Introducing the Leading Excellence & Achievement Program (LEAP) | Cohort 6

The Wisconsin Center for Performance Excellence and the Minnesota-based Performance Excellence Network are pleased to invite you to participate in the sixth cohort of “Leading Excellence & Achievement Program” (LEAP).  Our first cohort launched in 2021, and we have added a cohort each year thereafter. We are extending invitations to leaders who we think would enjoy/benefit from participation in our fourth cohort– and we would love to have you! 

“The LEAP cohort experience was certainly of significant value in helping me better understand Baldrige best practice and allowing me to bounce questions/ideas off the cohort.  The discussions were especially useful, and the Baldrige recipient sessions were of terrific value” – Cohort Participant.

This is a unique cohort-based offering that takes learning and benchmarking to a new level with access to – and interaction with – other successful senior leaders, each sharing insights on how to design and lead a journey to excellence using the Baldrige Framework.

Objectives and Benefits 

The Leading Excellence & Achievement Program is an invitation-only, ten-month leadership development program, centered on learning, benchmarking, and networking with other leaders on the journey to excellence. The foundation of the experience is based on the Baldrige Framework, though some participants may come from organizations just wanting to learn more about its use and value. There are many benefits of participation:

• Experience accelerated (and applied) leadership development, exploring how the principles of excellence have been implemented in a diverse set of organizations – businesses, healthcare, education, nonprofits, and public sector agencies.
• Learn insights and best practices from high performing local and national organizations, many of which have received top Awards from PEN, WCPE, and the Baldrige Program
• Explore how best practices in leadership, planning, customer focus, measurement, workforce engagement, and operational effectiveness can translate to your organization, helping you to address strategic challenges and/or improve organizational outcomes.

“LEAP has been a great experience to deepen my understanding of the Baldrige Criteria. We’ve had great opportunities to learn from national Baldrige winners, our fellow cohort members, and our LEAP coaches. I highly recommend LEAP to anyone considering the program.” – Cohort Participant

 

Program Features

Participation in LEAP is an intense eight-month commitment which includes the following features:

• Participation in five full-day learning/benchmarking events, hosted by organizations in Minnesota and Wisconsin.  Each session will include:
• A half-day “module” that focuses on insights and best practices from a Baldrige Category (leadership, planning, customer, etc.), with part of the morning learning from the host site, part of the morning spent in roundtable discussion and sharing across the cohort.
• A “module” that will feature a national Baldrige Award winner, sharing by livestream their insights on the day’s topic.
• Another half-day “module” that focuses on insights and best practices from a different Baldrige Category (and led by a different organization on the journey to excellence), also includes a presentation and roundtable discussion. 
• A capstone project, which will offer participants the chance to explore how the concepts learned throughout the experience can be applied to addressing a challenge (and/or advancing a goal of the participant’s “home organization”). Capstone projects will be shared within the cohort at the end of the experience.
• Support of a coach who will offer monthly office hours answer questions, support work on the capstone project, and prepare for the next module.
• NEW! Virtual sessions between meetings to clarify and reinforce learning and connections.
• A new spring activity with other LEAP alumni to strengthen and nurture your professional network.

“LEAP’s deep dive into each category with experts in the field, Baldrige winners, and colleagues across every industry is a powerful way to experience a true immersive learning experience that I can take back to my organization” – Cohort participant.

Each cohort will be informal and small (with a target of 12-15 participants), allowing for more intimate sharing and relationship building. Several organizations have sent two leaders to participate in the same cohort.  

“I appreciate the learning and sharing that has occurred through the LEAP program.  The ability to network with others and understand through the instructor’s experiences has been very valuable. Additionally, I have appreciated how this program is able to break down the Baldrige Performance Framework into digestible content” – Cohort participant.

Your Investment

Investment for WCPE members is $3500, which includes participation in benchmarking sessions, the capstone project, and coach support. Host sites will be in Minnesota or Wisconsin (all within a half-day or less drive).

We are excited to launch the fifth cohort of this unique learning, benchmarking, and networking opportunity – and we believe it would complement the excellence initiatives you already have in place. Our goal is to fill the cohort by August 30th. Attendance and participation are expected at each session (see attached sample agenda).  Below are tentative session dates and locations for 2026-27 Cohort 6:

September 17-18, 2026 – Wisconsin   

October 29-30, 2026- Minnesota 

November 19, 2026, Noon – 1:30 PM Virtual Call

December 3-4, 2026 – Wisconsin

February 11-12, 2027 – Minnesota

March 11, 2027, Noon – 1:30 PM Virtual Call

April 15-16, 2027 – Wisconsin

“The LEAP cohort provides focused time to network, learn, and share. I gained insights in our very first session that more than returned my time investment for the whole cohort series.” –Cohort participant

Reserve your spot by completing a short form.  We are happy to explore the concept further, invoice in installments, or answer any of your questions. Thank you for your consideration.