Engaging Leadership Learning

Last week Alton Hobbs, Head of Learning & Development at Mencap, and I presented our shared story on the evolution of action learning at Mencap, at the Employee Engagement summit.  Speaking alongside Nita Clarke OBE, Co-chair at Employee Engagement Task Force, our case study illustrated how employee Learning Sets provide the environment, framework and structure to foster high engagement, as well as the opportunity to embed a new leadership framework.

Learning sets are based on the principles of action learning and create the framework and environment for peers to…

• Build highest levels of trust and collaboration
• Strengthen authentic leadership & deep engagement through working with vulnerability and courage
• Rapidly develop key leadership behaviours through continuous self-disclosure and peer feedback

Action learning helps leaders,

…deal with ambiguity; build community; reinforce managerial, transformational, political and professional aspects of leadership; promote application of previous academic learnings to real problems, and thought-provoking questioning

(Acker-Hocevar - 2002)

We had already partnered with Mencap to support the set up, roll out and facilitation of action learning for other populations of employees and they were keen to continue and evolve this approach with their top leaders. They were looking for an alternative to the traditional classroom-taught, rationally based and individual-focused approach to rolling out their new leadership framework: ‘Our Leadership Way’ and learning sets offered this opportunity.

Ten sets of up to eight leaders were established and met regularly for a day each time, to work on ‘live’ business challenges with their peers.  Using our highly experienced facilitators as well as an internal OD specialist facilitator, both to facilitate and to draw up feedback reports which were shared with the executive team following each round of set meetings, the impact was significant both at an individual and organisational level.

The concept of providing the time and space for leaders to build trust and commitment with one and other, fostering the environment to share their live business challenges with courage and honesty, at the same time as linking to a new leadership framework was courageous in itself.  Hobbs is clear that this approach has delivered a number of objectives for Mencap leaders:

1. providing a more engaging leadership learning experience
2. requiring leaders to own and take responsibility for their own leadership journey
3. building strong connections to a shared understanding of what leadership is at Mencap i.e. the Mencap 'Our Leadership Way' framework

If you are interested in how leadership learning sets can help your leadership development pease do get in touch with Emily.