The Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Education is proud to announce the Rural Health Leadership Development course. We are grateful for the generous support from the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF), which allows this course to be tuition free.
The Rural Health Leadership Development course will provide emerging leaders in mental health and addiction services, assisted living and long-term care, and other health related safety net organizations the opportunity to learn with and from a powerful cohort of fellow leaders.
The program will blend state-of-the-art leadership models and frameworks with practical application. Each session will be a rich mixture of presentations featuring the Hanley Center’s faculty and guest leaders with subject matter expertise. Presentation and dialogue will be balanced with individual reflection, small group discussion, and practice assignments between sessions.
If you’re interested in this course, please contact Janell Lewis, Director of Leadership Development.
Session 1: Exploring Our Leadership Challenge
Date: October 8, 2026 | Location: In-person, TBD | Time: 9:00 AM-4:00 PM
Session Description:
In this first session we build our learning community for the journey ahead and develop a shared understanding of what it means to be a leader in our organizations. We surface and explore the assumptions you make about leadership and shape your learning goals for the program ahead. Finally, we strengthen key skills for navigating difficult conversations with courage and clarity.
Session Objectives:
- Build our learning community and develop a shared understanding of what it means to be a leader in our organizations and the insurance plan landscape.
- Surface and explore the assumptions we make about leadership and shape learning goals for the program ahead.
- Map the challenges and opportunities for behavioral health leaders serving Maine’s rural communities and organizations.
- Use the Gallup Strengthsfinder™ behavioral assessment insights to deepen self and social awareness and strengthen teamwork.
Speaker: TBD
Date: November 12, 2026 | Location: Virtual | Time: 8:00 AM-11:00 AM
Session Description:
Learn and apply the Team Performance Model™ as a tool for launching teams and diagnosing/addressing team issues, and practical approaches to building both trust, accountability and common goals on your teams. Learn to set up teams and business units for collaboration. You will diagnose and walk away with a performance improvement plan for one of your teams. Identify and practice skills for managing conflict with clarity and presence.
Session Objectives:
- Learn a dynamic model for forming and chartering teams, and assessing team performance
- Assess and develop a performance improvement strategy for one of your teams
- Explore approaches to collaboration within and between organizations
- Strengthen skills for using teams to build a positive organization culture
Date: December 2, 2026 | Location: Virtual | Time: 8:00 AM-11:00 AM
Session Description:
Learn and practice coaching skills using the GROW model and learn and apply new approaches to motivating teams and staff. Gain skills for building team member capacity through asking powerful questions and encouraging them to take on greater responsibility. Review recent research in motivation, and discover how to engage others through purpose, mastery and autonomy.
Session Objectives:
- Discern which situations would most benefit from coaching, and when teaching or directing are most useful.
- Learn and practice the GROW coaching model, using powerful questions to stimulate the reflection and commitment of the coachee.
- Understand state of the art motivational theory and practice.
Date: January 14, 2027 | Location: Virtual | Time: 8:00 AM-11:00 AM
Session Description:
The need for effective advocacy by healthcare leaders has never been greater. We will learn a useful framework which defines the domains of advocacy (organization, community and government policy) and explore both the policymaking and communication skills that will equip you for these domains. Learn organization influence strategies, including how to “manage up” to influence senior leaders.
Session Objectives:
- Learn how to become involved with three domains of advocacy and influence: organization, community and government policy.
- Learn the process by which legislative policy is developed, and ways you can become involved.
- Gain and practice communication skills for effective influence management in your community and organization, and with collaborations.
Speaker: TBD
Date: February 4, 2027 | Location: In-person, TBD | Time: 9:00 AM-4:00 PM
Session Description:
We will reconnect as a cohort and take stock of what we have learned on the journey. After gaining new knowledge and skills in finance and change leadership, we will learn an approach to systems thinking in the volatile healthcare environment. A peer coaching model will give participants the opportunity to help each other with challenges they are experiencing. We will conclude by identifying next steps to maintain a leadership development focus, allowing each member of the cohort to leave with a roadmap in place for continuing his or her development with the support of a new professional network.
Session Objectives:
- Reconnect through leadership connection conversations.
- Strengthen financial acumen.
- Learn best practices for navigating and leading others through complex change in a sustainable way.
- Better understand how to recognize and influence systems.
- Utilize questions as a tool for engaging systems thinking.
- Learn approaches to strategy development.
- Identify the next steps in your leadership development path.
Speaker: TBD
Tuition and Credits
CMEs: Amount to be determined
For more information contact: Judiann Smith, Executive Director or Janell Lewis, Director of Leadership Development