Inspirational Leadership

CONTEXT AND BENEFITS

1. Background

The Dti has been running the highly successful Inspirational Leadership Programme in conjunction with a number of Lead Partners and its core messages have now been very positively received by thousands of businesses. Over and above its strong appeal within the Private Sector, it is equally relevant to the Public and Voluntary Sectors.

It is based on rich and practical research that is encapsulated in the new and unique Inspirational Leadership Insight Tool, which can be accessed on-line and which has now been tried out by 8,000 users, including a number of the CEO’s/M/D’s of the Sunday Times “100 Best Companies to Work For”. Excellent feedback has been obtained.

Good material has been developed to enable Corporate HR/Training Staff and Leadership Coaches from the Lead Partners to be fully trained in usage of the Insight Tool and then be subsequently ‘approved’ to provide quality support to Employers.

A significant number of Sector Skills Councils have already been engaged to varying degrees on the Programme including SkillsActive, People 1st, FSSC, AssetSkills, SkillFast, SkillSmart, Skills for Justice, ProSkills, EU Skills, Improve, Construction Skills and LLUK.

2. Opportunity

Following on from Dti’s withdrawal from direct delivery, the Skills for Business network and the SSCs are picking up the key elements of the Inspirational Leadership Programme. This will enable them to support their wider agenda and, in particular, enhance both Employer Engagement and Quality Delivery on the ground.

Building on earlier successes with a number of the SSCs, there is an opportunity to employ the powerful Inspirational Leadership messages at future SSC Awareness Building Events. It can be used to engage Employers who are seeking to improve their leadership skills and to promote other SSC M&L Development programmes including Action Learning, NOS, First Level Manager and Working with People.

Closely allied to the awareness building campaign, there will be the provision of in-depth Provider Training Workshops for appropriate Employer Corporate HR/Training Staff and/or Leadership Coaches to Employers in practical usage of the new Inspirational Leadership Insight Tool. This will ensure that quality support on the ground can be provided to Employers engaged in improving their leadership skills.

The Programme will provide an evolving database of “success stories” that will enable the SSCs to develop new evidence-based case material as it rolls out.

The Programme will provide strong linkages, for those SSC’s that wish to establish them, to the external Lead Partners already engaged on the Inspirational Leadership Programme, who are all very committed to helping carrying it forward. These include Investors in People(UK), the Chartered Management Institute, CIPD, the Northern Leadership Academy, the Institute of Directors, HSE, EEF, the Academy for Chief Executives and the Management Consultancies Association.

3. Resources

Nigel Crouch will be available to provide the appropriate presentational input at future Awareness Building Events. His costs for this will be £500 (plus VAT) per event and half of this would be covered by SkillsActive and half by the SSC.

Those attending the Provider Training Workshops would pay £250 (plus VAT) per day equating to a total of £750 (plus VAT) for the full three day programme, covering both individual and team applications of the new Inspirational Leadership Insight Tool.

NIGEL CROUCH                                                               JULY 2007