not a course about leadership theory created by HR or education experts.

It is a course about running your area more effectively.

Everything in this program is based on practical tools, management systems, operational improvements, and lessons I have personally learned and used to improve team performance, reduce backlog, strengthen client service, improve staff morale, and make programs run better. And I learned very little of the theory taking internal courses from the government catalog.

I built this course because I kept being asked:

“Where do I learn the skills you have?”

And the reality was, there was no course or short program that did that.

Many people entering management already possess leadership qualities.

What they need are practical business-building and management skills:

How to organize work
How to improve systems
How to manage performance
How to build accountability
How to hire effectively
How to improve service delivery
How to make better decisions
How to create an operation that performs consistently

This program gives you the tools I wish someone had handed me much earlier in my career.

Who this is for

The Team Lead Master Class is a strong fit for:

Government team leads, supervisors, and newer managers
Senior staff who are informally leading others
Public-sector employees preparing for management roles
Program leads responsible for service delivery, operations, or field staff
Municipal, non-profit, association, and agency leaders
Small-organization leaders who need better systems and stronger team performance
Experienced leaders transitioning into organizational management roles
Managers who want their developing leaders to become more capable, organized, and effective

Or motivated people who aspire to be.

This course is particularly valuable for people who already know how to lead people but want to become better at managing teams, systems, operations, and results, but even if you don't come with leadership skills we do cover that too.

It is NOT for people who only want another course on their resume. The value comes from applying what you learn. Action gets results.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

The program is built around four core areas of management and team performance.

Module 1: Making the Transition from Individual Contributor to Team Lead

Many people enter management still thinking like top performers.

The challenge is learning how to create results through systems and people rather than personal effort alone.

In this module, we focus on the shift from “working in the business” to “working on the business”.

Topics include:

Understanding your role as a team lead, supervisor, or manager
The mindset shift required when responsibility expands
Working on the system, not just inside the system
Identifying your core business
Knowing where to focus your time and attention
Understanding your own work style using the Kolbe A Index
Communication, influence, and decision-making
Building credibility with staff, peers, and senior leaders
Developing better personal productivity habits
Using mentors, accountability, and continuous improvement to accelerate your growth

The goal of this module is to help you become more intentional, less reactive, and more effective in how you manage your area.

Module 2: Running Your Area Like a Well-Managed Operation

Government, non-profit, and public-sector work is not the same as private business.

But good management principles still apply.

Good systems matter.
Clear priorities matter.
Client service matters.
Process improvement matters.
Metrics matter.
Results matter.

This module focuses heavily on practical business and operational skills that can be applied in public-service and mission-driven environments.

Topics include:

Applying effective business principles without losing public-sector values
Understanding client, stakeholder, and taxpayer value
Working effectively with organizational priorities
Turning mission and values into team-level action
Creating better systems and workflows
Improving processes and reducing unnecessary delay
Understanding workload, backlog, and service standards
Using metrics in a practical, non-bureaucratic way
Identifying bottlenecks and operational constraints
Building stronger relationships across teams and organizations
Using technology and AI thoughtfully to improve productivity

The goal of this module is to help you make the work easier to manage, easier to explain, and easier to improve.

Module 3: Building a Team That Can Perform Without Constant Supervision

Strong teams are built intentionally.

You need the right people, clear expectations, useful systems, and an environment where people can succeed.

This module focuses on building organizational capacity rather than simply managing day-to-day activity.

Topics include:

Making your team a place people want to work
Understanding the strengths and gaps on your team and how to manage them
Creating self-accountability for your staff
Supporting diversity, inclusion, and psychological safety in practical ways
Developing staff intentionally
Working within your HR system and rules to hire the best candidate for your job, and not the poor performer who is good at interviews. This topic alone is worth the price of the course.
Helping good employees succeed
Dealing with underperformance early, fairly, and respectfully
Effective organization and delegation
Building team habits that improve morale and performance

The goal of this module is to help you create a team that is more capable, more engaged, and less dependent on you for every decision.

Module 4: Driving Performance and Results

Once you have the right foundation, the next challenge is execution.

How do you improve performance without becoming a micromanager?
How do you maintain accountability without creating bureaucracy?
How do you deal with performance issues early?
How do you keep priorities clear when everything feels urgent?

This module focuses on the management systems and behaviours that help teams consistently deliver results.

Topics include:

Understanding the difference between leadership and management
Setting priorities that people can actually use
Giving staff freedom without losing visibility
Creating accountability without micromanagement
Using performance agreements more effectively
Handling underperformance
Managing difficult conversations
Using regular check-ins and accountability meetings
Understanding what is really happening on the front line
Dealing with micromanagement, whether it comes from you or someone above you
Helping staff make better decisions within clear boundaries
Creating a culture of ownership and follow-through

The goal of this module is to help your team produce better results with less confusion, less rework, and less day-to-day stress.

INCLUDED BONUSES

Bonus 1 - Kolbe A Index

As part of the program, you will complete the Kolbe A Index and learn how to use the results to better understand your natural work style.

This can help you understand why some tasks energize you, why others drain you, and how to work more effectively with your manager, staff, and peers.

The Kolbe A Index retails for $63 USD but we include it as part of the program.

Bonus 2 - GTD Implementation

You will also learn a practical way to use David Allen’s Getting Things Done system with Outlook so you can stay on top of tasks, emails, commitments, and follow-ups without trying to hold everything in your head.

And if you don't use Outlook (I currently don't), I'll show you other ways to do this.

I charge $97 to teach this by itself. You get it included.

Bonus 3 - Productivity Hacks

I will share the practical tools, routines, software, and low-tech habits I use to stay organized, reduce overwhelm, and get more useful work done.

I charge $97 to teach this by itself. You get it included.

Newly updated AI component for 2026

Bonus 4 - AI for Managers and Team Leads

Practical discussion of how managers can use AI thoughtfully to improve productivity, communication, analysis, planning, and workflow without losing judgment, accountability, or common sense.

Personal 1-on-1 Coaching

I know that not everybody is the same and that we all have our own strengths and weaknesses, move at our own speeds, and would rather not share some things in a group session.

You will get three 60-minute personal 1-on-1 calls with me to discuss whatever you want. You will have 12 months to use these calls.

My training and consulting fee is normally $200/hr. You get 3 hours free.

Member area access

The course is not meant to be absorbed all at once. It is meant to become a practical resource you can keep coming back to.

Students receive access to a private member area that includes recordings, transcripts, summaries, and additional resources.

This is designed to help you revisit the material when you need it, especially when you are ready to implement a specific tool or concept. There is really too much content to realistically consume and implement right away. We recommend focusing on a few areas and then, once done, picking a new area, re-watch the applicable material and work on the new area.

What you will not get

You will not get a pile of leadership theory with no clear way to use it.

You will not be expected to implement everything at once.

You will not be told that management is simply about motivation or personality.

Instead, you will get practical tools, tested approaches, and a clear framework for improving systems, developing people, managing performance, and producing better results.

The goal is not to make you busier. In fact, many of these strategies, once implemented, will make your work less busy which frees you up to make your program even better, which frees up more time... It's like compound interest.

The goal is to help you run your area more effectively.

A note for managers, directors, and training approvers

If you are considering this program for one of your employees, the best candidate is someone who is motivated, coachable, and genuinely interested in improving how they manage their area.

This course works best when three things are in place:

A motivated employee who wants to learn and apply the material.
A supportive manager who is willing to discuss and support reasonable improvements.
Practical training that gives the employee tools they can actually use.

The program is not about sending someone away for training and hoping they come back magically transformed.

The best results happen when the participant comes back with ideas, discusses them with their manager, chooses a few high-value areas to work on, and then implements them with support.

For a manager or director, the potential return is significant: better team performance, stronger accountability, better hiring decisions, improved client service, reduced rework, stronger staff retention, improved operational effectiveness, and a developing supervisor/manager who is better equipped to run their area.

Format

The Team Lead Master Class is delivered online through Microsoft Teams.

The core training runs over four full days.

Sessions are recorded and uploaded the same day for participant convenience. Even if you can't make every class you can still watch the video.

Cohorts are intentionally kept small so there is room for discussion, questions, and practical examples.

Maximum cohort size: 8 participants.

TLMC Sign Up

Next Delivery - October 19 - 22, 2026

This includes:

Four days of live online training
Session recordings
Kolbe A Index
GTD implementation training
Productivity tools and tactics
AI module
Three 60-minute 1-on-1 coaching calls
Member area access
Practical resources you can return to after the course

Is this worth it?

If this course helps a manager make better hiring decisions, improve productivity, reduce backlog, retain good staff, improve systems, deal with performance issues earlier, or improve service delivery, the value can quickly exceed the cost of the program.

Management mistakes are expensive.

So are unclear priorities, poor systems, avoidable rework, unmanaged conflict, low morale, and preventable turnover.

This course is designed to help developing managers avoid those costs and build stronger operations sooner.

Personal guarantee

If a motivated employee takes the course, applies the material, works with a supportive manager, and the organization does not see value that exceeds the cost of the program, I want to know why.

I will meet with the participant and their manager to understand what did not work and whether there is a practical way to resolve it.

If the issue is with the content or the participant cannot reasonably apply what was taught, I will refund the payment.

I stand behind the course because it is built on practical tools that have produced real results.

Ready to build a stronger operation and a stronger team?

If you are a team lead, supervisor, emerging manager, director, or small-organization leader who wants practical tools for improving systems, developing staff, increasing accountability, and delivering better results, the Team Lead Master Class was built for you.

Use the sign-up form below or contact me to ask about the next available cohort.