Executive Leadership Circles©
Why Executive Leadership
At ALIVE in Healthcare, we believe that a culture of leadership is important in order to bring the wisdom of all into solutions that are in alignment with the organization’s mission, goals, and strategic plan. A culture of leadership means a leader in every chair regardless of roles and responsibilities.
Formal leaders and senior managers have huge mandates and often feel the responsibility to fulfill them alone even when they have others to support them. True leadership is not about a team of followers or working in silos. It is about leaning in with other leaders and co-creating a philosophy that team members believe in and want to support.
“If you are doing it alone, you are not leading.”
Liliane de Vries
The Executive Leadership Circles© program is designed for formal leaders and senior managers. The program enables change in individuals and groups within the systems and culture of your organization. Executive Leadership Circles© create opportunities for the leader in every chair to demonstrate their best selves in shared leadership with others.
This program is for hospital and healthcare organizations seeking:
- Healthcare-specific leadership programs for their formal leaders and senior managers
- New and powerful ways to help change the culture of leadership in their organization
- Ways to effectively augment existing leadership programs for formal leaders and senior managers
- Merging of different hospital cultures into one culture of leadership
- A tried and tested format that generates high-performance leadership excellence
- Sustainable leadership at all levels
The Executive Leadership Circles© program is designed specifically for formal leaders and senior managers. This innovative program works from the inside out – achieving lasting results that participants and organizations benefit from time and again. ALIVE in Healthcare believes that powerful and sustainable leadership comes from the core of self versus an external leadership model. To achieve lasting results, a leader must understand the different dimensions of a leader and elevate leadership at all levels.
Overall Goal
To lead from humanity stems from a Relationship-Centred Care© approach which will create a powerful, positive and sustainable leadership model within the organization. This will develop shared leadership where everyone takes responsibility and ownership for human and result-related impact. Formal leaders and senior managers will walk away confident in their choices and how they use their resources to better achieve desired results for self, others and the organization as a whole.
Objectives
- To raise the consciousness of how limited world views impact progress in leadership
- To create conditions, support and learning towards leadership skills, application and sustainability
- To develop tools on how to lead effectively and with intention
- To bring awareness and understanding of different strengths and how to work with them
- To understand how leadership styles impact others and how to change unwanted behaviours to achieve desired results
- To create awareness of choice
- To prepare the next generation of high-performance leaders for excellence
- To create a culture of leadership by leaning into other leaders for experience, expertise, support, and a shared purpose
- To create intentional leadership from the 5 dimensions of a leadership model by demonstrating each role effectively
Approach
- Instilling an open and safe environment
- Experiential and interactive learning
- Gaining new tools and resources for the benefit of continued application
- Providing practical and real life/work situations to the learning
- Involving leaders in their own leadership learning
- Continued personal and professional development
- Creating ongoing in-house Leadership Circles© post-program for sustainability
The Program
Core Components
The program is based on four core components – Leading Self, Engaging Others, Systems Thinking and Leadership in Action.
Engaging Others – means leading by engaging others. These leaders role model and foster the development of others through support and healthy challenges. They welcome the contribution of others and provide opportunities to demonstrate courageous conversations through listening and powerful language. Engaging leaders identify toxic behaviours that directly impact relationships or team engagement and do something about it. They foster effective communication, collaboration, and cooperation to achieve collective results.
Systems Thinking – means leadership in the bigger system or organization. It takes leadership to the next level of responsibility that incorporates who they are in the collective and in service of the system or organization, as a whole. Systems thinking leaders take ownership of their role in the system. The voice of the system encourages collaboration at three levels – self, others, and the organization. It is about seeing the impact we have as individuals on our world.
Leadership In Action – means applying the learning of Leading Self, Engaging Others and Systems Thinking in a practicum. Leaders will take on the roles of the 5 dimensions of a leadership model and develop their own content, application and desired outcome as a collective group, with the intention of continuing Leadership Circles© for sustainability.
“All leadership begins with “self-leadership.” Before any leader can aspire to lead a thriving enterprise, they must first master leading an organization of one.” ~ Glenn Gutek
Program Format
To ensure feasibility and success, ALIVE engages with your hospital to understand the needs and careful alignment with the mission and strategic direction. We believe the best relationships come from co-creation and a strong partnership.
The Executive Leadership Circle© is an 18 month group program. Any number of participants can join the program and depending on the number of participants, circle groups are created.
- Circle groups consist of between eight and 12 participants.
- Circle groups meet once a month led by an ALIVE in Healthcare coach facilitator.
- Each circle group runs for four hours each time.
- Participants will receive program materials.
The Leadership In Action component of the program will include:
- A mastermind-style application
- Rotation of leadership roles within the group during the program
- Creation of new circle content specific to the leadership group intentions, goals and plan of action
- Moving forward with Leadership Circles© commitment
The program also includes one-on-one coaching for participants to work on the concepts, learning, and development that comes out of the circle experience.
- Participants will be assigned an ALIVE in Healthcare coach to work with throughout the program.
- One-on-one coaching will occur once a month.
- These coaching sessions are one hour in duration.
ALIVE employs strategic planning expertise to understand your organization and create the best program possible. The core program, as explained above, has proven effective in creating shared leadership and a shift towards a positive culture in the workplace. ALIVE in Healthcare is ready to discuss how this program can work for your organization.
Impact
The Executive Leadership Circles© program has helped organizations change their entire culture. There is a common language, mindset and role modeling that permeates the organization. Leaders are happier and more alive in the workplace and in their personal lives. They will use the tools at work and home which means they ‘show up’ at work as their true selves – as proud leaders of their life. It’s a win/win.
Benefits
The benefits experienced through the Executive Leadership Circles© program are as unique as the individuals themselves, impacting not only careers but lives. Some of the most noted outcomes from our program include:
- Engaged and thriving leaders
- Reduced mental health issues
- Leaders of self and engaging others
- Awareness of other world views
- A culture of respect, responsibility and pride
- A mentality of Relationship-Centred Care ©
- Application and sustainability of Leadership Circles © keeping leaders focused and in action.
Leaders are able to:
- Articulate a vision for the desired work culture
- Use new skills for constructive, collegial interactions and how to proactively deal with conflict
- Take on personal responsibility and exercise self-direction
- Feel an increase in self-esteem, self-worth, self-confidence
- Increase productivity through being more efficient and effective
- Improve communication skills
- Handle challenge and conflict more effectively
- Build a culture of trust with others
- Experience higher morale
- Increase respect and teamwork
- Invest and nurture the leader in every chair
- Be more focused, take action and experience positive results
“My self-esteem and critical thinking has significantly improved through this program. This has helped me in inspiring staff that report to me and making process changes that have a positive impact on my team.” Participant of the 2014 Leadership Program
Return on Investment
Decreased cost to the organization due to:
- Leader engagement and conflict resolution
- Solution-focused leaders
- Clear management of how to deal with toxic behaviours (with self and others)
- Ownership of relationship dynamics
Increased focus on Relationship-Centred Care© due to:
- Moving from self-centred thinking to the impact on others
- Collaboration with others in decision making
- Asking for what we need; offering what we can
- Aligning with other’s values in alignment with organizational mission and values
- More engaged with others and aligned with organizational thinking
Improved Patient-Centred Care due to:
- A focus on Relationship-Centred Care©
- Leading the leaders in every chair
- Invested in a culture of leadership
- Understanding the value of engagement with all levels
- Co-creating prevention and solutions with others
- Learning that taking the time helps to save time