Leadership development workshop series

Our motif for this leadership development workshop series is:

We agree with Warren Bennis: Leading is like playing jazz.

The leadership development workshop series we have planned uses this metaphor to bring new insights, shared learning and best practice to our leadership roles.

As the series evolves, participants create a leadership programme that responds to their leadership development needs

Leadership training with a difference: How a jazz LEADERSHIP session works

Each jazz LEADERSHIP session has a theme.

After you register you will receive a number of questions relevant to the theme to help you relate it to your own leadership experiences. Answering them will help you 'warm up' for the session!

We hope the questions will help you reflect on your current beliefs, knowledge and experience in relation to the theme. We hope this process will also help you to identify and clarify your own dilemmas.

Exploring these dilemmas more deeply, seeking insights from fellow participants and developing new approaches will form the bedrock of the session.

The jazz LEADERSHIP training workshop process

When we meet we will sit in a ‘talking circle’ – a way of denoting that we are all equal.

One member of the group, who has prepared in advance, will give a brief (3 to 5 minute) introduction on the theme. This starts the conversation. We will then have a large group dialogue to explore the theme in depth.

Out of this dialogue a number of sub-themes are likely to emerge.

After a short break, participants will self-select a small group which will pursue - again in dialogue - the sub-theme that most attracts them.

After time in small groups, we will re-gather in the talking circle to hear a short report back from each group. We then continue the reflection and exploration.

Finally, we ‘Harvest our Wisdom’ of new insights and understanding that have been emerged from the time spent in discussion and dialogue.

Concluding the leadership development workshop

Before the end of the session there will be a short time for silent personal reflection. You will gather your individual learning from the session and clarify for yourself how this will impact on your leadership role – that is your beliefs and actions - back at work.

Summarising

The main insights and outputs from the small and large group conversations will be noted and you will receive a summary of these after the session. They are also made available on this website.

Summaries form a record of a leadership programme, which is 'jazzy' in its development: a response to the contexts of the participants, improvised to deliver the learning that individuals and sub-groups need.

Each is an expression of the jazzLEADERSHIP way: a unique learning experience created out of the pooled expertise of participants.

This document on leadership beliefs was created by participants in April.

Informal time after the session

The session is timed to finish at 6.00 pm – just in time to retire to an adjacent bar! An opportunity to unwind and continue the conversations informally – or not! As you wish …

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