OVERVIEW:

This 13-week online course focuses on the skills necessary to be a Strategic Leader. It is intended for people who want to establish a new ministry vision and plan, or improve and expand an existing ministry. Participants will learn and apply the principles and skills involved in creating a compelling vision, direction and strategy necessary for the longer-term growth and success of a team or ministry. This includes the basic skills required to think strategically, develop a vision, outcomes and strategies, make decisions, set goals and priorities, delegate and effectively lead change.

LENGTH:

• 13 weeks with additional 90 min orientation session.
• Approximately 10-15 -hours per week are spent engaging content, processing and completing assignments, at your convenience. This time is dependent on your level of English, how you process content and ability to engage in an online platform. For some it may be more or less.
• Weekly 90 min LIVE discussion/video call every Friday at 10:00-11:30 am (Bangkok time).
• Weekly 60 min Mentoring Circle meeting.
• A final project strategy paper must be submitted within 1 week of the last LIVE discussion.
• It is highly recommended that students set aside 1-2 hours per day (Monday – Friday) to spend on the course. Participants are to complete the weekly videos and discussion questions by Wednesday so that they can respond to their classmates' questions and posts on Thursdays, and thus have all their work done for the week prior to the Friday morning 90 min calls.

THE MAIN AIMS OF SLC-O:

The course was created and designed with three main outcomes in mind:
1. Vision Implementation
Aiming to impart a particular leadership skill where leaders develop confidence in implementing the vision that God has laid on their hearts. Allowing Holy Spirit to guide us through each step.

2. Global Connection
We seek to connect participants globally through relational engagement in Mentoring Circles. This is where spiritual formation can take place as we share our lives and ministry calling with one another, praying and supporting each other. Our prayer is that life-long friendships will be developed through these times as well as seeing the value of a spiritually supportive and formative community and introduce the concept among those they lead.

3. Learning Communities
Application of learning leads to change; change brings growth; and growth results in transformation. Learning takes place best in community where their storied lives are intertwined with God’s purposes. We have designed the course so that at the first level of learning is to individually process the short video teaching and answer the reflective questions. The second level of learning takes place when we consider the views of our peers and engage with them, helping to modify and deepen our learning conclusions. End module assignments are intended to reflect this learning.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Develop a vision and purpose for your current or future ministry
• Demonstrate the use of strategic thinking skills and principles in forming a strategic plan for your ministry
• Learn, choose and apply a decision making method to a decision your ministry faces
• Set SMART goals and priorities for the implementation and development of your ministry
• Determine which parts of your strategic plan to delegate and to whom
• Apply principles of change management to your ministry’s strategic plan

UOFN CREDIT:

• Completion of all 6 modules, including all related assignments, engagement in online discussions, attendance of weekly LIVE discussions and Mentoring circles earns a participant two Learning Component Units (or 2 elective credits) through YWAM’s University of the Nations (UofN) Extension Studies
• Check with the Dean of your UofN school to ensure that these credits will count toward your preferred degree program

MAIN TOPICS/MODULES:

1. Developing Vision and Purpose
2. Strategic Thinking
3. Decision Making
4. Setting SMART Goals and Priorities
5. Delegation
6. Leading Change

COURSE FORMAT:

• 13 online video calls/LIVE discussions, 90 min in length each.
• Additional 90 min orientation session.
• The course includes online video teachings, online group discussions, case study examples, practice and application assignments, a LIVE weekly group video call, a self-evaluation, and weekly Mentoring circles.
• Reflection questions and application assignments are given through the online course. Students should expect to spend at least 5 hours every week watching the short teaching videos and replying to reflection and application questions.
• A final strategy project paper and evaluation must be submitted within one week of the last LIVE video call. UofN credit will not be granted without submitting this.
• Participants must demonstrate completion of each module, including all related assignments and self evaluations from the modules.
• Participants are expected to engage with other participants each week by responding to at least 2 online posts from their fellow classmates from the weekly online discussion questions.

Each of the 6 modules requires coursework to be completed and submitted as homework which will directly apply to the ministry vision that God is calling each participant to – it is important that participants do not get behind in the coursework or they may not be able to effectively contribute and apply learning in the LIVE video discussions.