The Strategic Leadership Programme

Introduction

The Strategic Leadership Programme gives participants the practical tools, techniques and insight to be a strategic and resilient leader who is able to work effectively in a complex environment within a senior team, working collaboratively across and outside of their organisation.

The programme aims to develop more capable leaders with a broadened perspective and a greater understanding of strategic thinking and decision-making, as well as personal insight around their leadership style. Institutions will benefit from leaders better equipped to lead across the organisation, with sharpened strategic insight and better prepared for future executive level team roles.

You will explore the key role of creating a vision that will shape the future of your organization and how to inspire and motivate others to share it. Through the use of assessment instruments, combined with the knowledge and skills developed in the preceding modules, you will develop you own personal plan for what leadership means to you, what it means to your organization, and how you can build leadership capacity in others.

Course highlights

Strategic leadership is about providing the direction to support an organization to succeed.

The skills of effective strategy and execution include:

• Moving from vision to action planning.
• Aligning your organization’s leadership, strategy, vision and culture for optimal performance.
• Leveraging organizational and individual strengths and values.
• Crafting a strategy that provides a sense of direction and builds ownership.
• Aligning resources and capacities to propel the organization toward its vision.
• Executing the strategy.
• Managing the tensions, successes and challenges of change.
• Breaking free from the stereotypes.

Objectives

• This programme is particularly suited to working with senior leadership teams.
• Become high-achieving leaders, acting decisively and effectively
• Focus on values and ethics in leadership
• Understand how to consistently act strategically rather than operationally
• Make strategic decisions in complicated environments
• Adapt their leadership style to the needs of their organisation and teams
• Know how to create an empowering culture
• Use cutting-edge strategic tools to create a successful impact
• Lead change within your team and organisation
• Tackle both transformational and incremental change
• Communicate messages to make an impact.

Course Outline

Day 1

Introductions, Course Overview

 Leadership VS management, what is the difference?
 Understand the competencies of leadership and management.
 When should we ‘lead’ and when should we ‘manage’
 Influential leadership.
 Introducing the link between leadership and the climate it creates.

Day 2

Mapping formal and informal influencing structures

 The power of compelling vision.
 Vision, mission, strategy and tactics.
 Communicating with passion – bringing your people with you.
 Techniques of upward and downward communication.
 The use of logic and emotion.
 Developing an organisational influencing strategy.

Day 3

Navigating organisational politics

 Ethically using a political ‘tour de force’ to influence positively across your organisation.
 Techniques for countering unethical and self-serving behaviour.
 Defining politics within our organisations.
 Practising offensive and defensive techniques.
 Manage upwards, sideways and across.
 Identify and map your inner circle.
 Apply offensive and defensive political strategic

Day 4

Manage internal and external stakeholders

 Identify and deal with the politics players affecting you such as the sponsor- the opponent – the terrorist – the leech.
 Understand the psychology of change.
 Dealing with resistance to change.
 Case study of major change story.
 Applying the process to your own situation.

Day 5

Creating a and Change strategies

 Planning and formulating a strategy.
 Strategic Influences – what should you consider?
 Communicating a strategy to ensure success.
 Change management: What works – and what doesn’t.
 Exploiting strategy as a framework for change initiatives.
 Identifying the right change strategies for your company.