Our next Executive Development Programme kicks off on the 27th February in Sunderland. This is our ninth year of running this programme and over the years we have had a wide range of leaders and business owners through the programme. More recently we have been working with a range of schools, from small independents to large multi academy trusts and we have had many CEO’s, heads and deputy heads complete the programme.
The themes for Executive Development are straightforward:
Understanding yourself
Understanding leadership
Situational Leadership
Serious communication skills
Attitude control
Embracing accountability
The power of focus
Motivation
Mapping the future
As always its not the ingredients per se that matter its how you mix them together!
The challenge of this programme is not to take things on board. It is not a revolutionary process that is determined by intellect, it is a development process that is determined by your attitude. In most cases the biggest challenges for participants is to let go. Let go of what has made them successful in the past because that is often what is holding them back from making a step change for the future. Time and again participants on the Executive Development programme tell us that the progress they make on the programme is not from the areas they thought they would. They often had no idea that the skills and attitudes they develop were in there!
For us this is so refreshing because it vindicates what we believe. That progress for many leaders comes not from more intellectual learning, but from the areas that matter more once you have attained a certain level in your career – people skills, communication, attitude, resilience, courage and determination.
One customer of ours has shown all of these in recent times. Zoe Carr, CEO of Wise Academies in Sunderland has recently been awarded the OBE in the New Years honours list for her contribution to education and her success in developing Wise into one of the most successful multi academy trust in the country. She believes that it is her staff that have delivered the success that Wise have had and she also believes in developing those staff so that they can operate at their peak in what is a very demanding environment. Congratulations to Zoe, all of her team and of course the children at each of the schools!