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Outside Business and Organization Offerings

Looking for training opportunities for yourself or for your organization?

aerial view of CMU campus

As the provider of professional training and development workshops, presentations, and coaching for a major university, we are well equipped and gladly offer our services to others in the local community and beyond.  

To benefit from our experience and participate in our offerings, you and/or your staff can:

  • Come to the workshops we offer at our Central Michigan University campus in Mount Pleasant.  You can learn more about these on the links to the right. 

Cost:  $100/person for any 1-4 hour workshop.

  • You can come and/or send other members of your organization to Leadership Excellence, our signature 8 session series (35 hours total) on key qualities of effective leadership. 

Cost:  $750/person

  • We can come to your organization and provide training at your site for either one of our top 5 requested workshops listed below or custom-designed training to meet your specific needs.  We travel to a wide variety of locations, both in and out of state. Please contact us for more information and pricing. 

Companies and Testimonials

Testimonials:

  • Over the last several years, we have contracted with CMU's Professional Development Programs staff, Amy McGinnis and Harley Blake, to facilitate the two-day kickoff event of our Leadership Experience program for Delta's mid-level managers.  They do great work! Our employee participants comment that the mix of active learning experiences, examples, and materials are very relevant and significantly enhance their understanding of the program topics, and that their engaging styles add to the overall effectiveness of the Leadership Experience.

Thelma Bushong, Director, Center for Organizational Success 

Delta College
University Center, MI


  • For more than a decade, the office of Professional Development Programs has been instrumental in providing high quality leadership training and development sessions to hundreds of students participating in CMU's Leadership Institute.  In addition, Leadership Institute administrators have received first rate training from Professional Development Programs superlative Leadership Excellence series.  Members of their staff are total professionals who continue to excel as teachers and trainers.

Dyke Heinze, Director, Leadership Institute

Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI


Some of the companies for which we have developed customized programming:

  • Citizens National Bank - Cheboygan
  • DayStarr Communications
  • Delta College
  • Isabella Citizens for Health, Inc.
  • Isabella County Commission on Aging
  • J. Ranck Electric
  • Michigan Department of Natural Resources
  • Munising Elementary School
  • Special Olympics Michigan
  • MI Association of Foster Grandparents & Senior Companions

Learn about our top 5 requested workshops

    Change happens!  Whether at home or work, chosen or not, we all face change of various kinds and intensities.  How can I work through change to obtain the best possible results, while helping those around me who may be experiencing some of the same things?  Based on 3 different models of change, this interactive workshop will explore the dynamics involved, so participants can better navigate through both the change and their personal reactions to it.

    One or two hour, half-day and full day workshops are possible, exploring the dynamic principles involved through interactive and engaging sessions. Take a quick look at a specific topic like listening, or take a deeper dive into unraveling the more difficult conversations through effective dialogue. Totally customizable depending on your desired outcomes. 

    Take the MBTI personality inventory and discover your natural preferences and style. Learn to develop an understanding of personal style so that you are able to interact more effectively with others. This workshop explores the impact of personal style on relationships, teams, and work units. Communication, decision-making, and problem-solving will all be addressed.

    Join Professional Development Programs for an experiential teambuilding workshop. Adventure learning techniques will be used to deliver powerful and effective problem solving experiences. In this workshop, teamwork, cooperation, communication, and trust become much more than just words; they become actions. Hands on activities will be followed by processing sessions where participants analyze performance and think critically about lessons learned from the experience. Challenge yourself, build relationships, have fun, and learn teambuilding techniques that will be applicable to your particular work unit as well.

    Picture a life that's more organized, more peaceful, and more productive. Imagine balancing your roles more successfully and achieving your highest priorities. These workshops will focus on time tested time management principles and tools that you will be able to immediately apply to all aspects of your life, both at home and at work.

    About Harley Blake