Downtown: Managers Session: Leading in Tough Times

Program Summary: Managers: Leading in Tough Times:Staying Human, Focused, and Effective Under Pressure

In a climate of tighter budgets, reduced resources, and high emotional strain, leaders are being asked to do more with less, while still supporting their teams. In these tough times, leadership isn’t just about efficiency.  It’s about courage, clarity, and compassion. That means managing both the workload and the emotional load, showing up for your people while continuing to deliver, and advocating for what’s realistic without losing focus.

Join Merge Gupta-Sunderji for this practical, energizing in-person workshop. Designed for people managers and others in formal leadership positions, this session gives you real tools to help your team stay grounded, motivated, and resilient, even when the pressure is on. You’ll leave with specific strategies, frameworks, and language you can apply right away to help you lead with strength and humanity.

Who will benefit

Anyone currently in a supervisory, team leader, or management position.

Here’s just some of what you will learn

• How to shift from reactive to generous leadership using the Generosity Lens
• A practical matrix to help you balance workload and wellbeing for your team
• How to advocate upward when capacity is stretched too thin
• Respectful, clear language for saying no without shutting down collaboration
• Tools to support your team through sadness, conflict, and frustration
• Phrases and approaches that acknowledge stress while moving work forward
• What it looks like to lead by example in constrained environments
• How to make space for both humanity and results—without burning out

How you will learn

Merge is known for delivering content-rich programs that inspire, engage, AND give people the tools to take action. Expect high-energy and interaction, with concepts illustrated through a blend of examples, anecdotes, analogies, humour, props, demonstrations, and activities.

Participant Expectations

• Please attend the full event. Late arrivals, early departures, and stepping out during the session can negatively impact the group experience and may create confusion during the session
• Actively participate in the session exercises, group work, and discussions, and be open to ideas and activities even if they don't immediately resonate with you
• Practice inclusivity, consciousnesses of the group, kindness, professional courtesy, and discretion
• Let your hosts know in advance if you have any accessibility requirements or questions

About your seminar leader

Merge Gupta-Sunderji turns managers into leaders. A highly-respected leadership expert and columnist, Merge gives people specific and practical tools to achieve leadership and communication success. Over 99,000 managers in 26 countries have attended her fun, content-rich keynotes and facilitated workshops. A leader at one of Canada’s premier oil and gas companies and a Board leader at a Credit Union for a combined total of over seventeen years, Merge offers a unique blend of realism and humor that consistently engages and entertains her audiences! She is called upon frequently to individually mentor high-potential leaders in a variety of organizations.

Previously, she was the well-known voice behind the national CBC radio column The Softer Side of Business. She’s an award-winning published author, writing for many well-known organizations and publications, including the very popular Merge’s Monthly Mega Minute, and a regular monthly column in The Globe & Mail, Canada’s most respected and widely-circulated national newspaper. Her first book titled Why Does the Lobster Cast Off Its Shell? is now in its third edition, and her last book Generations Exposed – Unexpected Insights Into the People You Work With is in its second printing.

About Your Host

AAPS is the labour relations organization that represents the Management and Professional Staff group to their employer UBC. AAPS is a separate organization from UBC, and your conversations with us are confidential. We offer members professional labour relations advice that is in your best interest as an employee. We encourage you to get to know AAPS and your Collective Agreement and let us know if you have any questions or if we can help.

The AAPS Professional Development Program is designed and hosted by AAPS for our members. We offer a variety of topics on management, leadership, interpersonal skills, workplace skills, as well as personal and social development. The AAPS PD Program is designed in consultation with the AAPS Board of Directors and staff. Member Services Officer Sarah Muff is the program’s architect and manager. She staffs the PD events. If you have ideas or feedback, please email Sarah at sarah.muff@ubc.ca.

Registration Information

The AAPS Professional Development program is designed for and offered exclusively to AAPS members at no cost. AAPS members can register to attend one of the in-person sessions, the live Zoom session, or access the recorded version. Before registering, please consider your schedule and your ability to actively participate in the full length of the session.

This is the same session repeated. Please only register once. Multiple registrations throw off our numbers and makes it so other members can’t attend. Please be considerate of your fellow members. You can attend the in-person session at any location you wish.

The live Zoom session requires you to use audio, and video is strongly encouraged as well.  For the in-person and live Zoom your presence and focus are important for the structure of this session. You will need to be able to attend the full length of the session. If that doesn’t work for your schedule this time around, no worries, there is always the recorded version.

If you have accessibility requirements, serious allergies, or questions, please email sarah.muff@ubc.ca. Zoom auto-captions are always enabled for our sessions. If you need a live transcriber, interpretation, or other specific audio or visual supports for in-person or Zoom sessions, please let us know in advance.

Registration is open: https://aaps.ubc.ca/aaps-pd-registration