Custom Leadership Development Program Case Study
Getting Leaders to Stop Doing and Start Leading
The Ask
Having grown through acquisitions and mergers, our healthcare services client wanted to bolster their middle management layer to become strong, empowered leaders ready to connect and grow the various departments in their technology organization. Like many companies, technologists were often promoted to management positions for demonstrating strong individual contributions, and now faced the challenge of leading people through projects and organizational change while working in a highly distributed environment (physically, organizationally, and culturally).
This program needed to:
Foster people leadership skills
Build leaders’ confidence
Connect managers and directors from various locations and departments
Build skills to create high-performing teams
Break down silos between departments by connecting leaders
Create a team of leaders rather than a group of separated team leaders
Create cohesion and a shared language for the approximately 105 middle management leaders in the department
Our Approach
Grounding in our human-first philosophy, we wanted to deliver leadership skills that were immediately applicable, reinforced for retention, and built on a shared experience and language to bond leaders across the organization.
Skills:
Leader as a Coach
Conflict Resolution
Making High-Performing Teams
Emotional Intelligence
Leading Change
Human-Centric Leadership Practices
Structure:
Reinforcement learning with deliberate practice
Two 2.5 days in-person sessions 8 weeks apart for face-to-face connection
Break-out groups and virtual sessions between and after in-person sessions
Business case study presentation to connect all the concepts, tools, and models and apply them to a common leadership scenario
Shared social hours in the evenings to forge stronger relationships
Practice with one another and other classes of students who have been through the program
The Program
The program was structured into interactive workshops, peer learning sessions, one-on-one coaching, and real-world project assignments over a 15-week period. Participants were engaged in a blended learning environment, combining face-to-face and online sessions built around the participants' demanding schedules, ensuring the least disruption to their daily operational responsibilities.
The Outcomes
The Leadership Development Program was met with positive feedback and marked improvements in various areas.
Increased collaboration – teams and managers found it easy to pick up the phone and talk to one another, resolving project roadblocks faster than before, and have maintained relationships months/years after the class
Leader confidence and capability – leaders gained confidence in understanding their roles as well as having the capacity to deliver on those requirements, particularly with regards to empowering and building high-performing teams
Immediate applicability – the skills in the program were put to immediate use by leaders (in work and in their personal lives) to create more empowered teams
Holistic thinking – group leaders witness and acknowledge the struggles they share, and participants grew appreciation for the interdependent nature of their work, taking down silos between departments, increasing empathy, and leaning on new relationships to collaborate more efficiently
Tools – with workbooks and laminated reference cards, leaders gained material to use on an ongoing basis (many now have the material at their desks for easy reference), and some leaders have begun training their teams on the material
Putting a particular focus on the connection with each other, leaders in this program actively practiced leaning on one another and solving common problems they face regardless of their role. This awareness nurtured collaborative problem-solving between teams and their members, with these leaders learning how to step back and empower their teams for greater productivity and satisfaction for all involved. Participants were grateful for the opportunity to participate in the program and both the time and fiscal investment from senior leadership in their personal growth.
What People Say
“You come in thinking you are alone in the problems that you think you have, but you leave realizing that you are not the only one and have a ton of resources at your disposal.”
“This will be the best use of your time and will help move you forward in your leadership journey.”
“This training is different from the rest - you can actually implement and apply it within your teams.”
“In 15 years, this is the first leadership training I could actually apply.”
Materials (4.75)
“Often times you take a training and as soon as it is over, go back to 'real life' and forget about it. This program set my brain on fire from the first day and I immediately began thinking about and implementing what I was leaning. The material and skills presented are so valuable not only at work but also in my personal life.”
“Siamo’s take on human-centric leadership, delivered in a tailored curriculum to a wide swath of our people leaders, has equipped us to put change in motion that stands to alter the course of our business for the good.”
Good Use of Time (4.9)
Overall Training (4.9)
Relevance to Job (4.75)
Average Learner Satisfaction
Facilitation (4.9)
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