HOSTED BY THE JOHN H. STAMLER POLICE ACADEMY SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ
Course Description:
The Iron-Sharpened Leadership and Resiliency Workshop is an exciting and inspirational two-day course for aspiring leaders and seasoned leaders within the law enforcement community and other sectors and industries who want to sharpen their leadership skills and strengthen their resiliency.
The course will be interactive and will include small group breakout sessions. Come prepared to participate, share your thoughts, take notes, and learn. We will emphasize how participants can apply learnings in their organizations following the workshop.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lunch. If preferred, there are facilities to purchase lunch within a reasonable distance from the training site.
Dates: October 5 and 6, 2023
Times:
Day One, October 5, 2023: Sign in and gather at 0800. The course will begin at 8:30a.m. There will be a one-hour lunch and the course will end at approximately 4:30p.m.
Day Two, October 6, 2023: Sign in and gather at 0800. The course will begin at 8:15 a.m. There will be a working lunch and the course will end at approximately 4:00 p.m. We recommend you bring your lunch on day two.
Location: John H. Stamler Police Academy
1776 Raritan Road
Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
HOW THIS COURSE WILL BENEFIT YOU:
- Gain an understanding of what it means to lead as a character-based and serve the ones you lead.
- Understand the importance of identifying your core values and the importance of factoring core values into your decision-making process.
- Improve your communications skills including your listening skills.
- Gain tools to better employ team dynamics, how to have difficult conversations, and manage conflict in your team and organization.
- Learn techniques for “leading up”.
- Learn how to cultivate trust within your team and organization and how to repair trust if you break it.
- Learn effective decision-making skills.
- Gain tools to develop your own resilience and the resiliency of those you lead.
- Identify your character strengths and understand how you can leverage those strengths.
The result will be enhanced leadership development which will enable more efficient and effective organizations.
Cost: $225 for the entire two-day course.
All participants will receive:
*Additional signed copies of the book “Iron-Sharpened Leadership” will be available at a special price for anyone who would like to purchase the book for others to enhance their leadership development.
How to Register
- Organizations may use purchase orders. The PO should include the position and name of the people attending along with individual mailing addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. Email the purchase orders to John@JohnGronski.com
- Organizations or individuals may use credit cards by utilizing this eCommerce site.
Dress Code: Comfortable and casual, but professional.
Questions: Direct questions to John Gronski at John@JohnGronski.com Phone 610-463-5492
About the instructors:
Major General John L. Gronski (US Army, Retired)
When John Gronski graduated from the US Army’s elite Ranger School in 1990, he was 34 years old, and was the oldest student in his class to make it through the rigorous course. He still remembers a Ranger Non-Commissioned Officer offering this advice at the end of the course, “Now that you have earned that Ranger tab, you have to prove you deserve it every single day.” John has been trying to prove himself every day since and believes that self-discipline is the key to success. John believes one must look for opportunities to leave one’s comfort zone and seek challenges to develop resiliency.
One of the biggest challenges of John’s life was commanding 5,000 Soldiers and Marines in Ramadi, Iraq in 2005 and 2006, At that time Ramadi was known as the most dangerous place on earth. It was there that John saw exactly how important every member of the team was. When the wolf is at the door there is no room for arrogance and leaders must have the ability to communicate and instill “purpose” into the team.
John’s leadership philosophy is based on character, competence, and resilience. Even though John has over 40 years of leadership experience in trying conditions in both the military and civilian sectors, John is still on a journey to become an even stronger leader. John is highly respected for his operational leadership experience and is a leadership trainer popular with law enforcement and civilian executives alike due to his “muddy boots” style of getting out with those he leads and setting the example.
Major General John Gronski (USA, Ret.) served 40 years in the United States Army both on active duty and in the Pennsylvania National Guard. John has commanded infantry units at every level from a 140 Soldier company to a 15,000 Soldier division. John is a decorated combat Veteran. He has served overseas four times during his career to include tours in Iraq, Lithuania, and Germany.
He graduated from numerous Army schools to include the US Army War College, Infantry Officer Advanced Course, Ranger School, and Airborne School.
John’s awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, and the Navy Unit Commendation (2nd award).
John has an MBA from Penn State Great Valley and a Master of Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. He is the founder and CEO of Leader Grove, LLC, a leadership consulting firm. John is an experienced leadership trainer, international speaker, and executive coach.
He is the recipient of the Frank J. O’Hara Award in the Government Service Category, the highest award bestowed jointly by the University of Scranton and the Alumni Society. He is a recipient of the Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award and James E. West Award. The Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars presented the prestigious Eagle Award to John in recognition for his combat service and his leadership of the 28th Infantry Division. John was awarded the Washington Crossing Foundation Award by the Washington Crossing Foundation for service and dedication to the ideals of our Founding Fathers.
John is the author of two books. “Iron-Sharpened Leadership” is a leadership book grounded on John’s leadership philosophy and fraught with inspiring stories and lessons learned over John’s extensive career in the military and private sector. “The Ride of Our Lives” is a book about a transcontinental bicycle adventure John embarked on with his wife and 15-month-old son in 1983.
John and his wife Berti have been married for over 41 years. They have two sons. Stephen served in the United States Marine Corps and works with the reservation maintenance department at Ft. Indiantown Gap. Timothy served in the United States Army and had combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and is now a Pennsylvania State Trooper. They are also blessed with grandson Kevin and granddaughter Emma.
Sergeant Major JoAnn Tresco (US Army, Retired)
I grew up in an Italian American home in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where the Sunday dinner table was full of veterans who were nothing short of heroes. My cousin survived the Bataan Death March and surprised everyone in our family by returning home alive. His mere presence made me catch my breath and it was then that I knew I was going to be unstoppable.
My mother died when I was nine years old. When you are left without that single most important female role model, you begin to take stock of who you are and what you are going to do in life. My mother’s parents raised me to be a strong woman. They were dead by the time I finished college. The Italian family was gone, so I joined the military to be part of something bigger than myself and vowed to be a leader. I had a story to tell and lives to touch. I knew that at a young age.
I was part of the very first female integrated basic training class at Ft. Dix New Jersey in 1980 and learned very quickly what I was made of. I returned home to join the 28th Infantry Division Judge Advocate General Corps where I served as a Senior Paralegal NCOIC. I served with them for 34 years during which I saw the very worst of human behavior.
While serving in the PAARNG as a reservist, I pursued a successful civilian career as a senior paralegal, a law office manager and then the Legal Studies Division Chair at Central Pennsylvania College where I taught and directed three academic programs for 17 years and mentored many young men and women who needed guidance.
In 2002 I went on active duty with the Guard, serving with SFOR XII in Bosnia Herzgovenia and then a combat tour in Iraq in 2009 with the 28th Combat Aviation Brigade. One can never unsee what war looks like. It leaves an indelible mark on the soul. When I returned home from Iraq, sounds, situations and environments that I knew before my deployment, became a threat to me and, like many of my male comrades, I felt best in isolation, so I stayed inside my house for weeks and did not re-engage with my friends.
Luckily, in Iraq my comrades taught me yoga and also how to salsa dance. Both calmed my psyche and enabled me to reconnect to my strength and endurance. So when I returned home I continued to dance as a coping strategy for PTSD. Today I am an avid ballroom dancer for the same reason. My story of reintegration is published in three resilience books, one of which is a U.S. Army reintegration medical manual.
Following my combat tour, I began working with the Resilience Directorate at Ft. Indiantown Gap where I became a resilience instructor, state resilience coordinator and a Master Resilience Trainer, training soldiers across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in resilience strategies for coping with trauma, loss and adversity.
I retired from the military as a Sergeant Major in 2014. I am currently employed as a Federal Contractor for the Service Member and Family Support Service branch of the PA Army National Guard as the Risk Reduction Coordinator, (formerly Alcohol & Drug Control Officer). I am also the proud CEO of PA DanceSport Ballroom in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a veteran owned business, where I employ six teachers of dance, one of whom is a current member of the PA Army National Guard and the other an 82 nd Airborne Ranger.
In 2021 I competed and won the title of Ms. PA Senior America. I am the first female veteran to hold the title and my platform is increasing the visibility and relevance of PA’s 60,000 female veterans. Today, I seek to inspire others to continue to adapt, renew and tackle adversity with vigor and confidence through all stages of life, especially those who live with PTSD.
Testimonials about Iron-Sharpened Leadership and Resiliency Workshop
“On behalf of me and my agency I wanted to extend my sincere gratitude for the last two days of training, education, and motivation. I reference my entire agency because they are going to benefit from everything I learned from you about being a better and stronger leader. John, I look forward to reading your book and sharing everything I learned over the last two days with my guys. Thank you again and I hope to have the opportunity to hear you speak again. “ Sgt. Bryan Macartney #516 Branchburg Twp Police Department
"General Gronski's iron sharpened leadership book and course are valuable tools for leaders in all professions. As a physician I have attended numerous leadership courses and workshops that use key words and catch phrases but fail to provide useful tools. General Gronski's approach provides useful effective training that can be put into practice immediately. His emphasis on the pillars of good leadership involving character and responsibility is refreshing and realistic. He seems to have an uncanny ability to explain human behavior and motivation. He is a charismatic speaker who humbly shares his military leadership experience and combines it with an unmatched academic mastery of the subject. His teachings produce introspective leaders who lead by example and continue to grow.” Michael Kelly, D.O.
“We were honored to host the first leadership and resiliency seminar / workshop for law enforcement leadership and aspiring leaders in New Jersey. Major General John Gronski was the keynote speaker and leader of the workshop. The two-day seminar taught a variety of leadership lessons and resiliency strategies based on the experience of the presenter. As the resiliency officer I look forward to making this a yearly event. The message is both powerful and timeless and I can’t thank John Gronski enough for his passion and dedication. In 23 years, this was the most impactful and powerful training I have ever attended.” SGT Andrew Berkery, West Orange, NJ Police Department
“It was a great experience. The workshop was amazing. Thank you.” Police Captain Richard McDonald, West Orange, NJ Police Department
“Great leadership and resiliency training.” Lt. Robert Osborne, City of Bristol, CT Police Department
“General Gronski, thank you for your commitment to sharing your powerful life lessons to help us learn what it takes to be better leaders. Your class was very inspirational, and I have started to implement many of your teachings into the field. It was an honor meeting you sir.” Captain Luis R. Perez NJ Transit Police
"Really wanted to reiterate how much value I found in the course. It certainly helped me be more introspective and aware of my own leadership philosophy and actual character strengths and flaws." JK, Police Lieutenant, Somerset, NJ Workshop
"I highly recommend the Iron-Sharpened Leadership and Resiliency Training. The facilitators do a great job of engaging participants in the material in a way that makes the lessons immediately applicable to my work." LEO, Somerset, NJ Workshop
"This course is not only useful in my professional career but in my personal life. I would like to instill the values and character of leadership and resiliency to my children so they can be future leaders someday." LEO, Somerset, NJ Workshop
"The Iron-Sharpened Leadership and Resiliency Workshop reminds leaders that leadership and resiliency are constantly evolving." LEO, Lloyd Fredericks
"An excellent, interactive 2-day event. It exceeded expectations. The presenters have real world experience to share that help solidify the concepts. I highly recommend for all leaders whether just starting out on their leadership journey or are a seasoned leader." LEO, Rob E.
"This class was tremendous, and I would be challenged to find an area to improve it." LEO, Somerset, NJ Workshop