Leadership Essentials Courses
Big Skills. Small Investment.
SFNet's live online Leadership Essentials Courses are designed for secured finance professionals who want focused, concentrated learning. Each 2- to 4-hour course delivers time-tested techniques you can apply the moment you log off. Led by Ann M. Butera, CRP, President of The Whole Person Project, Inc., these practical sessions offer high-impact training at an accessible $295 per course. These courses can be applied toward our Secured Finance Certified Professionals (SFCP) program.
Click the course title for details and upcoming dates.
Effective leaders aren't born, they're made. But building a high-performing team takes more than directing people to work together. It requires self-awareness, adaptability, and a clear understanding of how your leadership style shapes the people around you.
You'll walk away from this course able to:
- Distinguish between the roles of leaders and managers, and why both matter
- Recognize the benefits and limitations of four distinct leadership styles
- Apply situational leadership principles to adapt your approach to any team dynamic or circumstance
- Assess your own preferred leadership style with honesty and clarity
- Determine whether your natural style is the right fit for your specific team and work environment
SCHEDULED SESSIONS OF THIS COURSE WILL APPEAR BELOW.
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2026 Fall Leadership: Critical Leadership Strategies
October 6, 2026Online, 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ETBy the end of the session, participants will identify key takeaways and methods to measure their progress in applying leadership techniques.
What separates a good advisor from an indispensable one isn't what they know, it's how they communicate, connect, and inspire confidence in the people they serve. The ability to influence outcomes and navigate critical conversations are what make you a person whose ideas and counsel are genuinely sought out.
You'll walk away from this course able to:
- Define the attributes that make someone a trusted advisor in their organization
- Explain the four factors that shape how others perceive your trustworthiness
- Demonstrate the behaviors that build trust consistently, and recognize and eliminate the ones
SCHEDULED SESSIONS OF THIS COURSE WILL APPEAR BELOW.
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2027 Winter Leadership: How to Be the Trusted Advisor
February 4, 2027Online, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm ETLearn what it takes to become a trusted advisor by understanding the key traits of trust, the behaviors that build (and break) it, and practical tools you can apply right away.
If no one ever pushes back on your ideas, they probably haven't been listening. But when objections do come, having a confident, repeatable way to respond separates effective leaders from frustrated ones.
You'll walk away from this course able to:
- Use a repeatable framework to prevent and minimize pushback before it escalates
- Tell the difference between delaying tactics and genuine objections and respond accordingly
- Address the objections others raise with confidence and precision
- Employ ready-made responses to the pushback you face most often
SCHEDULED SESSIONS OF THIS COURSE WILL APPEAR BELOW.
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2027 Winter Leadership: Overcoming Objections and Pushback
December 3, 2027Online, 12:30-4:30 pm ET each dayLearn to distinguish stalls from true objections, apply conflict management styles, and use listening techniques to effectively handle pushback and objections in audits, reviews, and projects.
Ann M. Butera, CRP is President of The Whole Person Project, Inc., an organizational development consulting firm focused on helping professionals improve change management and risk practices and achieve measurable results. A corporate trainer, instructional designer, and sought-after speaker, Ann is the author of Mastering the Five Tiers of Audit Competency: The Essence of Effective Auditing and Say What!? Communicate with Tact and Impact, both grounded in time-tested approaches to creating positive behavioral change.
With more than 30 years of experience training thousands of professionals, her practical, immediately applicable advice benefits leaders at every career stage. Ann holds an MBA in Organizational Development from Adelphi University and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Long Island University/C.W. Post College.
