Leadership and Management Programmes

There is some preparation for you to do in advance of Module 1 in particular.

• Creating Breakthrough: The Leadership of Transformational Change - Theory U article by Malcolm Young

Drafting and reviewing your learning goals:

• Referring back to your application form for the programme, review your aims and objectives for participating in Leading for the Future.  Draft a set of personal learning and development goals for your participation in the programme.
• In doing so, you should ensure that these goals are aligned with your Personal Development Plan (PDP) and that you have had a chance to discuss and agree on them with your line manager.
• Think about how you will 'measure' your own achievement against these goals throughout and by the end of the programme, i.e.,
  • What difference will participating in Leading for the Future make to your own effectiveness in your leadership role?
  • What impact will this have on your team and on your organisation (or your part of the organisation)?
  • How are you going to support yourself to make the most of this learning experience?
• In preparing your learning and development goals, you might find the following three documents helpful:
  • Where do I need to be? : making sense of it
  • my goals for Leading for the Future
  • learning log
• What difference will participating in Leading for the Future make to your own effectiveness in your leadership role?
• What impact will this have on your team and on your organisation (or your part of the organisation)?  
• How are you going to support yourself to make the most of this learning experience?

As a core part of Leading for the Future, you will be participating in an adaptive learning set (along with five colleagues) in all three of the modules. Through a facilitation adaptive learning process, you will have the opportunity to work through your own 'wicked' or complex issues with your colleagues. This programme is highly experiential. The more you bring your current work-based issues into adaptive learning, the more you will benefit from the learning opportunity.

In advance of Module 1, think through and come prepared to talk about at least one current, complex work-based issue, which you would find helpful to spend time reflecting on and exploring with your colleagues and facilitators within the adaptive learning set.

Your group facilitators will spend time during Module 1 explaining more about both the concept and process of Adaptive Learning.

In preparing for attending the first Module, we recommend that you complete a number of actions. These will enable you to make the most of the programme:

1. To begin with, read through the introduction to the programme.
2. Having refreshed your understanding of the aims and overview of the programme, consider 'Where am I now?' as a way of focusing your thinking around your learning aims.
3. Reflect on your Personal Development needs prior to your first Module.  Make sure you have discussed your reflections with your manager before attending Module 1.
4. Next, check the details of the pre-reading for Module 1 (at the top of this page).  As there is a lot to cover on each of the Modules, it is essential that you have done all of the pre-reading before attending each Module.
5. As part of the programme, we will be supporting all participants in completing a 360º feedback tool prior to or early on during the programme.  For health and social care participants, the recommended tool is the NHS Leadership Framework 360 Feedback process.  You will need to make contact with your own local programme contact to make the necessary arrangements.

There are a number of key themes covered on the programme so far.  In reinforcing some of the learning points, we provide further material on:

1. “U process”
2. listening and questioning

1. “U process”

If you are interested in reading more about “Theory U”, C. Otto Scharmer has written a book entitled Theory U : Learning from the Future as it Emerges (2007). For further resources on the “U process”, check out the "Presencing" website.  Here you will find useful resources and case studies which provide further exploration and examples of the "U process" in action.

In Module 2, we consider the potential applications of the “U process” further through consideration of an article by Zaid Hassan, Connecting to Source : The U Process (2006), which provides a perspective of the U process and some examples of how the writer has applied it to his own thinking and work in practice.

2. Listening and questioning

In Module 1 we introduce the notion of "core casework skills" for the adaptive learning to be effective - which included listening and open or powerful questioning.  We could reflect that the skills of effective listening and open questioning are core to being able to lead adaptive change and being an effective leader.

If you are interested in reading more about the 'art of asking questions', then a recommended article is The Art of Powerful Questions: Catalyzing Insight, Innovation and Action by Eric Vogt, Juanita Brown and David Isaacs. You will find this article - together with a toolkit around managing effective conversations - on the World Café website.

"Referring to the introduction on their website, the "World Café" is an innovative yet simple methodology for hosting conversations about questions that matter. These conversations link and build on each other as people move between groups, cross-pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions or issues that are most important in their life, work, or community. As a process, the World Café can evoke and make visible the collective intelligence of any group, thus increasing people’s capacity for effective action in pursuit of common aims."

The powerful skills of listening, questioning and giving feedback are also covered during the one-day Skills Development Workshop.  

Go to Module 2