Leadership development
"The need for leadership development has never been more urgent. Companies of all sorts realize that to survive in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environment, they need leadership skills and organizational capabilities different from those that helped them succeed in the past" (Moldoveanu, M., Narayandas, D., The Future of Leadership Development, HBR Magazine, March–April 2019).
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Times seem even more challenging once the companies realize they need to operate in the world which is more brittle, anxious, nonlinear, incomprehensible than ever. Leaders who are capable of successfully navigating these complex challenges seem an imperative. This is where we help to ensure organizations have leaders who intertwine new technologies with human capabilities to foster growth, power innovation and resilience in the BANI world. We do not have “off-the shell remedies for every situation” but rather provide specifically tailored solutions for the context in consideration. Effective leadership, engaging culture, unique skills and talent, HRM adding value are the prerequisites of the organizational success.
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Adoption strategy is our work approach
For anything we do we always employ "a design for adoption" methodology which structures a process of our development interventions: Objectives and strategy, Promotion and preparation, Understanding and education, Enabling and excitement, Measurement and reinforcement
Objectives and strategy
This phase includes a thorough diagnosis and identification of the stakeholders concerned, methods and techniques to be applied and timeline to be respected. We apply various diagnostic data-driven instruments which are globally recognized and appreciated to assess individual and team capabilities, components of culture and their configuration, competences development areas and upskilling targets
Enabling and excitement
This phase includes actual actions that empower people to do things that they might have considered as unavailable till the moment they discovered their unlocked potential. People are naturally excited to see positive outcomes of their endeavors.
Promotion and Preparation
This phase includes internal launch campaign and communication to the selected stakeholders. We believe that a transparent communication is an imperative built-in component of any initiative.
Measurement and reinforcement
This phase includes a time of reflection upon the achievements confronted with the defined objectives. This is also a time for improvement and reinforcement of the actions that proved successful.
Understanding and education
This phase ensures that all stakeholders not only know what will be done but also understand the process fundamentals, all its why’s and instruments applied. This step is particularly important to ensure a full engagement and support of the stakeholders.
Our expertise areas
Our people strategy expertise is oriented around four subject areas: leadership practices, developing high performing teams, building and enhancing organizational culture that engages people, ensuring well-being that facilitates performance. Thus, we addressed some specific initiatives aligned to the areas that help leaders become successful.
Mastering successful Leadership Practices
Companies need leaders who make organizations stronger, more agile, more innovative, and more responsive which particularly matters in the era of BANI. We believe that leadership is about how leaders mobilize others to want to get extraordinary things done in organizations. A transformational leadership which fosters a culture of empowerment and inclusion, engages employees and builds high performing teams is more important for the companies to succeed more than ever.
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Throughout our programs we ensure leaders build new capabilities every single day and adapt their behaviors within the context of daily routines. We focus on mastering these behaviors that are required to drive change in organization.
We identified, based on scientifically-based models, practices that make certain leaders excel while others languish. Exemplary leadership practices, once incorporated into the flow of daily work, foster inclusive leadership and consequently lead to an intense business growth. Our approach to a leadership development is highly operational and tightly linked to the concept of creating value for the organization.
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Our programs may range from simple development initiatives to more complex programs. Organizations may want us to conduct some specific development initiatives such as e.g.: individual / team personality assessment, LPI, leadership shadow empowerment, learning & educational interventions (workshops, lectures) on predefined topics e.g.: exemplary leadership practices, change management, building & leading High Performing Teams, multicultural management, providing feedback, leading successful meetings, manager as a coach, manager as a mentor etc.
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Most of our programs however consists of a logical sequence of four repetitive steps for continuous improvement and learning: Plan, Do, Check, Act. We recommend scenarios that normally include the following basic steps:
Key leadership capabilities
We start by identifying capabilities leaders need (existing data provided by the organizations or we conduct data-driven assessments based on globally recognized assessment instruments). These might be capabilities required to fundamentally change the performance trajectory of the organization, excel team performance, navigate challenges and crises etc.
Instruments and solutions
Next, we leverage instruments and solutions that can be incorporated into leaders’ daily and weekly routines. We diligently select the accurate tools that change how people show up and lead every day at work. Some exemplar leadership development interventions are always tailored and may include coaching, mentoring, one-point-lessons, "CEO Shadow Program", workshops and facilitations, etc.
Context
Finally, we help to shape the context in which leaders operate. This may include but is not limited to navigating the org chart, establishing effective governance, reconsidering which metrics are tracked and rewarded to ensure that the organizational culture and the leadership behaviors are mutually reinforcing.
Developing High Performing Teams
​High performing teams” is a timeless dilemma of every organization. Whereas there are many definitions of the high performing teams, a few aspects have always been reoccurring. Organizations want highly committed, accountable, trust-based and open-minded teams that deliver the results. Thus, it is good to know where the leverage areas lay and nurture the healthy ambiance before it gets sick.
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Throughout our programs we help organizations to make leaders and people work as a team which results in high morale, employees engagement, work enthusiasm, and generally high performance.
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Based on scientifically proven models, we identified characteristics of high performing teams who celebrate successes but also dysfunctions that make them languish. High Performing Teams are labelled with: clarity, capability, collaboration, commitment, communication, CI, creativity. They are also free of dysfunctions such as: lack of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results.
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Our approach to High Performance Teams development is highly operational and addresses specific challenges of our customers.
Our programs may range from simple team development initiatives to more complex programs. Organizations may want us to conduct a team assessment and / or workshops on such topics as: effective team communication, conflict resolution, new team integration.
Most of our programs however consists of a logical sequence of four repetitive steps for continuous improvement and learning: Plan, Do, Check, Act. We recommend scenarios that normally include the following basic steps:
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Team dysfunctions and weaknesses
We start by identifying team weaknesses, team dysfunctions and their root causes employing globally recognized assessment instruments. Team feedback and focus group discussions help to define critical challenges around which further actions are taken.
Instruments and solutions
Next, we leverage instruments and solutions that can be incorporated into teams’ daily and weekly routines. We diligently select the accurate tools that change how teams show up and operate every day at work to increase their performance. The interventions may be addressed at the particular team members or teams as a whole. They may range from individual coaching and /or mentoring sessions through focused meetings to team projects and workshops.
Context
Finally, we help to shape the context in which teams operate. This may include but is not limited to navigating the org chart, establishing effective governance, reconsidering which metrics are tracked and rewarded to ensure that the organizational culture and the team members' behaviors are mutually reinforcing
Enhancing an engaging organisational culture
Organizational culture is usually defined as shared motives, values, beliefs, identities, and interpretations or meanings of significant events that result from common experiences of members of collectives that are transmitted across generations (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, Gupta, Culture, Leadership, and Organizations, 2014, s. 15)
This is important that an organizational culture is known, accepted and practiced by members of collectives. Strong organizations have transparent, constantly enhanced and engaging organizational cultures to foster growth and alignment. Cultural dimensions are usually measured in terms of two manifestations: modal practices (common behaviors) and modal values of collectives (beliefs).
Moreover, a concept of an organizational culture has a unique significance in the global and multicultural organizations in which an organizational culture intertwines with national cultures of its stakeholders. As a result, some organizational processes such as e.g. leadership are culturally contingent. This fact complicates even further a way of developing a fundament al framework of organizational culture that works for the global and multicultural enterprises.
Our disciplined and data driven approach helps to organize the overall organizational culture development and / or enhancement.
Organizational culture framework
We start by identifying prevailing dimensions of existing organizational culture and see how they incorporate strategic imperatives. In case an organizational culture framework is in place and does not need any modifications, we define gaps between a required and existing cultures. In case we are expected to develop an organizational culture framework, the process is more complex and starts with a clarification of the organizational strategic imperatives. This is a critical moment for defining values, beliefs, key interpretations and symbols, expected behaviors around concepts that are considered as enhancing a business growth.
Instruments and solutions
Next, we leverage instruments and solutions that will help to implement and finally settle “a new culture”. We appoint “agents” and “ambassadors” whose job is to facilitate a proper understanding of what is expected from people with regard to organizational culture requirements and to make it finally work.
Context
Finally, we help to shape the context in which people align with the organizational culture framework. This may include but is not limited to navigating the org chart, establishing effective governance, reconsidering which metrics are tracked and rewarded to ensure that the organizational culture and the team members behaviors are mutually reinforcing.
Ensuring well-being for Yourself and Your Team
In today’s BANI world, well-being initiatives are no longer a luxury that companies offer to their employees but a must to foster a business growth. Many people experience high levels of distress in today’s workplace. We believe that emotional and mental well-being of the employees impacts the way they work and consequently the results they achieve. Employees reporting poor mental and behavioral health are more likely to experience poor workplace relationships, demonstrate insufficient productivity, account for higher workplace healthcare expenditures and present low workplace morale.
We provide data driven and scientifically acknowledged tools to help organizations quickly and accurately assess the behavioral health of their employees. Comprehensive assessment tools measure social, behavioral, and psychological strengths known to contribute to a positive performance at workplace. In addition, the assessment tools provide transparent data on examined levels of distress and risk behaviors.
Employees who possess key strengths (resiliency factors) and lack significant distress (risk factors) demonstrate optimal functioning at the workplace. On contrary, employees who do not possess strengths and / or report high distress are more likely to experience poor performance at the workplace. Individual assessment results allow to develop a resilience / risk workplace map which helps to understand organization strengths and development areas. We recommend and conduct interventions on the individual level and organizational level.
Resiliency and risk factors
We start by identifying resiliency and risk indicators that work for the particular workplace. The both sets of indicators are agreed with the employer and specifically customized to match the requirements of the organizations. Resiliency indicators may include e.g.: overall feelings and attitudes about one’s life, motivations to work around barriers and hinder goal attainment, specific leadership competences and expectations about own personal capabilities. Whereas risk indicators may refer to e.g.: workplace ostracism, anxiety, depression symptoms, self-criticism, past severe distress, addictions.
Instruments and solutions
Next, we leverage instruments and solutions that can help to identify and measure resiliency and risk areas on both individual and organization levels. We utilize globally acknowledged assessment methods and techniques that outcome with valid and reliable data. We come up with a proposal of specifically tailored individual, group, team initiatives and conduct some of them. The recommended interventions may be e.g.: psychological support for individuals and teams, information campaigns on discrimination, individual development programs; advocate, mentor, peer, buddy programs; sport programs
Context
Finally, we help to shape the context in which resilience and risk factors should be addressed individually and organizationally.