Columbia Leadership Group | Leadership Development

WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP SUCCESS STORY

How We Developed High-Potential Women into Mid-Level Leaders at an International Consumer Company

THE CHALLENGE

Columbia Leadership was engaged by a international consumer company to create and facilitate a holistic program to develop high-potential women leaders into mid-level leaders. The purpose of the program was to:

Equip participants to be better leaders in their current and future leadership roles
Understand how gender dynamics exist and operate in their environment and how to work more effectively in their presence
Drive the business forward through participants on business-essential projects to deliver revenue and profit gains
Gain real-world cross-business operational & execution experience through in-depth action learning projects
Build strong bonds within the cohort and with senior leadership sponsors

WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE

Leadership for Women

Women provide differentiated value while facing distinct challenges in the workplace. Study after study show organizations with more women in leadership roles financially outperform. Whether by infusing new perspectives, catalyzing change or enhancing communication, women make a huge difference.

Unfortunately, as women rise through the ranks in organizations they become fewer and fewer as many choose the exit door. LEADERSHIP FOR WOMEN works to solve this issue by working with Mid- to High-Level Women Leaders.to learn new mindsets and skills while enhancing others, including:

1) How to Breakthrough Gender Dynamics – moving beyond just understanding to thriving

2) How to Discover Your Leadership Style – unlock the authentic leader inside you to increase impact

3) How to Understand and Leverage Multiple Intelligences – give yourself the mindsets and skills to thrive in difference situations

4) How to Coach Authentically – help others achieve based on core values

5) How to Integrate Your Work & Personal Lives – understand and apply work-life blend

6) How to Build Relationships & Alliances – create strong, valuable connections

THE APPROACH

Using a thorough needs assessment, the necessary capabilities needed to successfully develop high-potential women leaders into senior leaders were identified. The program featured:

1) Three Residency Sessions:

3 days each
Focusing on leadership development and application on the job

2) Executive Coaching:

Participants received once-every-three-week coaching focused on the intersection of their strengths and development areas and the business' needs. All based on suite of custom leadership and personality assessments

3) Multi-Month Action Learning Projects with Team Coaching

The business-based action learning projects as hands-on learning experiences for participants to develop mid-level leader mindsets and capabilities, while achieving positive outcomes in areas where organization struggled
Every action learning team received one hour of coaching per week

WHY WLI?

Women leaders see Leadership Development as the number one development need area
67% of women said they need more support building confidence to feel like they can be leaders
59% of women sometimes found it hard to see themselves as leaders
Find Your Leadership Style - find the authentic leader inside of you through CLG’s evidence-based leadership model in a supportive and challenging setting
Learn, Prepare, Practice! - experience your recorded and expertly reviewed small-group practice leadership sessions, where you lead others in simulations and real world-derived exercises
Small Groups, Big Learning - work closely with experts in developing women leaders, one-to-one and in small groups
Bring it Back - engage in your 60-minute follow-up leadership development session to solidify classroom learning and Implement your new leadership approach back at work immediately

THE IMPACT

Evaluation occurred during and after the program through interviews and surveys

The Evaluation Data Showed:

ALL participants stated the organization should continue to offer the program
Participants felt the program significantly sped up their leadership development
Key women leaders were retained and promoted
The projects deliver business results and are routinely acclaimed at the C-suite level

PROGRAM EXPERIENCE

BEFORE

Participants are welcomed into the program with a package of relevant articles and videos to prime their thinking and introspection around program topics. They complete several quick, straightforward assessments to capture their leadership style and multiple intelligences. Direct reports, peers, superiors, and clients/customers complete a personalized assessment of the participant's leadership effectiveness based on critical behaviors proven essential for success. Participants also share their leadership goals and goals for the program. They are given the task of taking a guided self-study of their leadership and careers.

DURING

For three days, participants engage with highly-qualified facilitators in a dynamic, participant-focused learning environment.

Learning modules include: Breaking Through Gender Dynamics, Authentic Leadership, Leveraging Multiple Intelligences, Authentic Coaching, Enabling Work-Life Blend, Communicating via Your Voice, and Building Sustainable Relationships

• Receive robust individual feedback from one of our women’s leadership experts on your assessment results

• Receive extensive women’s leadership expert-led and peer-to-peer leadership application throughout the whole program

• Explore gender dynamics through robust discussions and real-world derived simulations

• Experiment with new behaviors in a safe and supportive environment

• Craft your personal leadership development plan and on-the-job action plan

• Readily-useable, very-relevant content based on robust research that changes viewpoints, builds strong leader mindsets and skills, and supports leading others with your leadership style

• Experiential exercises, cases and simulations bring concepts to life

• Group work allows for real-time leadership roles

• Continual networking fosters lasting connections

• Personalized action plan for applying new knowledge and tools back at work on day one

AFTER

• Receive robust individual feedback on your assessment results from one of our women’s leadership experts

• Receive extensive women’s leadership expert-led and peer-to-peer leadership application throughout the whole program

• Enjoy highly experiential and participant-focused learning interactions

• Explore gender dynamics through robust discussions and real-world derived simulations

• Experiment with new behaviors in a safe and supportive environment

• Craft your personal leadership development plan and on-the-job action plan

Participants have continual access to program and post-program materials, as well as facilitators and other participants as resources for ensuring they're most effectively applying their learning on the job.

Ongoing support includes:

• An online portal with resources and support focused on your needs

• Access to eLearning resources to support your learning on the job including books, podcasts, articles and quick-reference checklists and tools

• Optional, fee-based coaching

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Navigate Gender Dynamics – manage and influence gender dynamics at work with peers, direct reports and superiors to drive stronger performance
Know Your Leadership Style – lead with more confidence to achieve better results
Leverage Multiple Intelligences – use new mindsets and skills to handle different situations
Coach Authentically – help others achieve based on core values
Integrate Your Work & Personal Lives – optimize your day-to-day
Use Your Voice - communicate with confidence even with the most senior leaders and clients
Build Better Relationships & Alliances – create strong, valuable relationships with a variety of people who can support you and your leadership journey