Shifting Gears

Program Description:

Michigan Shifting Gears is a four month intensive program with three major phases.

View the Free Online Information Session to explain how the program (view the Program Schedule) works and help attendees determine if it is a good fit for them.

View the Online Information Session Informational (required before registering): http://bit.ly/z3tYaB 

For more information, contact Rhonda Pierce at Piercer2@michigan.org or Denise Flannery at Flanneryd@michigan.org

Shifting Gears Phases:

1st Gear

Retool Career Portfolios which focuses on career transitions into small businesses with in-class sessions and workshops on small business foundations.

2nd Gear

Test Trials begins with a three-day intensive practice simulation, followed by an 80-hour pro bono practicum project with a small business.

3rd Gear

Launch Point Readiness with special networking opportunities, practice interviews and career advice from a mentor that has extensive contacts with innovative, growing companies.

Purpose

The purpose of the “Shifting Gears” program is to enable professionals to network and adapt to working with small innovative growing businesses. Small businesses offer many job opportunities for people who are ready to roll up their sleeves and put in the hard work required to successfully grow a business to the next level.

Results

Results are impressive: 49% of participants land new jobs within three months, 69% land positions within six months, and a whopping 80 percent find work within nine or more months.

Keys to increasing successful career transformations for small business growth include:

• Career Transformation Assessment of leadership and business management skills
• Practical knowledge base to grow small businesses
• Learning from people who have successfully shifted their careers
• Actively practicing business skills in an intensive practice simulation
• Create a high quality business network
• Develop a personal career transition plan
• Discussions with people who have successfully transformed their careers to grow small businesses

Creating opportunities to transform professional careers to grow a business!

Participants will benefit by:

• Developing capabilities to transform professional corporate careers into exciting roles for growing small business
• Working 1:1 with mentors in shifting career
• Opportunities to apply knowledge and skills in small business environments
• Opportunities for networking with key decision makers in small businesses
• Opportunities for practicing job interviews
• Earn a Certificate of Completion - Shifting Gears: Career Transformations for Small Business Growth

Learning Objectives:
Program participants will be able to:

• Assess strengths and talents to support growth of small businesses;
• Apply strategies for transforming careers to adapt to small business environments;
• Identify approaches for leading and managing growth in small businesses;
• Develop important knowledge and skills to support small business growth;
• Create a business network for future opportunities.

Who should apply:

• Experienced corporate professionals seeking a career shift to tackle the challenges of dynamic small business environments;
• Highly skilled managers with 5+ years experience in managing and leading teams to achieve high performance;
• Professionals from all disciplines and functions.

Cost:
Participants pay just 10 percent ($500) of the $5,000 enrollment fee for Michigan Shifting Gears. The balance is underwritten by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to foster talent enhancement.

Visit the Michigan Shifting Gears program website.

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Additional Information:

Companies that Participated in the Past

A123 Systems Academy Coaching, Inc Adaptive Campus Adaptive Materials Inc ApoLife, Inc Ardent Cause BK Medic Cielo MedSolutions Cliff Kleen Compendia Biosciences Creative Change Associates CrimeCog Denison Consulting Econ Global Services Finley Manufacturing Group Gale GDI Infotech Good Business Inc GTI Advisors Hygieia In The Groove Infiniti Capabilities Intersect Digital Knowledge Watch LaVision Lotus Gardenscapes MacBeedon Maurer Management and Property

Menlo Innovations MyBuys Nanocerox Inc NanoMag Next Services NextGen NuStep Onsite ERT Phire Branding Company POLY RealKidz Recellular RPM Ventures SensiGen SOI Solohill Speedraft SRT Switchback Sunfield Consulting TAC Worldwide Thomson Reuters TMJ Pain Solutions TSRL Velesco Pharmaceutical Services Vertabase Xoran

Leader Backgrounds

Diana Wong
Diana J. Wong, PhD is the CEO and President of Sensei Change Associates, LLC and a business faculty at Eastern Michigan University. Diana's expertise is in strategy and developing learning programs for improving organizational performance. She earned a PhD in strategic management from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an MBA in Finance and International Business from Dalhousie University, Halifax. With an extensive international background, Diana focuses on supporting leadersand management teams with strategic planning and meeting facilitation,organization development, leadership development and transition programs, executive coaching, cross-cultural competency development and organizational learning systems. Her newly edited volume, Cultural Mythology and Global Leadership, with co-editor Eric Kessler from Pace University will be on bookshelves in Spring, 2009.

Barb Koenig
Barbara Koenig specializes in workplace learning and organizational change that leads to improved human performance. Through executive coaching,design, development and facilitation, she empowers individuals to develop new strategies and skills to enhance and improve both individual and team performance.

Amy Cell & Ann Arbor SPARK Shifting Gears
Since 2006 the Talent Enhancement function at Ann Arbor SPARK has been making connections between innovative companies and high value, knowledge based talent. In 2008 SPARK helped over 350 companies connect with talent, with a 30 percent success rate! SPARK has helped find C-Level, technical, managerial and professional talent and is highly regarded by some of the most innovative companies in the region. The experiences and relationships built by Ann Arbor SPARK have made significant connections for Shifting Gears participants with key, growing companies in the Ann Arbor region. Now the Shifting Gears program is going statewide under the leadership of Amy Cell at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation as Michigan Shifting Gears.