Leadership Skills Clinics and Digital Badging

Engineering Leadership Skills Clinics are action-oriented, short-term classes that build your confidence and capabilities in engineering teamwork and leadership. Each Clinic comprises two interactive workshops separated by an Action Interval in which you will experiment with new skills and analyze the results.

Engineering Leadership Skills Clinics offered Spring ’23 semester:

ENGRG 4820 – Difficult Conversations

Having Difficult Conversations will enable you to communicate effectively in situations that may be uncomfortable but are critical to team success, such as giving difficult feedback, setting boundaries, challenging dominant views, acknowledging failures, and so on.  You’ll learn a process and language for recognizing and working through these situations while managing yours and others’ emotions. During the action interval, you’ll apply these skills in a real-world situation and reflect on your experience. The second and final workshop is dedicated to sharing your ‘lessons learned’ and forming a plan to continue to practicing having difficult conversations in a variety of situations.

Section 2:

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

4:45 p.m.  – 7:45 p.m.

ENGRG 4840 – Effective Followership

Effective Followership will teach you the mindset and behaviors of an active follower who adds value to a team and exerts influence without title. You’ll learn what great followers do and why no leader can succeed without also being a great follower. During the action interval, you’ll apply active followership skills in a real-world situation and reflect on your experience. The second and final workshop is dedicated to sharing your ‘lessons learned’ and forming a plan to continue to develop your skills as a follower.

Section 2:

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Thursday, May 4, 2023

4:45 p.m.  – 7:45 p.m.

In addition to learning a new skill, each clinic will carry a 0.5 credit and a digital microcredential; complete six of them and earn a digital Mastery Badge in Engineering Leadership Fundamentals to display on your resume, LinkedIn, and social media pages.  Total time commitment is 10-12 hours over 3-4 weeks. Each semester Clinics on several topics will be offered. These Clinics are in-person only.

Earn Engineering Leadership Fundamentals Badges

Our mission is to prepare all Cornell Engineers with the professional skills they need to succeed in their careers and in the world. Potential employers already know you will be ready with your technical prowess. What makes the difference is how well you manage relationships, collaborate, communicate, and lead.

Digital badges are an established way to show the world that you have mastered these skills. You will earn a digital credential for each Skills Clinic you complete to a high standard of excellence. Upon earning six credentials, you will be awarded the Mastery Badge in Engineering Leadership Fundamentals. Display your badges on your resume, on LinkedIn, in your portfolios, and on your social media platforms. Get an edge. Show your potential employers that you are prepared to lead.

Clinic Expectations

Although these clinics are low-commitment courses, don’t assume they’ll be an easy A. Before registering for a clinic, familiarize yourself with the Clinic’s expectations.

• “What’s for dinner?” “I’m hungry!” “What did I get myself into?” We know you have a lot on your mind, but in order to benefit from these Clinics, you must be present and focused throughout the class.
• If you’re going to sign up, you might as well make an effort to participate! It will make time fly by much faster, and it will be preferable to being lectured. (P.S. We dislike lecturing.)
• We all know computers and phones are fantastic. We love them too, and sometimes we’ll need you to use them right before class for fun activities (taking quick surveys), but please refrain from using computers/phones during the Clinics.
• If you expect to learn these skills simply by attending class, you’re mistaken. That’s only half the battle! To truly master these skills, you will need to practice them outside of the classroom by partaking in our challenges. Trust us, these are better than TikTok challenges.

Ready to get started?

The Engineering Leadership Skills Clinics are open to ALL students in the College of Engineering. Register through Student Center to enroll in the Engineering Leadership Skills Clinics offered Spring ’23. For students that may go over the 20 credit limit, you will need to fill out the appropriate petition and submit it to the Engineering Registrar’s Office.

For more information, email us at engineering_leaders@cornell.edu.