Strategic Leadership Programme

Developing a Strategic Mindset

Participants will be coached through a detailed analysis of themselves, exploring their personality preferences, values, motivations and goals.  How these factors influence how you develop and lead strategy will be discussed, and the individual strengths and development areas of each individual’s profile will be explored.  Participants will gain a deep psychological insight into their own nature and personality, and will understand how this impacts their work.

Emotional Intelligence and Strategic Leadership

 We will introduce the Emotional Intelligence concept and examine its relevance to successful organisational leadership and management.  Methods to evaluate existing levels of emotional intelligence will be introduced, and we will examine and apply strategies to enhance this in relationship to the management of oneself and one’s colleagues.

Professional Development Objective Setting

 Based on the in-depth self-reflection of the day, participants will develop tailored objectives for the programme.  The following sessions will be tailored to meet the objectives of every student.

Analyse Your Organisational Climate

Participants will complete a short cultural analysis of their own organisation, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the culture,  consider how the current reality impacts how strategy is developed, and confirm which forces support and resist the successful execution of strategy.

Strategic Performance Management

 Several models of performance management will be evaluated, and cultural implications of each discussed.  Participants will critically assess the models within the context of their own organisation, and ideas relating to how performance management might be improved, whilst enhancing the culture, will be generated and discussed.

Situational Leadership

An introduction to Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership model via a highly interactive exercise examining how it relates to leadership in the participant’s organisation.  The benefits of Situational Leadership, in regard to performance, professional development, and succession planning will be explored.

Coaching and Mentoring Culture

 Participants will be introduced to key concepts in coaching and mentoring, and will then discuss the relevance and benefit of introducing these leadership behaviours into the organisation.  Methods to grow coaching, mentoring and facilitation skills in leaders across the organisation will be identified.

Individual and Team Influence on Strategy

An overview of how personality types, and cognitive preferences, in teams will influence how strategy is developed and delivered.  More creative personalities will have a preference for innovation, but this carries risk. Structured personalities may have a preference for predictable, linear strategy, but this will limit opportunity to create new value.  How the balance is stuck will be considered.  We will identify how poor team relationships, a lack of cognitive diversity, and an absence of trust can negatively affect organisational performance.

Analytical Strategy

Participants will engage with strategic models that have the purpose of systematically examining the macro environment, breaking it down, and enabling the strategist to engage with it in an organised and structured way.

Creative Strategy

We will examine the need for innovation within the participant’s organisation, and how this is currently managed.  Participants will engage with a process designed to ‘spark’ creative and original thought.  We will examine how engaging with complex problems can help access creative neurological systems, and how this can support the development of original ‘blue ocean’ strategy.

The process will be applied to the delegate’s real-world context, and we will conclude with a consideration of managing the risks associated with innovation, in the learners’ specific context.

Communicating the Plan

Participants will examine the challenges associated with building consensus, stakeholder management, and forming a guiding coalition that will be necessary for a strategy to be accepted by the organisation.  Influence techniques to support this challenge will be taught, and we will also discuss how using metaphor and storytelling can significantly enhance the impact and acceptance of the message.

The Challenge of Change

Implementing new plans will inevitably require change management.  This session will introduce classical and emerging theory in relation to the psychological impact of change, and how to effectively manage it within organisations.  Participants will engage with previously taught theory, including emotional intelligence, coaching and mentoring, and facilitation, and examine how to apply this within the context of change.

Agile Strategy Implementation

This session will introduce the underpinning principles of Agile, and identify how they relate to the implementation of strategy.  Rather than try to develop a perfect blueprint (which may or may not work), organisations should put together a workable plan, fast, and then test it with clients or end users who will be willing to experiment, and give fast, honest feedback.  Agile teams examine this feedback at the first opportunity, adapt their plan, and iterate forwards.  How Agile principles may apply to the participants organisations will be explored.

Change Management Planning Session

Utilising an updated version of Kotter’s famous 8 step change process, participants will develop a change management plan to support their own organisational strategy.

Measurement and Evaluation

An introduction to the rationale for measuring strategic progress towards goals, and the evaluation of strategy.  The session will examine different evaluation models and methodology, and participants will identify which will be most appropriate for their organisation, and their own plan.

Presenting the Strategy

In a safe and supportive environment, participants will be asked to present a strategy for their organisation, supported by the theoretical frameworks they have applied to develop it, and the implications for leadership.  Participants will take questions and considerations that will help to refine the strategy and enable it to be examined from different perspectives.

This session will ask participants to talk through the ‘real world’ application of training, and be able to reference the relevant conceptual models and theory that will make this an evidence based approach.  This exercise will also ensure learners have a framework for their written assignments, and ensure they are clear on how they will evidence the application of theory to their professional practice.

Qualification and Action Plan

The final session with be a confirmatory check that all participants are clear on the next steps required for the completion of the PG Cert.  All participants will complete an action plan that will confirm their professional development objectives, and clear measurable actions that will ensure they have a personal strategy to work with, following the programme.