Rockford Leadership Alliance (RLA)
What is Rockford Leadership Alliance?
Rockford Leadership Alliance (RLA) is a focused, thematic leadership development program designed for business executives and high potential leaders in the Rockford region. The RLA’s annual focus is oriented towards addressing critical leadership gaps identified in the Rockford business community.
What Happens during an RLA Workshop?
Workshops are designed to be focused, intentional times that focus on personal and professional development. Each participant is placed into a small group (based on number of direct reports) in which he/she will work throughout the year. Participants in the small group come from various industries and backgrounds, but face similar challenges and opportunities in their leadership.
Each workshop is facilitated by The Anser Group. The Anser Group is a highly trained group of professional coaches and facilitators deeply invested in RLA. They develop content filled with actionable take-aways, meaningful experiences and relatable challenges.
What Can I Expect from RLA?
Who Should Participate?
RLA has a place for all levels of leaders – from young professionals to long-standing CEOs, there is a seat for everyone at RLA. Participants are placed into small groups to allow for learning that mirrors their professional life. C-Suite Level participants will be placed in C-Suite level small groups; mid-level managers with mid-level managers; etc.
Companies are encouraged to send leaders who are instrumental to the success of the organization. Those who can create change, are accountable for results or have been tapped for future leadership positions are the ideal candidates for RLA. Because RLA has actionable take-aways, leaders are encouraged to implement what they learn within their organization. Organizations who are open to this and send appropriate leaders will receive the highest ROI from the program.
Rockford Leadership Alliance (RLA) is a focused, thematic leadership development program designed for business executives and high potential leaders in the Rockford region. The RLA’s annual focus is oriented towards addressing critical leadership gaps identified in the Rockford business community.
What Happens during an RLA Workshop?
Workshops are designed to be focused, intentional times that focus on personal and professional development. Each participant is placed into a small group (based on number of direct reports) in which he/she will work throughout the year. Participants in the small group come from various industries and backgrounds, but face similar challenges and opportunities in their leadership.
Each workshop is facilitated by The Anser Group. The Anser Group is a highly trained group of professional coaches and facilitators deeply invested in RLA. They develop content filled with actionable take-aways, meaningful experiences and relatable challenges.
What Can I Expect from RLA?
- Confidentiality – Especially within your small group, but within the group at large as well.
- Accountability – Your small group is designed to hold your accountable – from showing up to putting in the work. Your small group is your pack.
- Actionable Take-aways – Training is only helpful when you can put what you’ve learned to work. Each session will provide you with actionable steps to bring back to your organization and/or your personal life.
- Connections Across industries – RLA is comprised of professionals from various industries. A huge benefit of RLA is meeting and working alongside professionals whom you may not otherwise encounter. Cross-industry learning helps spark new ideas, collaboration and community.
Who Should Participate?
RLA has a place for all levels of leaders – from young professionals to long-standing CEOs, there is a seat for everyone at RLA. Participants are placed into small groups to allow for learning that mirrors their professional life. C-Suite Level participants will be placed in C-Suite level small groups; mid-level managers with mid-level managers; etc.
Companies are encouraged to send leaders who are instrumental to the success of the organization. Those who can create change, are accountable for results or have been tapped for future leadership positions are the ideal candidates for RLA. Because RLA has actionable take-aways, leaders are encouraged to implement what they learn within their organization. Organizations who are open to this and send appropriate leaders will receive the highest ROI from the program.

Rockford Leadership Alliance (RLA) is a focused, thematic leadership development program designed for business executives and high potential leaders in the Rockford region. The RLA’s annual focus is oriented towards addressing critical leadership gaps identified in the Rockford business community. Rockford Leadership Alliance is currently on hiatus.
RLA Speakers and Topics
2019-2020 – Engaging Teams
Whitney Johnson – Build an A-Team Whitney Johnson, one of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world (Thinkers50), is an expert on helping high growth organizations develop high growth individuals. She is an award-winning author, word class keynote speaker, frequent lecturer for Harvard Business School’s Corporate Learning, and an executive coach and advisor to CEOs. Whitney is a popular contributor for the Harvard Business Review. She has 1.7 million followers on Linkedin where she was selected as a Top Voice in 2018, and her course on the Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship has been viewed more than 1 million times. In 2019, she was ranked #3 on the Global Gurus' Top 30 Organizational Culture Professionals. In 2017, she was selected from more than 16,000 candidates as a “Top 15 Coach” by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. An innovation and disruption theorist, she is the author of the bestselling Build an A Team (Harvard Business Press, 2018), a Financial Times and CEO Read, Book of the Month, and the critically-acclaimed Disrupt Yourself (2015). |
2018-2019 – Accountability
Joseph Grenny – Crucial Accountability Joseph Grenny is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, dynamic keynote speaker, and leading social scientist for business performance. Joseph’s work has been translated into 28 languages, is available in 36 countries, and has generated results for 300 of the Fortune 500. Joseph is the coauthor of four immediate New York Times bestsellers with more than three million copies in print: Crucial Conversations, Influencer, Crucial Accountability, and Change Anything. He contributes regularly to Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn. He has appeared on The Today Show, CNN, Bloomberg, and Fox Business News; and been featured in Forbes, Businessweek, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. |
2017 – Organizational Health
Patrick Lencioni – The Advantage Pat is the founder of The Table Group and the author of 11 books which have sold over 5 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages. The Wall Street Journal called him "one of the most in demand speakers in America." He has addressed millions of people at conferences and events around the world over the past 15 years. Pat has written for or been featured in numerous publications including Harvard Business Review, Inc., Fortune, Fast Company, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek. As CEO, Pat spends his time writing books and articles related to leadership and organizational health, speaking to audiences interested in those topics and consulting to CEOs and their teams. |
2016 – Trust
Stephen M.R. Covey – The Speed of Trust Stephen M. R. Covey is a New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The SPEED of Trust—The One Thing That Changes Everything. He is the former CEO of Covey Leadership Center, which, under his stewardship, became the largest leadership development company in the world. Stephen personally led the strategy that propelled his father's book, Dr. Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, to become one of the two most influential business books of the 20th Century, according to CEO Magazine. As President and CEO of Covey Leadership Center, Stephen nearly doubled revenues while increasing profits by 12 times. During that period, the company expanded throughout the world into over 40 countries, greatly increasing the value of the brand and enterprise. |