At CLS we use the most innovative, creative and agile technology available. The human brain.
We work in a world where the pace of change is just incredible. Yes, change has always happened, but the last few years have been phenomenal. Globally, we learned to pivot, change and reinvent ourselves with COVID. We watched businesses disappear and whole sectors come to a standstill with global supply chain issues.
Learning and development moved online. Now it’s moving to face to face and hybrid delivery. We had WFH and then we had return to the office. Business has wrestled with the challenge of trusting people who aren’t in the office and also the great resignation, as people decide there is more to life than working where you aren’t trusted or valued. And then Chat GPT popped up and we are asking what jobs will that replace?
One thing CLS is confident of, is that leaders will always be in demand. We don’t just mean people in roles where leadership is part of the job description. We mean everyone who needs to lead themselves and other people, to new ways of working, thinking and behaving. Your first line team leaders, your project managers and middle managers are all leaders. Some of your leaders manage people. Others are specialists who influence the people around them. Some of your leaders are senior executives. Some leaders are the high potentials of future leadership. Most of your leaders are in the core of your business, the middle layers. These are the people who take the vision and strategy and turn it into products, services, customer accounts and processes.
Every one of your leaders has the ability to shape your future business. How can you help shape your leaders?
A criticism we have all heard – or made – about training, is that we don’t have time to use it. You won’t make that criticism of CLS development programs. Our learning is practical, focused on real world application and leaders try out their learning in-session, so they can apply it the same day. Our core approach is designed to make learning practical, immediate and so useful, that leaders are still using it years later. How do we do that?
Well, we:
- Use the principles of andragogy in our learning design. Essentially that means sharing control of the learning with the cohort, drawing on the experience and skills they already have, focusing the learning on the real-world situations they experience and deal with, and helping them to use their learning in an active way to solve problems
- Use tried and tested theories and models, then work through them using practical application
- Develop group approaches so peers support one another in applying their learning to everyday challenges
- Use highly interactive, engaging, learning focused activities so leaders are active participants in their learning journey. We facilitate and coach; we don’t teach or train.
What makes our learning different?
You see very little in the way of Powerpoint slides in our sessions. What you do see is an excitement, people who have “aha!” moments about how to address their leadership challenges. You hear people who don’t normally work together, sharing ideas about creating better working relationships between functions and sites, developing a group approach to leading and managing, finding new ways to work together and support each other.
And the results?
The results are in the relationships and the behaviours. Teams which are more effective, better teams to be part of and more able to deal with the change and challenge. Managers who are confident about solving their own problems so they no longer have to ask for help from their line manager. Line managers who are able to step back and focus on their own work, knowing their direct reports are doing everything well. Leaders who understand how to develop other people, to delegate and support, to encourage and provide the resilience and safety that’s needed, for people to work well. In short, you see the core of your organization becoming the well run engine that your business needs.
Yes, AI may well replace some jobs and processes. There will be other changes too, things we haven’t yet thought of, which will disrupt the way we work. Yet you already possess incredible capability in your business. The ability of your leaders to lead well.
If you want to help your leaders be the people who help your organization to thrive, then do get in touch for a conversation. We’d love to help you make it happen.
