Leadership Development
Leadership is fundamentally a relationship; and effective leaders are skilled at developing high-functioning relationships with their team members (followers), peers, their own line managers and wider stakeholders. High-functioning professional relationships have certain qualities, below are what I consider to be the foundational qualities; you may be able to think of others.
- Trust
- Clear expectations of each other
- Regular and honest conversations about progress and learning
- Openness to reciprocal feedback
- Healthy level of mutual respect and positive regard
If we accept that as leaders, we need to cultivate these qualities in our professional relationships, then we need to first understand how others’ currently experience us, what is working well, and where we can both improve.
In effect, leadership development requires that we first show the courage to examine ourselves; recognise and value what we currently bring; explore how we can improve; set ourselves clear actionable objectives; then hold ourselves accountable for change and progression. This is the fundamental premise of leadership development.
A leadership programme model that I find particularly effective comprises a peer group level within the organisation attending a series of full-day sessions over the course of 12 months. Each session has a leadership theme starting from a detailed understanding of the true nature of Leadership, and the looking at leadership from various perspectives such as Leading Teams, Leading Change, Leading Strategy, Understanding the Psychology of Motivation & Engagement, etc.
Critical to examining Self and these themes is the capacity and accountability for personal change; and here Peer Action Learning plays a vital role. Sharing personal leadership challenges in a Peer Action Learning Set gives clarity on what’s really going on and reveals tangible action. This action, now shared with the Learning Set builds accountability, a bias for taking action, and reporting the impact of the action during the following session.
These sessions also build internal networks and enhance peer-to-peer collaboration, openness and trust which are invaluable to the business in their own right.
Testimonials
“Since 2018, Flynn has partnered with Phillip Matthews to provide Leadership Training to our current and upcoming leaders both in a group context and on a one-to-one basis. This training has had a significant impact across the whole organisation and is evident in the positive changes we see within our teams and how they support each other.
Phillip’s ability to unlock leadership potential through insightful conversations, thought-provoking questions and personalised guidance has been instrumental in our ability to build high-performing teams and to ensure that our culture is one of coaching, inclusion and career development.
Phillip has had a transformational impact on our business and I would highly recommend him to any organisation looking to develop their leadership capabilities.”
Deirdre Breen, Head of Human Resources, Flynn
The Team Diagnostic™14Team Competencies[Productivity in Green & Positivity in Blue](Team Diagnostic™is a registered trademark of Team Coaching International Inc)
To effectively coach the team as a system, team coaches start by bringing to light“the way”team members currently do things on the team. The job of the coach is to reveal the team system(way of working)to itself. The power of theTeam Diagnostic™assessment is the way it mirrors back the team’s own self-portrait. TheTeam Diagnostic™report is a graphic snapshot of a team’s system atone point in time.The methodology engages the team in intense interaction with each other about the picture they painted of themselves. In the simplest terms, we (Team Coaches) say to the team,“This is how your team looks. How is that working for you? What is it you want to acknowledge? What would you like to change?”How long is a typical Team Coaching assignment?Atypical Team Coaching engagement may run for c. 12 months; but some teams are anxious to compress the timelines to c. 6 months due to critical time pressures.