This global professional services firm wanted to increase the leadership pipeline of female and ethnic minority internal candidates.
Vercida were appointed to support them in designing and delivering a future leader programme for 500 ethnic minority and female participants, their sponsors and their line managers.
The programme consists of three highly engaging core modules for participants delivered over a 9-month period:
Personal Insights – developing self-awareness, identifying skill gaps and strengths
Navigating the Landscape – understanding challenges to progression
Sustainable Leadership – setting direction and putting in place tailored development action plans
The core modules are supported by a selection of 60-minute elective modules focusing on specific topics aligned to the core modules:
Career Planning: Clarifying personal ambition, drive and purpose
Clarifying vision, purpose and ambition with guidance and practical actions for Participants to take. Exploring Hubert Joly’s 5 principles of purposeful leadership – be clear about purpose, role, whom you serve, be driven by values and be authentic.
Personal Brand: Balancing your authentic work and personal selves and taking ownership of your brand
Revisiting the principles of authentic leadership in Module 1 and exploring how to balance authentic work and personal selves with case studies from different leaders and suggested steps for participants to take.
Impact & Presence: Developing your unique leadership style and executive presence
Drawing on the five basics of executive presence by Tracey Spears to share practical tips and actions to develop executive presence
Being an Authentic Leader: Using your difference as a source of strength
Exploring key themes from the authenticity paradox by Herminia Ibarra including taking charge in an unfamiliar role, selling your ideas (and yourself), processing negative feedback and developing a playful frame of mind. We will also outline how participants can apply the themes.
Communicating Like a Leader: Communicating so people listen
An overview of the 5 principles of effective leadership communication set out by the Centre for Creative Leadership along with practical steps to apply them to participant’s roles.
Leading in Uncertain Times: Developing the skill and confidence to lead in a changing environment
Developing the skill and confidence to lead within a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) work environment and practical ways to apply the principles learned.
A complementary programme for sponsors and people leaders, aligned to the core modules was designed to help them support the participant journey:
Understanding difference
Emotional Intelligence and Vulnerability
Leadership Sustainability
This programme is ongoing but based on current feedback, 84% of participants rated the programme as 4 or 5 stars and 91% rated the facilitators as 4 or 5 stars (from a maximum score of 5 stars)