Leading: Great Conversations for Great Results

LDP 5 /2009

Leading: Great Conversations Leading: Great Conversations Leading: Great Conversations Leading: Great Conversations

for Great Resultsfor Great Resultsfor Great Resultsfor Great Results

Stratagem Learning and Development Ltd. The House, Kelston Park, Kelston Bath BA1 9AE

Tel: +44 (0)1225 445355 Fax: +44 (0)1225 481754 E-mail: [email protected]

www.stratagem-uk.com

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.




Leadership Development

Influencing others is key

Leadership development is stressful

Exactly what mindset and skills are

needed?

Developing the ability to have great

conversations

Leading: Great Conversations for

Great Results

Your work environment can only get more dynamic and

uncertain. The state of the economy means tighter budg-

ets, 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 man-

agers 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 leader-

ship skills can actually help you with that day job.

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

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…

• Leadership development 59%

• Family issues 50%

• Becoming a parent 48%

• Getting married 31%

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.

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.

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.

1.1.1.1. Knowing Yourself - personal authenticity

2.2.2.2. Working Collaboratively - influencing across the

organisation

3.3.3.3. Getting Heard - presenting with impact

4.4.4.4. Excited by Change - managing yourself and others

through change

5.5.5.5. Leveraging your Networks - creating and sustaining

powerful networks

6.6.6.6. Realising your Potential - realising your innate

creativity and innovation

7.7.7.7.Achieving top Results - managing for high performance

We see the ability to have great conversations as being at

the heart of leadership. By great conversations, we don’t

mean the ability to make inspiring speeches or write

What?

In Stratagem In Stratagem In Stratagem In Stratagem Leading: Great Conversations for Great Results workshops, the participants:workshops, the participants:workshops, the participants:workshops, the participants:

• Work to know themselves in their present and potential organisational contexts

• See what performance at the next level sounds and feels like

• Learn what helps and hinders their progress in practice

• Practise skills in a supportive environment

• Commit to making personal changes to acquire the skills needed in where they are going

A Stratagem A Stratagem A Stratagem A Stratagem Leading: Great Conversations for Great Results workshop:workshop:workshop:workshop:

• Is, above all else, experiential

• Is nevertheless grounded in the latest and most advanced behavioural thinking

• Starts by employing Insights Discovery Profile (a psychometric tool) to enhance self awareness, enabling delegates

to work with and value differences in communication styles

• Is tailored to our understanding of your organisation’s specific business goals and challenges, and the participants’

individual skill-set and pathway

• Is facilitated by professionals with many years of relevant management experience

• Employs professional role players to make the practice ‘real’

• Leaves the organisation and the delegates with a toolkit of skills to make the learning ‘stick’ and the required

changes immediate

Stratagem is built around a core team of professionals, Stratagem is built around a core team of professionals, Stratagem is built around a core team of professionals, Stratagem is built around a core team of professionals,

• Whose job satisfaction is entirely derived from helping individuals, teams and organisations to perform better

• Who respect the theoretical in designing their interventions, but the practical in delivering them

• Who believe strongly in the power of high-impact, high-involvement modules

• Who have been sharing their knowledge and aggregating their experience for the benefit of client organisations

for the last 15 years




How?

Who?

Why? At the deepest level, these workshops help you to align your people with your aspirations, achieving the follow-At the deepest level, these workshops help you to align your people with your aspirations, achieving the follow-At the deepest level, these workshops help you to align your people with your aspirations, achieving the follow-At the deepest level, these workshops help you to align your people with your aspirations, achieving the follow-

ing core benefits:ing core benefits:ing core benefits:ing core benefits:

Shared goals:Shared goals:Shared goals:Shared goals: understanding the business you are in

Shared culture:Shared culture:Shared culture:Shared culture: living the vision and values that bind you together

Shared learning:Shared learning:Shared learning:Shared learning: fostering the need for innovation and improvement

Shared information: Shared information: Shared information: Shared information: enhancing internal communication

Shared effort:Shared effort:Shared effort:Shared effort: working interdependently to deliver results




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 per-

sonal development plans for all our staff.

We like to use Stratagem because;

• they have a wide range of extensive ex-

perience and expertise in their field

• they are good at quickly getting to under-

stand the organisation to ensure their sup-

port is focused and relevant

• they deliver what you need on time

• they are fun and stimulating to work with”

ING Wholesale Banking

“I have found the whole team at Stratagem to

be very helpful, knowledgeable, professional

and focused on client objectives”

Weightmans

“The course on Key Stakeholders, which was

run by Joe and Nevin, received excellent

feedback from allallallall the participants. The differ-

ence the course has made has got the guys

thinking strategically about how to initially en-

gage and then make the most of their meet-

ings with not only their key stakeholders but

their team-mates as well.”

Bank of America

" 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

Leading: Great Conversations for Great Results

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