NIBA Leadership & Management (L&M) Academy
Business Training for Belting Branch Managers
The NIBA Leadership & Management (L&M) Academy is a 10-week, fully digital program built for current and future leaders in the belting industry, offered through our partner GoalMakers.
Build the business skills to lead a belting branch: manage people, improve accountability, understand the numbers, support customer expectations, and make better decisions in a fast-moving distributor/fabricator environment.
Register for Fall 2026 Today!Â
Registration for the Fall 2026 cohort, which kicks off September 16, is open!
Curriculum
Vision, Goals & Planning Process
Weeks 1 & 2
Learn how to translate company goals into branch-level priorities your team can actually act on - from sales and service expectations to operational consistency and customer responsiveness.
The Right Team & Customer
Weeks 3 & 4
Clarify who you need on the team, what good performance looks like, and how each role supports the customer experience - whether they are in the shop, on the road, in inside sales, or managing key accounts.
Empowering People and Systems of Management
Weeks 5 & 6
Branch leaders need more than technical knowledge - they need repeatable systems for leading people well. This module helps participants set clearer expectations, improve communication, coach employees, strengthen accountability, and create management rhythms that keep sales, service, shop, and operations teams aligned.
Demystifying the Financials
Weeks 7 & 8
Build confidence reading the numbers that affect branch performance, including margin, productivity, labor, sales activity, and the decisions that impact profitability.
Apply the Finances - Grow the Bottom Line
Weeks 9 & 10
This module helps managers connect daily branch decisions to financial performance. Participants build confidence with the numbers behind profitability, including margin, productivity, labor, sales activity, and resource planning, so they can make stronger decisions for the business.
Built Around the Realities of Branch Leadership
You are not managing from a textbook. You are balancing customer expectations, team performance, technical knowledge, inventory pressures, safety, service quality, and profitability - often all before lunch.
Sound familiar?
The NIBA L&M Academy is designed to help branch managers and future leaders strengthen the business skills behind the day-to-day decisions that keep belting companies moving.
Who the L&M Academy Is For
This program is especially relevant if you are:
- Leading a branch, belt shop, sales team, service team, or operations group
- Moving from technical expert or top performer into a management role
- Preparing a high-potential employee for more responsibility
- Trying to create more consistency, accountability, and financial awareness across locations
- Looking for practical leadership training that understands the belting business
What Branch Leaders Will Learn
Lead the People Who Keep the Branch Running
Build stronger one-on-ones, clearer expectations, better accountability, and more engaged teams across sales, service, shop, and operations roles.
Make Better Decisions in a Technical, Customer-Driven Business
Learn how to connect goals, priorities, and daily management habits to the realities of serving belting customers.
Understand the Numbers Behind Branch Performance
Demystify the financial metrics that shape profitability, productivity, growth, and smarter resource decisions.
If you're still deciding, visit the NIBA L&M Academy webpage for full curriculum overview, program details, key dates, pricing, and more information!
Take a glimpse of one of our bi-weekly sessions here, featuring NIBA President Stephenie Davis discussing the role of vision and goals!