Leadership Development Programs.

Leadership Development Programs are journeys: To get leaders from where they are today to where they need to be tomorrow. They are deeply embedded with the strategy of the business, and address both skills, and mindsets leaders need in order to meet ever changing demands. 

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A leadership program can vary in length and intensity, depending on the level of support leaders need. It can be run for a small group of the most senior leaders, as well as rolled out to an entire global group of leaders across many levels of seniority.

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In addition to building individual skills and mindsets of leaders, a program can serve as a great vehicle to further, change or deepen the culture of an organization, and develop strong, personal relationships among participants. 

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In order to ensure a program has lasting effect, it needs to meet leaders in their current environment with their actual challenges: Instead of teaching generic class-room content, leaders encounter role-plays, scenarios and case-studies that mimic their actual situations.  Participants work together in small teams, reflect on their own typical leadership approach, receive and provide input from peers, and develop greater self-awareness and range as leaders. 

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Leadership programs usually follow a sequence: Leaders are confronted with their current beliefs about leadership and its impact. They reflect deeply on their current approach, its success factors and limitations. Leaders clarify their own values, strengths and motivations and develop a clear sense of purpose and vision. Leaders learn the importance of compassion, gratitude and mindfulness as crucial leadership skills. ​

 

With that as a basis, leaders focus on how they lead others, and how they could improve. Most programs build the ability to motivate, establish effective collaboration, resolve conflict provide feedback listen deeply and develop authentic empathy. Leaders learn to assess holistically what impact their organization has on the planet right now and what impact they want it to have. Based on this, they learn how to navigate the landscape of an organization, align different stakeholders around a shared vision, create a culture of innovation and drive forward change. ​

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In order to be meaningful, applicable to the organizational context and pragmatic, the development of any program for any client starts with a deep-diagnostic: What are the strategic objectives and how do they translate to how leaders need to think, feel and act? What are common challenges that prevent leaders from showing up like this currently (these could be skill gaps, organizational cultural issues, lack of successful habits, poor role-modeling at the top, etc. - not rarely its is a combination of all of those)?

 

Based on that a program is designed to address ideally all or most of the current impediments. In a subsequent phase, content for the program is developed based on actual scenarios and challenges leaders face. ​​As learning takes time, and the learned needs to be practiced and integrated, a program usually consist of a series of in-depth workshops with subsequent application phases, supported by small group coaching and possibly individual coaching. 

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We have experience designing and facilitating programs for organizations such as 

Deutsche Bank, DuPont, Egon Zehnder, Godrej Industries, Goldman Sachs, 
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NHS, NYU Medical Center, Ralph Lauren, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Sherman & Sterling (now AO Sherman), Siemens, United Nations, and WPP.