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Top execs to refine leadership skills for optimal performance

Ontario, BC CA Institutes team up to develop innovative program

Toronto, Ontario (May 15, 2007) – Once again, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is offeringLeading for Optimal Performance: A Program for Executive Management,a cutting-edge course developed for top professionals that offers the latest strategies and techniques for increasing employee and organizational effectiveness while driving personal and corporate change.

Developed by the Institutes of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and British Columbia and first offered in the fall of 2006, this program is designed to transform and enhance the career paths of its target audience: chief financial officers, chief operating officers, vice-presidents, senior controllers and senior managers seeking effective business solutions.

“There are a wide range of business training options available, but Leading for Optimal Performance delivers greater value to executives who want proven best-practice strategies that allow them to manage change, conflict and innovation, while optimizing the performance of their teams, resources and overall organization,” said Robert Gagnon, Associate Director, Professional Development at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

The reviews from Optimal Performance participants are overwhelmingly positive:

“An excellent course that provided a good mix of technical knowledge, thought-provoking concepts, motivational tools and the opportunity to learn from peers.” – Grant Knowlton, Vice-President Finance, Home Hardware Stores Limited

“The presenters were fantastic and had the expertise to back it up. The course will definitely help me to be a better leader and asset to my organization.” – Marcelo Ulloa, Controller/Corporate Secretary, Charles Tennant & Company (Canada) Ltd.

“Leading for Optimal Performance was delivered beyond expectations. The insight and knowledge gained can be easily integrated to drive further value in my organization.” – Michael French, V. P. Finance, Business Planning & Analysis, Alliance Atlantis Communication Inc

Leading for Optimal Performance will help participants:

• Explore, acquire and refine the personal and organizational skills needed to be an outstanding leader
• Develop a powerful negotiating presence by discovering a process and the tactics necessary to influence others and create mutual profit improvement solutions
• Understand how people and organizations respond to change, how to overcome resistance and build high performance teams
• Define and implement ways to create a culture that nurtures creativity and innovation
• Adopt and adapt best practices performance measurement tools
• Learn techniques for identifying your organization’s competitive weaknesses and strengths and identify strategies for enhancing productivity and performance
• Build a culture of accountability
• Link tactical action plans to an organization’s overall strategic direction
• Become the “go-to person” for designing practical and innovative business solutions and in implementing needed change initiatives
• Identify, evaluate and select profitable business opportunities while managing risk
  
  

The weeklong sessions are intense, beginning on Sunday evening and continuing until Friday afternoon to give participants willing to make the time commitment a focused and comprehensive curriculum.

To ensure the course’s ambitious goals are met, outstanding faculty have been recruited for Leading for Optimal Performance, including:

• Dr. Jim Murrayis CEO of optimal solutions international; a firm that specializes in helping people and organizations achieve their full potential. For over three decades, he has been teaching his courses to the accounting profession in several provinces. He is a best-selling author, a highly regarded change agent with an enviable track record of accomplishments, and has provided strategic counsel to over 600 organizations during his stellar career. He currently is training Canadian soldiers negotiation techniques for use in Afghanistan and other hot spots.

 

• Dr. Vijay Jog isFounder and President of Corporate Renaissance Group and a Chancellor Professor of Finance at Carleton University. He is a leading authority in shareholder value creation, activity-based costing and management, and organizational performance improvement. Vijay has been published extensively in national and international journals, and has over 100 articles, monographs, and books to his credit. He consults extensively with government and private sector organizations around the world and has received numerous awards for his research and publications, including the prestigious National Post "Leaders in Management Education" award for Ontario.

About the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario's 32,000 CAs and 4,000 CA students. Since 1879, the Institute has protected the public interest through the CA profession's high standards of qualification and the enforcement of its rules of professional conduct.  Recognized internationally, the CA designation denotes financial expertise, strategic thinking, business insight and leadership. The Institute website is: www.icao.on.ca 

Media interviews:

Robert Gagnon, the Institute’s Associate Director, Professional Development, Dr. Jim Murray and Dr. Vijay Jog are all available for media interviews to discuss Leading for Optimal Performance.

For more information please contact:

Perry Jensen
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario 
416-969-4271
1-800-387-0735 ext. 271
pjensen@icao.on.ca