Future Considerations | Beyond Leadership

Beyond Leadership is an innovation in the area of leadership development. Designed by Future Considerations and Lead, it develops leaders for the future who understand issues of sustainability and cultural diversity and who leave the programme with leadership skills tested in complex and challenging environments.

Participants achieve this through a blend of business and field projects, individual and group work, action and reflection. Participants are supported by one to one coaching, action learning and peer feedback to achieve results beyond what they think is possible for the communities they work with and their organizations.

We work closely with our clients to tailor the programme to meet both the overall needs of leaders for the future and the specific needs of leaders in your organization and business

Read more: www.beyondleadership.co.uk

Download: Beyond Leadership 1.5MB

Why does business need this programme?

CEOs and Directors of global companies are recognising the critical need to develop a leadership cadre with the right mindset and skills to engage with and master the complexities of the modern world - performance that goes beyond the bounds of traditional leadership.

Leadership that is sensitive and responsive to global and local realities, comfortable in diverse cultures, builds multi-stakeholder relationships and uses insights to inspire and innovate. Leadership that can manage inner complexity as well as global market complexity, leadership that goes beyond silos and joins up the organisation.

Traditional thinking about leadership holds that the leader is the hero. That it is up to the leader to set a vision and determine a solution to the problems faced in his or her organisation or community and to inspire others to follow. The catch is that today’s world, increasingly, does not work that way. We encounter a more complex world and a more challenging set of problems:

We encounter multiple perspectives on the same challenge. The diversity of different organisational, interpersonal and international cultures requires considerations to be further leveraged as opportunities to draw results from (e.g. how to adapt to change and merge teams, units from different divisions and countries?)
Our past solutions don’t seem to apply to challenges we face. Just because it worked in the past is no guarantee a solution will yield the results in a fast changing and complex business world. More likely, applying the same method will fail. Therefore we need to learn how to learn and how to become skilled at developing solutions, not just finding the easy answer that worked before.
There doesn’t seem to be a simple link between cause and effect and systemic solutions seem to be required. In simple problems we can isolate one or two causes of a problem – for example, a short-term drop in market share being attributed to an aggressive campaign by a competitive bank – but where the problem is more systemic there is a web of causes and effects. For example, big issues like economic forecasting, systemic low-morale issues in an organisation or climate change, where multiple, interconnected causes are at play and probably creating vicious cycles.

Leadership is like navigating down the rapids of a river, where you can only see as far as the next bend and do not know what hazards await you around the following one.

Tracey Goss, in her book The Last Word on Power, recounts the failure of former IBM CEO John Akers: “Where [he] failed, in the eyes of the board, investors, and his successor, was in the wrong execution of the right strategy … Akers had plainly failed to achieve the true object of reinvention: to change, not the organisation, but the behaviour of those within … None of the remedies had worked, because the reinventors couldn't reinvent the most crucial element of all: themselves.”

This world of complexity calls for what we will call ‘Beyond Leadership’.

Programme objectives

The objectives of the programme are included below and we also work with our clients to identify additional objectives that you might like to achieve out of the programme.

Understanding of what leadership for the future means, an awareness and practice of your own skills, effectiveness and impact on others when leading a multicultural team.
Commitment to and understanding of the principals of corporate responsibility, the impact business has on stakeholders and integration to profitable business strategy and solutions.
Awareness of the impact of cultural diversity on individual, team and business effectiveness and the ability to drive results through differences.
Ability to connect to your own purpose as a leader and to the purpose of defined projects, as well as the ability recreate this for others.
Delivery of practical business skills and techniques to facilitate more effective performance including: Ability to innovate to drive business solutions, Project management skills, Analytical skills; ability to analyse options, prioritise and make decisions that optimise business results, Strategic thinking; ability to plan for, anticipate and react to changes internally and externally; Use of and greater awareness of the tools available to more effectively work cross culturally

Our approach
We believe that learning happens when theory and practice come together. We bring together approaches to innovation, understanding stakeholders, giving and receiving feedback, working across cultures and developing leadership values and brand.

We are also aware that you will likely have approaches already embedded within your organisation in some of these areas. We are happy to work with you and to adapt methods and approaches to suit your organisation.

Using the U-process
The U-process underpins our approach and is a methodology for addressing highly complex challenges, for solving complex problems or realizing complex opportunities. It is a “social technology” for effecting the transformation of reality, within and across the worlds of business, government and civil society.

In using the U-Process, an individual or team undertakes three activities or movements: Sensing the current reality of the system of which they are part, carefully and in depth; Reflecting to allow their “inner knowing” about what is going on and what they have to do to emerge ; and then Acting swiftly to bring forth a new reality.

Being Experiential
The Beyond Leadership Programme is a programme which is very experiential in its design. While the concepts can be grasped intellectually, reading an article or sitting in a classroom, true understanding can never be gained until you can experience the material at work. This means that the participants will be learning, primarily, through doing rather than by being taught. It means we will be in the field and working on business projects instead of working abstractly or on case studies. It also means that you will have opportunities to put the theory into practice and not just ‘think’ about leadership - but do it.

Working in intercultural teams
The programme is designed to bring leaders in close contact with other cultures –both in terms of the host culture where they do their field work and in terms of diversity of the teams they work in throughout the 6 month programme. Just by working in the teams they learn about giving and receiving feedback across cultures, different working styles and how to manage and lead other cultures.

Providing Leadership opportunities
During the programme each person has several opportunities to lead the team. Leadership opportunities are formal – where the participants are given the explicit task of leading the team. The programme also encourages constant leadership with a philosophy that we are always leaders and the chance to lead is always present whether we take it or not. Leaders receive feedback from team members, the facilitator and a business mentor on their strengths and areas for improvement.

Cultivating authentic communication
During the field challenge and again during the business project, we run ‘assessment circles’ where participants are guided through a process for giving direct feedback. This is an opportunity to get feedback from the team on how the individual is doing against their personal objectives for the programme and for those giving feedback they practice their skills to develop others.

Providing Senior Leader Mentoring
The design of the programme requires senior business leaders to be closely involved in the programme. This provides leaders the opportunity for mentoring and networking on current business issues throughout the programme.

Results of the Programme

We use tools throughout the programme to develop behaviours characteristic of a future leader. Of course there are a range of behaviours that characterise successful leaders. Below are some that the Beyond Leadership programme develops. Again, we work closely with organisations to tailor and develop a focus that supports your business and skills in which you want your leaders to excel.

Working Across Cultures: The ability to assess, understand and work effectively with multicultural groups to optimise cultural differences.
Effective Dialogue: The ability to understand and be understood by communicating effectively – inquiring into another person’s point of view and by advocating for your own.
Understanding and engaging stakeholders: the ability to identify, relate to and connect with stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints.
Visioning: The ability to envision and articulate the future state of a project or situation.
Brainstorming and Prototyping Ideas: The ability to rapidly realise ideas, make improvements and take action.
Planning projects and co-ordinating action: The ability to effectively use resources and to satisfy customers.
Driving individual and team accountability: The ability to hold people and teams responsible for their actions and agreements.
Driving action and performance to satisfy your customers: The ability to negotiate and understand your clients needs.
Giving and receiving assessments: The ability to identify your assessments and deliver and receive assessments for the sake of the other person or mutual concerns.
Building a personal Leadership Brand: The ability to articulate your own style and goals as a leader and to act accordingly.

In Summary

Beyond Leadership is not an incremental programme. It ultimately transforms the individuals experience of themselves and the world around them while providing business results. It exposes leaders to the real situations and challenges them to rise to new levels of ability and global and business awareness. In doing so, it provides a clear a return on investment after the first programme.


Home What We Do Strategy Implimentation Leadership Development CSR & Sustainability Carbon Considerations Diversity Getting Things Done - GTD How We Do It Our Points of View on... Our Values Our Clients Private Sector Public Sector Our Team Careers Contact Us UK US		Beyond Leadership is an innovation in the area of leadership development. Designed by Future Considerations and Lead, it develops leaders for the future who understand issues of sustainability and cultural diversity and who leave the programme with leadership skills tested in complex and challenging environments. Participants achieve this through a blend of business and field projects, individual and group work, action and reflection. Participants are supported by one to one coaching, action learning and peer feedback to achieve results beyond what they think is possible for the communities they work with and their organizations. We work closely with our clients to tailor the programme to meet both the overall needs of leaders for the future and the specific needs of leaders in your organization and business Read more: www.beyondleadership.co.uk Download: Beyond Leadership 1.5MB Why does business need this programme? CEOs and Directors of global companies are recognising the critical need to develop a leadership cadre with the right mindset and skills to engage with and master the complexities of the modern world - performance that goes beyond the bounds of traditional leadership. Leadership that is sensitive and responsive to global and local realities, comfortable in diverse cultures, builds multi-stakeholder relationships and uses insights to inspire and innovate. Leadership that can manage inner complexity as well as global market complexity, leadership that goes beyond silos and joins up the organisation. Traditional thinking about leadership holds that the leader is the hero. That it is up to the leader to set a vision and determine a solution to the problems faced in his or her organisation or community and to inspire others to follow. The catch is that today’s world, increasingly, does not work that way. We encounter a more complex world and a more challenging set of problems: We encounter multiple perspectives on the same challenge. The diversity of different organisational, interpersonal and international cultures requires considerations to be further leveraged as opportunities to draw results from (e.g. how to adapt to change and merge teams, units from different divisions and countries?) Our past solutions don’t seem to apply to challenges we face. Just because it worked in the past is no guarantee a solution will yield the results in a fast changing and complex business world. More likely, applying the same method will fail. Therefore we need to learn how to learn and how to become skilled at developing solutions, not just finding the easy answer that worked before. There doesn’t seem to be a simple link between cause and effect and systemic solutions seem to be required. In simple problems we can isolate one or two causes of a problem – for example, a short-term drop in market share being attributed to an aggressive campaign by a competitive bank – but where the problem is more systemic there is a web of causes and effects. For example, big issues like economic forecasting, systemic low-morale issues in an organisation or climate change, where multiple, interconnected causes are at play and probably creating vicious cycles. Leadership is like navigating down the rapids of a river, where you can only see as far as the next bend and do not know what hazards await you around the following one. Tracey Goss, in her book The Last Word on Power, recounts the failure of former IBM CEO John Akers: “Where [he] failed, in the eyes of the board, investors, and his successor, was in the wrong execution of the right strategy … Akers had plainly failed to achieve the true object of reinvention: to change, not the organisation, but the behaviour of those within … None of the remedies had worked, because the reinventors couldn't reinvent the most crucial element of all: themselves.” This world of complexity calls for what we will call ‘Beyond Leadership’. Programme objectives The objectives of the programme are included below and we also work with our clients to identify additional objectives that you might like to achieve out of the programme. Understanding of what leadership for the future means, an awareness and practice of your own skills, effectiveness and impact on others when leading a multicultural team. Commitment to and understanding of the principals of corporate responsibility, the impact business has on stakeholders and integration to profitable business strategy and solutions. Awareness of the impact of cultural diversity on individual, team and business effectiveness and the ability to drive results through differences. Ability to connect to your own purpose as a leader and to the purpose of defined projects, as well as the ability recreate this for others. Delivery of practical business skills and techniques to facilitate more effective performance including: Ability to innovate to drive business solutions, Project management skills, Analytical skills; ability to analyse options, prioritise and make decisions that optimise business results, Strategic thinking; ability to plan for, anticipate and react to changes internally and externally; Use of and greater awareness of the tools available to more effectively work cross culturally Our approach We believe that learning happens when theory and practice come together. We bring together approaches to innovation, understanding stakeholders, giving and receiving feedback, working across cultures and developing leadership values and brand. We are also aware that you will likely have approaches already embedded within your organisation in some of these areas. We are happy to work with you and to adapt methods and approaches to suit your organisation. Using the U-process The U-process underpins our approach and is a methodology for addressing highly complex challenges, for solving complex problems or realizing complex opportunities. It is a “social technology” for effecting the transformation of reality, within and across the worlds of business, government and civil society. In using the U-Process, an individual or team undertakes three activities or movements: *Sensing* the current reality of the system of which they are part, carefully and in depth; *Reflecting* to allow their “inner knowing” about what is going on and what they have to do to emerge ; and then *Acting* swiftly to bring forth a new reality. Being Experiential The Beyond Leadership Programme is a programme which is very experiential in its design. While the concepts can be grasped intellectually, reading an article or sitting in a classroom, true understanding can never be gained until you can experience the material at work. This means that the participants will be learning, primarily, through doing rather than by being taught. It means we will be in the field and working on business projects instead of working abstractly or on case studies. It also means that you will have opportunities to put the theory into practice and not just ‘think’ about leadership - but do it. Working in intercultural teams The programme is designed to bring leaders in close contact with other cultures –both in terms of the host culture where they do their field work and in terms of diversity of the teams they work in throughout the 6 month programme. Just by working in the teams they learn about giving and receiving feedback across cultures, different working styles and how to manage and lead other cultures. Providing Leadership opportunities During the programme each person has several opportunities to lead the team. Leadership opportunities are formal – where the participants are given the explicit task of leading the team. The programme also encourages constant leadership with a philosophy that we are always leaders and the chance to lead is always present whether we take it or not. Leaders receive feedback from team members, the facilitator and a business mentor on their strengths and areas for improvement. Cultivating authentic communication During the field challenge and again during the business project, we run ‘assessment circles’ where participants are guided through a process for giving direct feedback. This is an opportunity to get feedback from the team on how the individual is doing against their personal objectives for the programme and for those giving feedback they practice their skills to develop others. Providing Senior Leader Mentoring The design of the programme requires senior business leaders to be closely involved in the programme. This provides leaders the opportunity for mentoring and networking on current business issues throughout the programme. Results of the Programme We use tools throughout the programme to develop behaviours characteristic of a future leader. Of course there are a range of behaviours that characterise successful leaders. Below are some that the Beyond Leadership programme develops. Again, we work closely with organisations to tailor and develop a focus that supports your business and skills in which you want your leaders to excel. Working Across Cultures: The ability to assess, understand and work effectively with multicultural groups to optimise cultural differences. Effective Dialogue: The ability to understand and be understood by communicating effectively – inquiring into another person’s point of view and by advocating for your own. Understanding and engaging stakeholders: the ability to identify, relate to and connect with stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds and viewpoints. Visioning: The ability to envision and articulate the future state of a project or situation. Brainstorming and Prototyping Ideas: The ability to rapidly realise ideas, make improvements and take action. Planning projects and co-ordinating action: The ability to effectively use resources and to satisfy customers. Driving individual and team accountability: The ability to hold people and teams responsible for their actions and agreements. Driving action and performance to satisfy your customers: The ability to negotiate and understand your clients needs. Giving and receiving assessments: The ability to identify your assessments and deliver and receive assessments for the sake of the other person or mutual concerns. Building a personal Leadership Brand: The ability to articulate your own style and goals as a leader and to act accordingly. In Summary Beyond Leadership is not an incremental programme. It ultimately transforms the individuals experience of themselves and the world around them while providing business results. It exposes leaders to the real situations and challenges them to rise to new levels of ability and global and business awareness. In doing so, it provides a clear a return on investment after the first programme.
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