LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME: OVERVIEW

Introduction and background
Since early 2006 VBNK has been delivering a customised leadership development programme based on the principles and practice of the CHART Project(1) for senior leaders of a large international NGO.  Drawing on the experience and learning from that programme, and VBNK experiences of modular programmes, the CHART Project has initiated a new Leadership Development Programme (LDP) as an open access programme for leaders of Cambodia’s social development NGOs.  The participants will be senior leaders and managers of small and medium social development NGOs in Cambodia.

Overall aim of the programme:
Leaders and staff of Cambodian social development NGOs promote more empowering internal and external relationships.

Expected learning outcomes:
By the end of the programme participants will:

• Have increased awareness of different leadership styles and improved their inter-personal communication skills and capabilities in team work and teambuilding
• Understand how groups and communities learn and change and how external organizations can support the desired learning and change processes
• Be more aware of the cultural and social helps and hindrances to learning such as power and value systems, patronage and trauma, and how they relate to development processes in the Cambodia context 

LDP concept and approach
The overall concept of the programme is to take participants through an experiential personal learning process based on the CHART Project methodology adapted to leadership rather than the development practitioner role that is the focus of the core CHART curriculum.  The content will help participants understand and find creative and positive responses, compatible with their Cambodian culture and context, to the challenge of leadership within their organisation. 

The seven central themes of the CHART curriculum are:

• Self awareness
• Relationships
• Creativity
• Critical thinking
• Learning
• Power and Development
• Facilitation

The LDP blends those central themes with the following concepts of leadership:

• Effective leadership requires a personal vision and a wide variety of complex personal characteristics, skills and behaviours, many of which can be learnt through effective whole person learning processes
• Transformational leadership requires finding an appropriate balance between short-term output orientation and long-term capacity orientation
• Blanchard’s model of “Situational Leadership”
• Goleman’s model of “6 Leadership Styles”

The main elements of the programme are the five workshop modules shown below, the second of which is residential.  Given the intense and challenging nature of the development experience that the participants will undertake the modules are delivered 10-12 weeks apart.  There will be learning assignments, and some coaching support, between modules.

COACHING IN CHART LDP
CHART LDP combines training, mentoring and coaching to support the individual learning processes of Cambodian NGO leaders. VBNK understands coaching as a dialogue process where a person who wants to improve his or her performance and better achieve professional or personal goals (the coachee) engages the assistance of a person who can support his or her thinking and learning processes (the coach).  Coaching supports the learner in a tailor-made way to overcome obstacles, to grow from them and to achieve her or his personal and professional improvement goals more effectively.

In the context of CHART, coaching supports the individual participant to:

• become better aware of his/herself and his/her situation
• set clear goals for self improvement and change
• find ways and means of overcoming obstacles in the application of CHART learning outcomes
• identify ways to sustain individual learning
• plan his/her next learning steps.

MENTORS/LINE MANAGERS
In keeping with VBNK’s experience in other modular programmes it is a requirement that all participants in the LDP have a mentor who is situated either in, or linked to, their organisations.  This may be the participant’s line manager or someone else who knows the participant’s work and organisation well.  The role of the mentor is to support the participants between modules in the application of their learning.  The mentor will also have an important role in ensuring, or lobbying for, the organisational space necessary for the participants’ application of their learning and the changes that will flow from the learning.  Mentors are introduced to, and supported in, their role in the programme through a series of short workshops.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION
The CHART LDP uses a range of monitoring and evaluation tools throughout the programme.  This includes all the standard types of daily and end of module evaluation processes for this type of programme, and also involves other approaches such as collecting some baseline data at the start of the programme and then using stories of change to enable the participants to track their own development process.

SELECTION
The LDP is a challenging experience that requires participants to commit to their own learning and change.  It is therefore essential to assess potential participants for their ability and willingness to learn and change prior acceptance in the programme.  Once participants have been accepted and assessed the curriculum is designed to be reflexive and responsive to their needs.

The assessment process also involves discussion with the sponsoring organisations about appointment of a mentor and the other aspects of organisational support that will be required to support effective application of learning.

Criteria for participant selection are:

• Wants to learn and is open to learning in new ways
• Has held a leadership position in the organisation for some time
• Interested in social development and the wellbeing of others
• Has a demonstrated commitment to stay the course
• Commitment to stay with the organisation
• Comes with line manger recommendations
• Is self motivated and has ability to work in a team

NB: VBNK believes it is essential to have an appropriate gender balance in the group and this criteria may influence some selection decisions.

FEES
The fee for each participant is $1,200

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
Individuals or organisations that are interested in the LDP should contact Enda Moclair, CHART Technical Advisor on chart.ta@vbnk.org or telephone 023 722 115 for further information.