The Business need
The Individual need
Background
Although
women often do better at school than men, this has yet to be translated into the
workplace. Many women hit (or
believe they hit) the glass ceiling, which acts as a barrier to accessing a
higher level in the organisation.
However,
the problem is not that the organisations create or perpetuate such barriers.
The real issue is when women start to believe them and behave in such a way to
reinforce the truthfulness of such assumptions. A
single training programme can never resolve this deep issue, but it can help
people and the organization to reject what has become a subtle form of
institutionalised
slavery.
Although
the number of women in top management positions has significantly increased over
the past decade, surveys and feedback from clients indicate that this still
amounts to only 5 percent of top managerial positions being held by women.
Looking
at the wider situation, the number of women in executive positions is still quite
small. One widely accepted
explanation for this small number is the persistence of negative stereotypes
about women as managers. Attitudes about the role of women in society may have changed
dramatically, but women are still perceived as being less suited than men for
managerial positions.
Such
pre-conceptions about female managers may cause firms to underutilise a
significant part of the work force. Women currently represent nearly half of the total workforce, yet discrimination based on sex continues to occur in such areas as
performance appraisal, mentoring opportunities, pay, and available career paths.
Given the low birth rate in the early and middle 1970s and the shortage
of skilled, motivated workers, organisations simply cannot afford the effects of
discrimination based on stereotypes of about 50 percent of their work.
This
subtle form of discrimination, based on preconceptions about how men and women
differ in their managerial ability, will continue unless companies make a
concerted and continuing effort to dispel those myths through education
and training. Without such an
effort, the potential exists for firms to underutilise their management
resources and this can be a costly move for organizations facing an increasingly
competitive environment in today's global economy.
This
event seeks to help women managers address this issue in thee ways:
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Lead Yourself - Provides an opportunity for them to take time out to reflect on how they
lead themselves. The structured approach enables them to explore
what distorted assumptions have they taken on board about themselves
and their role in the workplace. By helping to unpick certain false
assumptions and eroding any limiting beliefs then delegates are able to redefine how
they see themselves and their performance at a more senior level.
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Lead Others - The
second level is to consider how they build relationship with and lead
others. The key consideration here is the
nature of business and personal networks from a female perspective.
Given this insight, delegates then
understand how to create powerful, productive
relationships.
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Lead Leaders - The last great task of any leader is not to create
followers but to create leaders - people who will ensure that action they
have taken will be sustainable and endure as a lasting legacy. Too many
leadership initiatives end up as short term fads and so repeat the same old
mistakes because the leader does not prepare and adequate and effective
succession process.
Source Material
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The course is based upon ideas contained in
four interrelated books, 7Cs of Coaching, Lead Yourself, Know Your
Value and Personal Networking
- written by Mick Cope and published by the
Financial Times.
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Pre-Work
The course pre-work is sent out approximately
three weeks prior to the event to give delegates time to understand the material
and prepare their work for the opening exercise. Each delegate should allow 2-3
hours to read the material, undertake any background reading they feel might be appropriate.
Course Content
Module 1 – Leading Self (2 days)
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DAY 1
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09.00
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Welcome &
Introductions
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Introduction to the whole
programme, facilitator and delegate introductions.
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10.00
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Aims and Objectives
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Delegates work in pairs or
small groups to understand each other’s reasons for attending and
personal learning objectives.
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11.00 |
Was, As is and Will be |
Understanding the current trends in female
issues in the workplace and there impact on the nature and role of women
as they enter the leadership journey. This combines a collection of
standard themes and ideas taken from a diverse range of sources. |
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13.30
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Personal Timeline
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Delegates prepare
a personal timeline of their personal leadership journey thus far. The
Y curve model is introduced as to explain the moments of elation and
frustration that the changes in delegates’ lives have brought.
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14.00
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Choosing the choice
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During this session,
delegates reflect on their choice to move IN2 leadership and
ensure that they have taken all aspects
into account.
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16.00
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Due North
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Having got clarity on their
choice, delegates use a structured framework to create their personal
direction. They then share
this with others.
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18.30
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Faking it
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Video to highlight the
power of making choices and taking action.
Sets the scene for Day 2.
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DAY 2
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9.00
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Review of Day 1
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Delegates use prompt cards
to explain the concepts covered on Day 1 to a number of others.
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09.30
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Fantasy Ladder
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Delegates use the Fantasy
Ladder to complete the debrief of Faking it from the previous evening.
Delegates then use the process to change entrenched beliefs about
themselves and
the leadership role they seek to move towards.
The concept of Bucket and Balloons is introduced as a method of understanding
what deep forces may limit their chance of success when entering a higher
level of organisational leadership.
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11.30
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Talent Wheel
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The shift IN2
Leadership will place new demands on the delegates and requires them to
discover new talents. By using the Talent Wheel delegates begin to
understand and appreciate their value.
After Initial reflection, delegates use the Coaching model to
co-coach each other through this challenging process.
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14.00
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Personal Pitch -
Preparation
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Delegates prepare a 10-15
min pitch that will be delivered to the whole delegate group.
The purpose of the pitch is to ‘sell yourself and your commitment
to the working title of your chapter 5’.
This process brings together the learning from the 2 days.
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14.30
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Personal Pitch -
Delivery
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Each delegate is given her
15 minutes ‘air time’. An
afternoon break will be arranged during this process.
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16.45
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Review and close
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Delegates are reminded of
the personal logs that they work need to work on for Module 2.
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Module 2 – Leading Others (2 days)
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DAY 1
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09.30
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Welcome
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Introduction to Module 2
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09.45
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Personal Presentations
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Delegates present for 3
minutes on action taken and progress made.
Time for questions and review.
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10.45
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Personal Timeline
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Delegates revisit their
timeline. Based on the
co-coaching work between modules delegates update their chapter 5 if
appropriate.
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11.15
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Make Connections Count
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In order to create
connections that add value, delegates begin to map their personal/professional
networks.
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13.30
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Shared Success
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At this stage delegates are
helped to view each network connection as a point for collaborative
success rather than a competitive relationship.
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15.00
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Break
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15.15
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Shadow Mapping
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All relationships operate
at two levels – the spoken and unspoken. This session explores
the effect that relationship shadows will have on their ability to lead
others. Having created a
first draft network map, delegates annotate their network map with shadow
information. During this
session, delegates also explore the impact of gender shadows.
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17.15
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Review
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Reflection and discussion.
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DAY 2
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09.00
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Trust Fund
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Trust is the oil that
lubricates the network. At this point delegates are helped to measure the
level of the trust fund with their network and consider what action must
be taken to grow the fund.
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10.45
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Social Styles
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The Leadership of others if
often driven by the likeability factor. This is the extent to which people
can rapidly generate a sense of comfort with others.
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12.15
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Review
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Delegates revisit their
timeline. Based on the
co-coaching work between modules delegates update their chapter 5 if
appropriate.
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15.15
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Collaborative Coaching
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The art of leading others
is often less about helping the person - but helping them to help
themselves - essentially coaching rather than coercing.
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17.15
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Review
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Reflection and discussion.
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Module 3 – Leading Leaders (1 day)
11.0
Case study preparation
11.30
Case Study work in teams
2.30
Case study presentations
4.30
Close
(c)
Mick Cope
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