Leadership
program Strawman
(real example)
Content
What we heard
XXXXX has grown exponentially in the last 18 months, with several strategic acquisitions and has approximately 100 acquired leaders across its new portfolio of companies.
XXXXXX sees culture as a competitive advantage. These leaders have
- Technology and tools
- Industry verticals
- Operational & planning capabilities
- Experience of scale – and growth
- Consultative & client-centric
- Collaborational & cross-functional
- Formal education
- Certifications – and specialised learning
- Regional roots and Global reach- various cultural norms
- Organisational cultures
** see appendix(i) Research New Leaders fears (page 13)
What we heard
XXXXX would like to embrace the diversity of its leadership new cohort ( its cultural competitive advantage)
- A common XXXXX leadership language and culture
- A self-development culture for its leaders
- A platform for self-development
- A HIGH-PERFORMING group of leaders
- A feedback culture
- A cross-learning culture
- An effective and efficient remote leadership cohort
- All leaders are coming from different “starting points”
- All the leaders’ individual and collective strengths and core capabilities
Modular and flexible
- 3Qetc would like to co-create a modular and flexible leadership and development platform which includes the following Key pillars:-
- The self-Audit – diagnostics and assessment
- Functional mapping ( charting each leader's depth in specific solutions, industries, and operational domains.
- Customised individual learning paths
- Educational development and cross learnings Workshops (see appendix ii)
- Shared language and culture building – a unified leadership charter- co-creating shared guiding values, collaboration expectations and 200% accountability
- Facilitated peer learning and reflection – cohort-based workshops
- 3Qetc would facilitate “data” surveys and analysis ( we have a suite of leadership surveys to be potentially “ tweak xxxxxx”)
- Continuous feedback and and monitoring
- Support and supervision
Why this works
Objective | How achieved |
|---|---|
Preserve domain strengths | Custom tracks honour each leader’s functional, cultural, and methodological expertise. |
Build a shared identity | Shared language, values, and cross-cultural forums foster unity and mutual respect |
Accelerate integration impact | Peer learning and stretch projects encourage collaboration and joint ownership across acquisitions |
Develop adaptive leaders | Exposure to diverse challenges and education broadens leadership repertoires. ( increase self-awareness, self-audit) Creates a platform for growth for leadership |
A co-creation – “Strawman” 6 months
The Tools and Frameworks
The mindful leader
3Qetc Surveys
Proposed Next steps- The co-creation
1 | LAUNCH – PRE-WORK-Conduct an intake survey/assessment to capture each leader’s background and developmental needs |
|---|---|
2 | Design modular learning offerings, balancing self-directed and cohort-based delivery. |
3 | Select program champions+ GROUP LEADERS, including senior executives and high-potential acquired leaders to co-design courses. |
4 | Pilot with a small diverse cohort, refine based on feedback, then scale broadly. |
5 | Monitor outcomes continuously–employee feedback, integration milestones, cross-functional collaboration metrics. |
Appendix
i | New Leaders fears |
|---|---|
ii | Development workshops |
iii | Potential cadence 6months |
iv | The self Audit |
v | ICE leadership model |
vi | Data analytics ( including example of 400 executives – blind spots high-performing teams) |
New Leader Fears
Here’s a synthesis of 20 common fears/issues new leaders present with, grounded in the evidence-based leadership research (Burns, Bass, Clutterbuck, Treviño, Harrison, Amundsen, Kouzes & Posner) and similar scholarship. These are grouped into five thematic categories so you can notice the patterns and their theoretical roots.
- Imposter Syndrome – “I’m not good enough to lead; they’ll find out I’m a fraud.”
- Never Led Before – No past leadership role to draw on for confidence.
- Never Been Formally Trained in Leadership – Fear of “not knowing the rules.”
- Fear of Being Judged – Worrying that every decision is scrutinised by peers and superiors.
- Fear of Losing Authenticity – Concern that adopting a leadership persona will make them seem fake
- 6.Difficult Conversations – Avoidance of conflict, performance feedback, or tough calls.
- 7.Delegation Anxiety – Fear that handing work over will lead to mistakes or loss of control.
- 8.Decision Paralysis – Worry about making the “wrong” decision and damaging credibility.
- 9.Time Management Overload – Feeling buried in tasks with no space for strategic thinking.
- 10.Lack of Coaching Skills – Unsure how to grow and empower team members effectively
NOW a new survey to evaluate and help the development of new leaders
- 11.Leading Former Peers – Navigating the shift from “colleague” to “boss.”
- 12.Building Trust – Unsure how to earn respect quickly in a new role.
- 13.Managing Resistance – Handling pushback from experienced or senior team members.
- 14.Fear of Not Being Liked – Overcompensating to maintain harmony at the expense of accountability.
- 15.Cultural & Diversity Sensitivity – Fear of making mistakes in inclusive leadership.
- 16.Navigating Organisational Politics – Unsure how to balance integrity with political realities.
- 17.Ethical Dilemmas – Worry about being pressured to compromise on values.
- 18.Hidden Agendas & Power Plays – Fear of being blindsided by stakeholders.
- 19.Fear of Leading Change – Anxiety about mobilising people through uncertainty.
- 20.Performance Pressure – Feeling the weight of delivering results quickly to “prove” capability.
Development workshops
PRE-WORK All Participants do prior
| Other surveys done in workshops.
|
Workshop 1 All participants | Workshop 2. All participants |
|---|---|
|
|
Potential Cadence of program ( 6Months)
The Full Self-audit
I.C.E. Internal journey & Context &
External Journey Leadership model
Context
- Organisation’s strategy, Vision, purpose “The Why”
- Organisational Culture & Values
- Leadership Hygiene
- On-boarding
- Development – Training
- Collaboration & Innovation
- Internal & External Stakeholder Management
- VUCA environment
- Customers & Clients
- Growth & Performance
- Technology
- Data insights - AI
Strengths Survey- High performing
teams – Blind spots- 400 executives
CAPPFINITY online strengths test. 60 strengths across four domains ( realised and unrealised strengths, Learned behaviours and weaknesses) and split 60 strengths also across five families :
- Communicating
- Being
- Motivating
- Relating
- Thinking
- 9 Organisations
- 400 Executives
- CEOs, GMs , MDs , Leaders,
- 61% male. 39% female
- Observations in the communication family, listening , feedback and counterpoint are extremely poor.
- Implications on the performance of leadership and high-performing teams
- Constructive work to be done on communication, language, and two-way feedback culture
- Work to be done on self-awareness of leaders
% of Particpants with Listening in top 10 and 20 listed strengths
% of Particpants with Feedback in top 10 and 20 listed strengths
% of Participants with Counterpoint in 10 and 20 listed strengths
% of Participants with Curiosity in top 10 and 20 listed strengths