LDP 5 /2009
Leading: Great Conversations for Great Results
Our purpose is to be the company that professionals trust to connect them more deeply with their business's goals, the people around them, and their own aspirations. Stratagem Learning and Development Ltd. Tel: +44 (0)1962 848630 Fax: +44 (01962 870080 E-mail: info@stratagem-uk.com www.stratagem-uk.com
Leadership Development Your work environment can only get more dynamic and uncertain. The state of the economy means tighter budgets, harder targets, tougher decisions; globalisation means greater competition and much shorter windows of opportunity and less time in which to act. Your organisation needs all of its professionals and managers to be aligned with each other and the company in order for it to have a chance of survival, competitiveness and success. This alignment means the real sharing of knowledge, goals, values, effort, ideas and the willingness to collaborate with and influence everyone else in order to achieve innovation and results. This sounds sensible – easy, even – and yet in practice, pulling in the same direction is extremely challenging for those professionals who have been used to being an autonomous, respected, island of knowledge and skills. Many just don’t see the connection between leadership and their day job. If you are one of these professionals, or you have to work with such specialists, developing leadership skills can actually help you with that day job.
Influencing others is key We think that leadership development is, firstly, all about nurturing the mindset of a leader, and, secondly, means growing the specific skills that will enable professionals to take the lead in situations that go beyond their present tasks and boundaries, preparing them and moving them into the complex domain of organisational interdependencies and politics. To be successful here, they need to talk to, and influence, other disciplines as well as peers. Put simply, our proposition is: great leadership is the ability to have great conversations
Leadership development is stressful Research shows that leadership development can be extremely stressful for professionals. A recent survey showed the following ratings for the stress involved in various life events…
clearly and persuasively, although that helps. Rather, we are talking about the ability to have a great conversation, about big or small issues, formal or informal matters, emotionally sensitive or rational issues. That is a truly great conversation for a leader in an organisation to have. Whatever the content of the conversation, the key is to stay adult, get the timing right and focus on helping the other person be the best they can be. When conversations are skipped or of poor quality, then issues are ducked, ignored or confused, understanding is blurred or mistaken, and commitment to goals is lacking, warped or grudging. Energy goes into internal competition that doesn’t help anyone.
Developing the ability to have great conversations The ability to have great conversations does not automatically come with rank or role. The training and development focus for professionals will certainly have been on the nurturing of technical and professional skills, skills that will have been central to the professional’s career advancement to date, rather than any focus on conversing.
Leading: Great Conversations for Great Results Based on our experience of working with high-flying professionals over the years, Stratagem has developed a series of modules, which together form a complete leadership development package, or which separately can be delivered as standalone coaching sessions for individuals or groups. The series enables professionals and managers to develop the breakthrough interpersonal skills that will help them to thrive in times of ambiguity, complexity and change, and equip them to converse and influence diverse stakeholders to work collaboratively towards shared goals. 1. Knowing Yourself - personal authenticity
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Leadership development
59%
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Family issues
50%
2. Working Collaboratively - influencing across the organisation
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Becoming a parent
48%
3. Getting Heard - presenting with impact
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Getting married
31%
4. Excited by Change - managing yourself and others through change
Exactly what mindset and skills are needed?
5. Leveraging your Networks - creating and sustaining powerful networks
We see the ability to have great conversations as being at
6. Realising your Potential - realising your innate creativity and innovation
the heart of leadership. By great conversations, we don’t mean the ability to make inspiring speeches or write
7.Achieving top Results - managing for high performance 7.
Stratagem Learning and Development Ltd. Tel: +44 (0)1962 848630 Fax: +44 (01962 870080 E-mail: info@stratagem-uk.com www.stratagem-uk.com
What? In Stratagem Leading: Great Conversations for Great Results workshops, the participants: •
Work to know themselves in their present and potential organisational contexts
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See what performance at the next level sounds and feels like
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Learn what helps and hinders their progress in practice
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Practise skills in a supportive environment
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Commit to making personal changes to acquire the skills needed in where they are going
How? A Stratagem Leading: Great Conversations for Great Results workshop: •
Is, above all else, experiential
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Is nevertheless grounded in the latest and most advanced behavioural thinking
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Starts by employing Insights Discovery Profile (a psychometric tool) to enhance self awareness, enabling delegates to work with and value differences in communication styles
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Is tailored to our understanding of your organisation’s specific business goals and challenges, and the participants’ individual skill-set and pathway
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Is facilitated by professionals with many years of relevant management experience
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Employs professional role players to make the practice ‘real’
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Leaves the organisation and the delegates with a toolkit of skills to make the learning ‘stick’ and the required changes immediate
Who? Stratagem is built around a core team of professionals, •
Whose job satisfaction is entirely derived from helping individuals, teams and organisations to perform better
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Who respect the theoretical in designing their interventions, but the practical in delivering them
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Who believe strongly in the power of high-impact, high-involvement modules
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Who have been sharing their knowledge and aggregating their experience for the benefit of client organisations for the last 15 years
Why? At the deepest level, these workshops help you to align your people with your aspirations, achieving the following core benefits: Shared goals: understanding the business you are in Shared culture: living the vision and values that bind you together Shared learning: fostering the need for innovation and improvement Shared information: enhancing internal communication Shared effort: working interdependently to deliver results Stratagem Learning and Development Ltd. Tel: +44 (0)1962 848630 Fax: +44 (01962 870080 E-mail: info@stratagem-uk.com www.stratagem-uk.com
LDP 5 /2009
Leading: Great Conversations for Great Results
“Stratagem have helped us with management team building and with providing us with a framework and support for putting in place personal development plans for all our staff. We like to use Stratagem because; •
they have a wide range of extensive experience and expertise in their field
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they are good at quickly getting to understand the organisation to ensure their support is focused and relevant
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they deliver what you need on time
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they are fun and stimulating to work with”
“The course on Key Stakeholders, which was run by Joe and Nevin, received excellent feedback from all the participants. The difference the course has made has got the guys thinking strategically about how to initially engage and then make the most of their meetings with not only their key stakeholders but their team-mates as well.” Bank of America
ING Wholesale Banking
“I have found the whole team at Stratagem to be very helpful, knowledgeable, professional and focused on client objectives” Weightmans
" Strategem ran a team building for a£13m pipeline project in Wales. This was the first time the key players from the various companies have got together in the same room. The feedback from the teams was fantastic and everyone was impressed with the "Insights" feedback both for individuals and for us as a team. Strategem helped pull together an interesting and varied programme. I have always been impressed by the professionalism and helpfulness of Strategem. This team build has started us off on the right foot and has given a flying start to healthy adult to adult relationships on this important project" Severn Trent Water
Stratagem Learning and Development Ltd. Tel: +44 (0)1962 848630 Fax: +44 (01962 870080 E-mail: info@stratagem-uk.com www.stratagem-uk.com