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By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify two sources of motivation for work​
• Describe a leader’s role in communicating a vision​
• Practice effective goal-setting techniques

This interactive session on "Motivating and Inspiring as a Leader" will explore essential topics such as effective communication, team management, decision-making, and goal setting. Whether you're leading a research project, mentoring peers, or preparing for your future career, the workshop provides the tools and strategies to inspire and empower others.

Don't miss this opportunity to develop skills that will set you apart!

Workshop date for Fall 2026: TBC

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify negotiation opportunities
• Describe the negotiation process
• Apply negotiation tools in practical simulations

Negotiation is about creating mutual value. As a graduate student, mastering this skill can enhance your career, whether you're securing research collaborations, obtaining project funding or handling job offers. This workshop introduces the principled negotiation model, helping you identify opportunities, communicate persuasively, and assert your needs confidently. Through interactive exercises, you'll practice real-world strategies and gain tools to advocate for yourself in any professional setting.!

Workshop date for Fall 2026: TBC

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Practice conflict management skills in negotiation stimulation.
• Identify different conflict management styles and tools.
• Generate guidelines for effective conflict handling based on reflecting on conflicts.

Learn leadership skills work across potential disputes to balance your positionality & needs with the potentially conflicting desires of others in this interactive workshop. Conflict management styles and related tools explored in this workshop will allow you to better understand yourself and how you can collaborate more effectively with other people. Professionalism skills relating to self-knowledge and managing relationships are at the very core of our ability to manage conflict with greater insight and create more positive outcomes. PLUS common scenarios that graduate students and postdocs experience explored.

Available on demand (groups of 10 or more). Submit a request via our event request form.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• articulate the main responsibilities of a facilitator.
• identify tools of facilitation (group norms or ground rules, debriefing model, icebreakers).
• respect and appreciate the dynamics of privilege and oppression, and the uses of power between groups.
• appreciate how ethics, morals, and values relate to leadership dilemmas.
• communicate effectively (utilizing written and spoken word, non-verbal language, electronic tools, and listening skills) in order to develop relationships, manage conflicts, and work across differences.
• recognize how my own personal identities shape my leadership.
• collaborate and constructively engage with others.

Whether you’re a new or aspiring student leader, learning how to facilitate groups will help you reach your full potential. In this Facilitation Skills workshop, you’ll learn skills to successfully lead and guide groups (including student discussions). Facilitating requires a range of sophisticated communication skills. Most of us are not trained facilitators; we employ strategies discovered largely through trial and error. Join a group of like-minded student leaders to explore and practice essential and advanced facilitation skills, tools and more!

Available on demand (groups of 10 or more). Submit a request via our event request form.

What past participants say: "there was a ton in that session to pull and learn from" and another participant said "strongly agree with the value of learning facilitation skills. There were things I now imagine how to run effective meetings and with being a good teacher".

Student Testimonial:

Joan really modelled how to create a space of openness and curiosity (the best mindset for group work!) I felt really connected to my classmates today and could feel what good facilitation does to a group. Grateful for the practical tools and demonstrations. The breakout sessions were a helpful option for me to consider - showed how smaller groups can build safety, belonging, and openness, which then carries over when we come back to the larger group setting. I like that we thought about using these sessions strategically since it can be difficult to capture detailed data when breakout groups meet in parallel.

I enjoyed having a workshop for the whole class. Joan demonstrated how to facilitate a safe, engaging, and fun session while also delivering academic content related to facilitation, providing a good mix of theory and practice. She provided numerous tips and pointers that will be very useful to me soon.

I loved the meta-facilitation occurring in the classroom. Joan teaching us about facilitation while she facilitated our group. It allowed us to learn by example by seeing her manage us and encouraging us to participate. I could sense people slowly opening up.

From this week’s activity, I found it very interesting to have a lecture that was different from the usual—one that involved hands-on experiences and roundtable discussions where we could apply theory, brainstorm about focus groups and mentoring, and reflect on the differences and challenges faced in these activities.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Recognize essential elements of leadership
• Develop your own personal philosophy and approach to leadership
• Engage in a leadership learning community through interactions, experimentation, and sharing.
• Reflect and learn more about ‘managing up’ and seeking satisfaction at work

How important is it to be a good leader and/or work well in a team as a graduate student or postdoc? Leadership and teamwork will definitely be a part of your experiences as you pursue your academic goals here AND this session offers you the opportunity to dive into why the best leaders are learners! Consider important aspects of leadership along with contemporary frameworks, what is integral to creating cohesive, effective teams and more during an interactive 60 minutes.

Available on demand (groups of 10 or more). Submit a request via our event request form.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• engage in a learning community through sharing, interactions, experimentation.
• recognize and welcome inclusive practices into team settings.
• practice strategic collective processes such as the decision-making in a context of crisis.
• define actions to be implemented to develop resilience as leaders, teams and learners.
• experience how to lay the ground to do the hard work in a fun way.
• Clarify one's purpose and next steps for the future.

The intention of this two part workshop is to empower participants to develop personal leadership skills and strategies for operating in a range of plausible yet unpredictable futures. (workshops are usually 2 hours each)

Available on demand (groups of 10 or more). Submit a request via our event request form.

Student Testimonials:

I recommend Level Up to anyone working in teams, especially in leadership. Through different group-led modules and activities, this workshop gives participants the incredible opportunity to learn about what makes a cohesive, strong team. The two facilitators, Joan and Brandy, make the workshop an incredibly fun experience and before you know it, the allotted time has passed in a whirlwind of new knowledge and meaningful interactions. Register now, and I am sure you will not regret it! (Chloe Garzon, MCSS President 2021/22)

This workshop was a catalyst for us to think more intentionally about inclusion, participation, and decision-making within our team. It revealed a lot about our group dynamics and raised important points that we hadn't explicitly recognized before. It was an extremely valuable 4 hours, and would be useful for any group, new or old. (Ayo Ogunremi, 2020/21 VP External of SSMU)

For the SSMU executive, this workshop helped us identify topics of further discussion and overall strengthened the team dynamic significantly. The content presented was deeply enriching for me and a great means of connecting us, especially as we are unable to meet in person. Any team that is in the beginning stages of collaborating together should do this workshop. (Maheen Akter, 2020/21 VP Student Life of SSMU

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Engage in a learning community through sharing, interactions, experimentation.
• Reflect on meaningful concepts like emotional agility and mindsets individually.
• Clarify one's purpose and next steps for the future.
• Reflect and learn more about ‘managing up’ and seeking satisfaction at work.

How important is it for you as a student to be intentional about your leadership mindset? We all bring our own mental models of beliefs, values, and perspectives to our work and studies. But what is the level of impact of this with how we lead and interact with others? This interactive workshop will explore current trends related to cultivating a leadership mindset. Our goal will be to identify meaningful steps you can take in developing personal leadership skills and strategies to help you become the best leader you can be and have greater impact. We will work with you to help you realize your goals, develop new skills and reflect on how to achieve your objectives. (workshops are usually 90 minutes each)

Available on demand (groups of 10 or more). Submit a request via our event request form.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Gain more clarity about your personal qualities and strengths.
• Become more confident in talking about your personal qualities and strengths in an interview.
• Practice writing a clarification statement to help commit to exploring a new direction for career development.
• Identify a small action that will help you towards achieving a strengths-based development goal.

This workshop is a great opportunity to practice Interview Skills including how to prepare and confidently answer common interview questions by articulating who you are, storytelling, and listening! Focus on impactfully building your self-knowledge by gaining clarity around your strengths and interests so you can speak to them more confidently with employers. (workshop is usually 90 minutes long)

Available on demand (groups of 10 or more). Submit a request via our event request form.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Gain awareness of bases of power framework
• Consider what type of leader brings out the best in you
• Recognize essential elements of leadership
• Connect to your own professionalism and setting thrilling, important, daunting goals

What kind of leaders inspire the best from you? The way a leader behaves toward you, how effectively you work individually and/or as a team often depends on the source of the leaders power. In this workshop learn about bases of power, explore leadership, change and role models as well as consider ways to setting goals to be transformational and thrilling! The best leaders are learners! (workshop is usually 2 hours)

Available on demand (groups of 10 or more). Submit a request via our event request form.