A leading European integrated healthcare organization asked iOpener to build a leadership program for their high-potential middle managers. Its aims were threefold:

1. Establish a common understanding of leadership culture
2. Nurture the talent pipeline - identify, retain and promote
3. Equip participants with the right leadership tools for multiple situations

They needed their leaders to cover, amongst other things: 

• Exploring their own authentic leadership style
• Examining how their own strengths and values fit with the organisation’s 
• Coaching others using active listening
• Managing difficult conversations and conflict
• Creating strategies to work across country and internal framework boundaries
• Facilitating workshops to cascade knowledge

The program as a whole needed to fit with the organisational culture of striving for constant learning and achieving sustainable growth through promoting its talented employees. 

Working closely with the client, we co-created a three-module program to take the participants on a journey to discover how they:

1. Steer themselves
2. Influence and lead others
3. Scan the horizon for themselves, their teams and the organization

We took a blended approach, equipping the participants with frameworks and toolkits, and through practice and 1:1 feedback, the skills and experience to use them effectively in their roles.

Originally conceived as a face-to-face program for three cohorts, but the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted those plans.  It broke out during the second cohort, meaning that each of the three iterations were delivered in different ways. 

1. Cohort 1: 100% face-to-face delivered in 2019
2. Cohort 2: Hybrid: face-to-face then online delivered in 2020
3. Cohort 3: 100% online delivered in 2021

Our challenges now were to deliver the content in a different medium, maintain the same outcomes for participants, and to try to retain as much of the spontaneity and serendipity that face-to-face sessions allow.

Those on the middle cohort reflected on the mid-program switch from face-to-face to online.

"First of all, I was happy that the program wasn't cancelled because of the situation. So, I highly appreciate that you were able to transfer most of the things you would have done in the physical environment to a virtual environment.” 

Others were inspired and energised by the interactive sessions, especially those run by actors.

“I loved, loved, loved, loved and hated it in equal measure the acting sessions: loved how interactive they were. And I loved how it pushed us out of our comfort zone a fair bit. And I think there's nothing wrong with that feeling even though at the time it's awful. And I loved that the working session led us to develop our own workshop, and to partner with someone to deliver that. I thought that was brilliant.”