Learning Group Programs
Our Executive Learning Group Programs can be used within several contexts:
- As standalone leadership development programs. For example, to develop collaborative leadership across functional boundaries; to support leaders with the implementation of reform initiatives.
- As part of larger organisational interventions. For example, as the integrative element of a culture change or reform initiative.
Benefits
Our Executive Learning Group Programs aim at fostering collaborative leadership cultures by enhancing:
- Awareness and understanding of the current and future challenges
- Commitment to surfacing and addressing these challenges in an effective manner
- The group’s knowledge and understanding of each other
- The sense of cohesiveness, unity and trust within the group
- Working relationships within the group
- The quality of communication between group members
- Participants’ ability to handle difficult conversations and deal with tough issues
- Information-sharing and knowledge-development within the group
- Problem-solving and decision-making within the group
- Cross-functional collaboration and the break down of organisational silos
- Individual and collective leadership effectiveness
Approach
Our Executive Learning Group Programs aim to enhance leadership effectiveness providing participants with opportunities to:
- Distinguish between technical and and adaptive leadership challenges
- Develop alternative ways of thinking about these challenges, their roles within their organisation and the larger organisational context
- Harness the collective wisdom of the group to develop appropriate responses to challenges that could impede their effectiveness
- Reflect on their leadership practice and responses to the challenges they face
- Enhance their capacity to function effectively under increasing uncertainty and change
- Consider how to build an organisation capable of thriving within the future environment
- Absorb and integrate their experiences and experiment within the workplace
Rationale
The combination of increasing competition and technological development has made rapid change and adaption a necessity for organisational survival. Within this environment, leaders need to develop the relationships and capabilities to:
- Achieve more in less time, under more stressful conditions.
- Rapidly understand and effectively address complex issues.
- Manage people with increasingly diverse perspectives and expectations.
- Achieve their business-as-usual commitments while driving change.
We believe that learning groups are highly at effective addressing these challenges while cultivating collaborative leadership cultures across functional boundaries.
Format
Our Executive Learning Group Programs typically bring together up to ten participants per learning group from different areas in an organisation on a monthly basis.
A professional convener guides the group to create a supportive but challenging learning environment that allows members to engage in open, honest dialogue in an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidentiality.
By harnessing the collective wisdom of their peers in identifying and focusing on critical aspects of key business challenges, members significantly enhance the quality of their thinking and their effectiveness as leaders.
Program Structure
In order to accommodate large volumes of participants, programs are typically structured into cohorts consisting of multiple learning groups.
The duration of the learning group programs vary according to the number of participants participating.
Capability and Capacity
Executive Leadership Australia has the capability and capacity to deliver several large-scale executive learning group programs consisting of multiple cohorts concurrently.
Our extensive experience and a proven track record in delivering executive learning group programs spans more than a decade.
Learning Group Management System
Executive Leadership Australia has developed a proprietary, on-line Learning Group Management System (LGMS) that supports our Mentors and Facilitators in delivering our programs.
This unique learning tool has proven invaluable in:
- Enhancing our ability to manage large-scale programs
- Enabling the effective management of multiple, concurrent learning groups
- Supporting our continuous improvement
Integrated Leadership Programs
Our Integrated Learning Group Programs are tailored to the unique needs of the client. The following four elements typically form the basis of our integrated programs:
Action Learning Group Program
This program forms the primary element of the Executive Learning Group Program. We believe that executive learning groups are highly effective at cultivating a collaborative leadership cultures within leadership teams.
Based on our 15 years of experience with executive learning groups, we believe that an issues-based approach to leadership development, where ‘real people work on real issues in real time’, provides a highly effective and a cost effective means to sustainably develop leadership capability and foster collaboration within teams and across functional boundaries.
The structure and format of this element has been proven to be effective within the Australian Public Service context over an extended period of time.
Mental Health, Wellness and Resilience Program
This program aims to enhance participants’ capacity to more effectively manage their mental health, wellness and resilience. This program is delivered by a clinical specialist in this area with a unique combination of medical skills and psychological skills. She has specialist skills and extensive experience in working with professionals in both clinical and organisational contexts to manage their mental health, enhance their wellbeing and develop their resilience to better manage stress.
This program is tailored to the specific mental health, wellbeing and resilience needs of the client organisation.
Relational Leadership Program
This program seeks to enhance participants’ ability to enhance the effectiveness of their relationships at work. People in organisations need to talk together in order to understand complex situations, consider options, and make informed choices. The effectiveness of their actions depends both on the effectiveness of their working relationships and the quality of their conversations on crucial issues. Moreover, the ability to handle difficult situations constructively will influence one’s ability to collaborate effectively with others, both internally and externally.
Successful leaders create cultures of accountability, commitment and learning. They build robust relationships based on trust and respect that enable people to work across boundaries, integrate diverse perspectives and foster collaboration. They make important conversations happen.
The material for this program is sourced under licence from Action Design in Boston.
For further information on Action Design, please refer to: https://actiondesign.com/
Structural Dynamics Program
This program focuses on enhancing participants’ understanding and improve their communication within their teams. Structural Dynamics is a theory of how face-to-face communication works and does not work in human systems.
Participants on this program will have an opportunity to complete a Behavioural Baseline Profile. Developed by the Kantor Institute in Cambridge (Mass), this instrument helps individuals and groups discover their behavioural tendencies – the typical ways that they interact with other individuals and groups in face-to-face communication. It uses a structural language system that deconstructs human interaction into its most basic elements.
Understanding the interplay of communication profiles within a team is a key element of improving the overall effectiveness of the team. In the event of teams being on the program, each intact team will have an opportunity to complete a Team Behavioural Profile which looks at the group’s self-reported effectiveness and aggregates team members’ individual profiles to produce their collective team profile. This instrument can also predict the ways in which teams will get stuck and provides an opportunity for the team members to make actionable recommendations to enhance their team effectiveness.
For further information on the Behavioural Baseline Profile, the Team Behavioural Profile and on the Kantor Institute, please refer to: https://www.kantorinstitute.com/
