- Discover the three phases of strategic talent planning: ASSESS + IDENTIFY, DEVELOP, and EVALUATE
- Strategize the current state of your team by measuring performance and potential with intentionality and clarity
- Experiment with talent development tools to articulate and activate your plan to grow and engage top talent
- Apply exercise content to current leadership situations, team design, and people development processes
- Develop an action and implementation plan of new leadership competencies
& Strategic People Development
Talent Catalyst: Succession Planning
& Strategic People Development
Designing the Future State of
Your Talented Team
The most strategic leaders are not just managing the work immediately in front of them. They are always thinking ahead: who on their team is ready for more, who has untapped potential waiting to be developed, and who could step into a larger role when the opportunity arrives. Strategic talent development and succession planning are not HR functions reserved for large organizations. They are core leadership responsibilities, and the leaders who take them seriously build teams that keep getting stronger.
This succession planning and talent development workshop introduces a three-phase framework, ASSESS + IDENTIFY, DEVELOP, and EVALUATE, that gives leaders a structured, practical approach to understanding where their team members are today and co-creating a roadmap for where they can grow. Participants will experiment with talent development tools, learn to measure performance and potential with greater precision, and leave with a concrete plan to grow, engage, and retain their top talent. This session is designed to connect directly to the real people on your team and the real development conversations you need to be having with them.
What You'll Learn
During this giving and receiving feedback workshop, participants will:
Leadership Behaviors You'll Develop
As a result of this session, participants will be able to enhance their leadership capabilities through the following behaviors:
- Strategic thinking and succession planning skills to build a strong, sustainable pipeline of future leaders
- Empowering others with meaningful opportunities for growth and professional development
- Influencing and inspiring top performance from all team members, including strong contributors and those with the most potential to grow
- Setting others up for success when executing a shared vision
- Providing positive reinforcement to ensure continued engagement and sustained investment in the team’s future
- Creating actionable next steps to build an even more effective and future-ready team
Who Is This Workshop For?
This workshop is ideal for managers and senior leaders ready to take a more intentional and strategic approach to talent development, succession planning, and team design. HR business partners and learning and development professionals building high-performing organizations will also find the frameworks directly applicable and immediately usable.
Related Workshops
Learning Objectives:
- Define the CURRENT STATE and FUTURE STATE of the team’s collective goals and objectives
- Experiment with design thinking methodology to begin ideation of creative, implementable action plans to fully realize your team’s ideal future state
- Leverage positive psychology to create future-focused, behavior-based outcomes
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Strategic Thinking + Goal Setting
- Creativity + Innovation
- Positive Psychology & Growth Mindset
Learning Objectives:
- Leverage feedback conversations to transform and inspire performance of peers, direct-reports, and other frequent collaborators
- Identify the theories behind three common negative reactions when receiving feedback
- Discover the three types of feedback to more effectively inspire peak performance
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Giving + Receiving Feedback
- Navigating Conflict Conversations
- Positive Psychology + Trust
Learning Objectives:
- Define the CURRENT STATE and FUTURE STATE of the team’s collective goals and objectives
- Experiment with design thinking methodology to begin ideation of creative, implementable action plans to fully realize your team’s ideal future state
- Leverage positive psychology to create future-focused, behavior-based outcomes
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Strategic Thinking + Goal Setting
- Creativity + Innovation
- Positive Psychology & Growth Mindset
Learning Objectives:
- Leverage feedback conversations to transform and inspire performance of peers, direct-reports, and other frequent collaborators
- Identify the theories behind three common negative reactions when receiving feedback
- Discover the three types of feedback to more effectively inspire peak performance
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Giving + Receiving Feedback
- Navigating Conflict Conversations
- Positive Psychology + Trust
Learning Objectives:
- Differentiate between the concepts of COACHING and MENTORING in our leadership style
- Experiment with coaching methodologies to enhance our skill set, and determine the strategic questions that inspire others to feel empowered to act
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Coaching for Empowerment
- Asking Strategic Questions + Active Listening
- Talent Development
Learning Objectives:
- Explore the three types of motivation and engagement, taking a pulse on current organization-wide strategies and opportunities for the future
- Experiment with three unique theories to immediately increase intrinsic motivation
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Engagement + Motivation
- Talent Strategy + Development
- Leading with Values
- Active Listening
Learning Objectives:
- Differentiate between the concepts of COACHING and MENTORING in our leadership style
- Experiment with coaching methodologies to enhance our skill set, and determine the strategic questions that inspire others to feel empowered to act
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Coaching for Empowerment
- Asking Strategic Questions + Active Listening
- Talent Development
Learning Objectives:
- Explore the three types of motivation and engagement, taking a pulse on current organization-wide strategies and opportunities for the future
- Experiment with three unique theories to immediately increase intrinsic motivation
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Engagement + Motivation
- Talent Strategy + Development
- Leading with Values
- Active Listening
View More Workshops
View More Workshops
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the three phases of talent planning covered in this succession planning workshop?
The workshop guides leaders through Assess and Identify, where they evaluate performance and potential across their team; Develop, where targeted development plans are co-created with team members; and Evaluate, where leaders measure progress and refine their approach. Each phase builds on the last to create a living, actionable talent roadmap that grows stronger over time.
How does strategic talent planning strengthen team performance and employee retention?
When leaders invest in understanding each team member's potential and co-create a meaningful path forward together, people feel genuinely seen, valued, and invested in. That sense of investment is one of the strongest drivers of engagement, sustained performance, and retention, and it builds a team that grows stronger over time rather than plateauing. In addition, strategic talent planning is critical for succession planning, to ensure the right talent is being developed within the organization to ensure continued forward movement.
Is succession planning relevant for leaders of small or mid-sized teams?
Absolutely. Talent planning is valuable whether you are leading a team of three or thirty. The frameworks introduced in this workshop are scalable and practical at any team size, and thinking strategically about where each person is today and where they have the potential to go is one of the highest-leverage investments any leader can make.
How is this talent development workshop different from standard performance management training?
Rather than focusing primarily on evaluating past performance, this workshop is oriented toward building future capability. The emphasis is on strategic thinking: understanding potential, co-creating development plans, and designing a team built to grow with your organization over the long term. It is forward-focused by design.
How does Talent Catalyst connect to other leadership development workshops?
It pairs naturally with Coaching to Full Potential, The DNA of Engagement and Motivation, and Thanks for the Feedback as part of a comprehensive people leadership journey. Together, these sessions build the full range of skills leaders need to develop, motivate, and retain a team that keeps reaching new heights.
Jacob Goldstein
Jacob Goldstein is the founder of The Leadership Laboratory, and leverages his experiences in education, the performing arts, and corporate learning & leadership development to his work. As a performer, Jacob has sung as a backup vocalist for musical artists such as Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, and Patti LuPone, as a recording artist for Netflix series Sense8, and at venues including The United Center, The Chicago Theater, and Chicago Symphony Center. In the education space, Jacob has served as an educator for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and has been a Guest Lecturer at Northwestern University since 2016. As a Learning & Leadership Development Consultant, Jacob has worked as a one-on-one coach and group workshop facilitator to organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies in diverse industries, including technology, healthcare, non-profit, and fashion/apparel. Jacob holds a Bachelor’s degree from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master’s of Science in Communication from Northwestern University.
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Contact us and say hello! We're excited to get to know you and share our ideas on learning + leadership development.
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