How our leaders are transforming LUU 03 July 2014

Who we are Antonia Frezza, Director of People & Culture for Leeds University Union Shirley Gaston, Managing Director, Azesta Antonia, have been working in SUs for about 15 years in field of HR. Have also done extensive work on SUEI supporting Unions working towards the SUEI standard and latterly as an auditor. Shirley has worked in training and education for over 15 years and her passion is finding creating and interactive solutions to organisations learning needs. Shirley is Yorkshire based but has worked with a whole range of clients across the country and supported LUU over a period of about 18 months co-delivering a leadership development programme.

What we did 360 degree feedback Bespoke programme Key areas of activity Emphasis on providing experiences Responsibility of individuals to reflect and learn What we had done previously in leadership development in LUU In the past had done more typical programme of development with fixed modules covering core areas e.g. communications, teamwork, situational leadership. Started with 360s identified emerging themes and developed a bespoke programme from there details in a minute We wanted something different and whilst it was important to us that everyone share din the learning we wanted to provide a more unique experience for each learner. We jointly developed a series of sessions with a very strong influence on self development, the level of variety of activities and resources meant that there was something for everyone including books, TED talks, self guided activities and more. There was a strong emphasis on experiential learning and we used a very wide range of activities to aid the learning. During the residential team leaders were given feedback on their abilities. We also used Action Learning Sets throughout the programme to assist the self- learning, these were themed according to the current module.

The Model Excel Energise Explore Execute Values Trust Vision Relationships Energise Clarity Positivity Envisioning Influencing Explore Creativity Future focus Looking outward Change Execute Planning Pace Problem solving Coaching Excel, leading with trust, values, vision and though great relationships Energise, communicating with clarity and positivity, influencing others and envisioning Explore, showing creativity, looking to the future, looking outwards and embracing change Execute, delivering through great planning, pace problem solving and through coaching others The final theme running through was Enjoy, individually and as a team to enjoy what we are doing. The course started and ended with a 24 hour residential to support team building and emphasise the enjoyment of the programme.

We wanted to give you the opportunity this afternoon to try out some of the exercises we used on the programme as a demonstration of experiential learning in action. Over to Shirley to explain what we are going to do. Now your turn...............

Impact Managers inspired people as leaders People got out of their comfort zone Good reflections by individuals More communication with teams What worked well? Getting people out of their comfort zones to do dangerous things, 5 minute vision was one of the best exercises for me. Making leaders realise they had a key role to play in how they communicate with their people. Inviting people to give a presentation at the end to explain their learning journey, this was a great reflective exercise and allowed everyone to really demonstrate how they have changed. Story of Steve Keeble and the staff meeting What didn’t work well/is hard Keeping up the momentum Tangible outcomes Managers seeing their role as needing to inspire others and making positive changes in this area. Turnover of individuals into new roles.