The USC hospitals are preparing to launch a fourth comprehensive management training course for directors and managers. The course is part of an ongoing effort to promote leadership development and enhance employee relations within the organization.

The Trojan Bootcamp leadership program was launched in 2010 and has since successfully graduated 72 directors and managers from across the Keck Medical Center of USC over three different sessions. The most recent cohort completed its training program in January, and 78 more leaders are on a waiting list for future cohorts starting in the fall.

"We initially created this program in response to feedback from our 2010 Employee Partnership Survey," said Chief Human Resources Officer Matt McElrath. We wanted to give our managers and directors a tool to help them lead better to connect with their staff, promote engagement and foster collaboration. Since then, the program has grown into a career-changing experience for so many of our employees.

Administrators from Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital developed Trojan Bootcamp in collaboration with USC's Professional and Organizational Development team, a part of USC Career and Protective Services.

This team also leads the courses, all-day sessions spanning 10 weeks and covering a multitude of management topics including business management, effective communication, employee relations and change management.

In the program, medical center leaders focus on their own leadership growth through personal assessments. The course curriculum is specifically tailored to address the dynamic, complex field of health care. Bootcamp participants work collaboratively to share leadership experiences, and visits from high-level administrators from across USC put leadership principles into real-life context. "The lessons we learned in Bootcamp were invaluable," said Kevin Kaldjian, manager of administrative operations and a graduate of the most recent Bootcamp cohort. "It was really powerful and rewarding to be able to go through this experience with a room full of talented, dedicated, committed leaders. We were able to take our experiences as managers and build on them, strengthening our own abilities to lead our teams to excellence."

In addition to learning about new ways to meet leadership goals and challenges, each cohort is also tasked with a capstone project following completion of the course. The project is a gift back to the organization. For example, recent cohorts have been focused on efficiency in meetings and ways to spread the medical center's mission among all staff and physicians.

"The development of our managers into more effective leaders is a key investment in our future," said hospitals Chief Operating Officer and interim Chief Executive Officer Scott Evans. "In order to really move forward and excel as a trusted leader in health care, we need to learn how to work together collaboratively with our peers and our staff. This program is helping to grow and inspire our leaders, so that we can move forward as an organization;facing the same challenges and accomplishing the same goals together."

For more information about Trojan Bootcamp or to sign up, contact Lisa Lawrence at lawrencelisa@verizon.net.