Leadership development

“Effective leadership plays a fundamental role in the success of any organisation. Yet it is still an area many organisations struggle with in terms of providing the type of development that will really make a sustained difference.”

Mary Gregory

Leadership Development

I have designed and delivered large scale leadership programmes focussed on creating the positive leadership behaviours that create high performing cultures where people love to work.

I am also an engaging speaker and can design bespoke workshops and presentations on topics such as:

Leadership presence
Influence and Impact
Resilience and leading resilient teams
Ego-less Leadership
Leader as Coach

Please contact me to discuss your organisation’s Leadership Development requirements in a confidential 20 minute introductory call.

Book a no commitment confidential call to discuss working with me

Case Study

Executive Team Alignment - a combination of individual and team coaching and team development

The Situation

Tom was a newly appointed Managing Director leading a service and sales business which was part of a much larger business. He inherited an under-performing operation and there was demand from the larger parent company for the business to move in profit. Tom quickly identified the structure of his director team as being out of balance and silo working pre-dominated. With a desire to turn things around quickly, Tom restructured the team. This was met with resistance and cynicism, resulting in complete inertia.

How Executive Team Alignment Helped

Initially, coaching focused on assisting Tom in handling his directors' behavior and initiating conversations with each one to address any resistance. Tom acknowledged that he had implemented the restructuring without involving his team initially but emphasized the necessity of the change. His transparency helped gain more support and boosted his confidence in adopting a team-oriented approach.

Subsequently, a two-day workshop was conducted to enhance skills in active listening, communication, and creating a 'safe' atmosphere. Tom received tailored coaching beforehand to encourage openness during the workshop, leading to clarifications of misunderstandings and assumptions.

Increased trust was evident as individuals took risks in sharing and providing candid feedback. Establishing clear behavioral expectations regarding team alignment laid the groundwork for ongoing work and coaching.

The team collaboratively developed a vision that revitalized the strategy and included a commitment to implementing the structural change. Further coaching for the directors supported their continuous growth in behavior and relationship management to maintain alignment within the team. Ongoing team sessions reinforced the progress achieved.

Results

Three months into the programme of work, Toms structural changes were implemented and the team continued to work cohesively and effectively. Nine months later the business had gone into profit making clear headway in becoming market leaders in its specialist sector.

At a glance

Challenges:

New director, lacking confidence
Underperforming operation
Silo working and low trust
Resistance to change
Inertia

Results:

Team trust and cohesion developed
Leader confident and engaging his team
Momentum built
Change implemented
Business turned around and profitable

“From the beginning Mary builtrelationships, setting up anenvironment and process that wassafe and allowed us to open up. Theturning point moment was theuncomfortable conversations we hadin the first workshop which were a'moment of truth' followed by theawareness that to work as an alignedteam we needed to sustain that levelof honesty and accountability.”

Tom, Managing Director, Large Retail Company

(Personal details witheld for confidentiality)

Case Study

Elevating women in leadership - A leadership development program empowering women and creating greater gender parity in medium to large organisations.

Context

My interest in women’s leadership and their challenges comes from my personal experiences with biases in the corporate world. In 2012, while working at Penna’s talent practice, I created their first Women in Leadership program. The program is always evolving based on research and feedback and I have continued to deliver it as a niche offering as an independent coach and facilitator. Over the past decade, I have delivered this program to over fifteen corporate clients (names include Network Rail, Saputo, G.E., CISCO) running repeat programs and impacting the lives and careers of thousands of women.

Program Overview

The design is grounded in research and references highlighting women's obstacles. It is exclusively for women and consists of four full-day workshops:

Career Activism
Confidence and Resilience
Authenticity, Brand, and Impact
Being Strategic

Strength scope psychometric and 360 support workshops three and four.Individual and group coaching provide support for applying learning.

Alongside the program, is an Allyship Workshop for line managers and others interested in understanding the challenges faced by women, how to become champions for women in the workplace.

The program's objectives include enabling women to:

Take control of their careers
Develop confidence and resilience to navigate workplace culture and biases
Build their personal brand, enhancing their influence and impact
Work and contribute at a strategic level
Strengthen their network of support and create a learning community

Impact

Feedback illustrates remarkable improvements for the women attending their organisations. This includes excelling in job interviews, attaining senior positions, achieving work/live balance, an overall boost in confidence, having tricky conversations, enabling others and a more strategic contribution. I have also facilitated the creation of supportive communities within the organisations they work and increased visibility of women in the enterprise. This has helped improve the organisation’s reputation and recognition as an employee of choice.