Leading Diverse Teams
Talent is distributed equally across gender, race, and class, yet whilst organisations recognise how to identify potential in their male employees, they are less able to spot, develop, and promote female executive talent. All too often organisations apply the same mind-set and processes they use to develop men for developing female talent when it’s shown not to work.
Building diverse teams is not an innate skill that all managers have, but it can be learned.
That’s why The Pipeline is offering something that works – a programme of training to show senior leaders and managers how to develop women and maximise the potential of female executive talent. In so doing it increases understanding and builds confidence in managers
and leaders to tackle difficult conversations.
Leading Diverse Teams works with managers to address the underlying anxieties that might exist about leading and managing a diverse workforce, and equips them with the understanding and ‘know how’ to build high-performing, diverse teams, where everyone feels
they belong and can excel.
Recent participants have said the following about Leading Diverse Teams:
Incredibly helpful. The session cut to the chase, did not dance around the issue. It helped reveal what “good” looks like in terms of diversity, and to identify what needed to happen within the current system for things to improve. I felt it was a really good investment. Was much more useful than previous time wasted on Unconscious Bias training.
Helped me ensure people are properly engaged, enabled and empowered me to create a sponsorship scheme, improved my one-to-one conversations, changed my conversations with my direct reports to help their development and career goals.
Why Lead Diverse Teams?
It is now imperative that companies widen the pool of talent by leading diverse teams as women and men working together at senior levels of organisations greatly improves business performance and long-term sustainability. An IMF study showed that one more woman in senior management is associated with 8 to 13 basis points higher return on assets, whilst our own Women Count 2020 report shows that FTSE 350 companies with 25% or more women on their executive committees achieved an average 10.6% net profit margin, while those with no women achieved a paltry 1.5%. The results are staggering and clear: it is time to equip managers with the knowledge and confidence to develop female executive talent.
Having men and women at the top table makes Boards and Executive Committees smarter and leads to better decision making. Women Count 2019 shows that the proportion of women on Boards and Executive teams is a good indicator for profitability. Taking this into account when investment decisions are made is now long overdue.
Why Unconscious Bias doesn’t get results
We’ve all known for some years that Unconscious Bias Training doesn’t deliver results but we keep using it in the hope of a different outcome! Our co-founder Margaret McDonagh explains why Unconscious Bias Training will never deliver more women and people of colour at senior levels READ HERE. Instead of telling managers that they’re biased (we all are) give them the skills, confidence and ‘know how’ to develop all talent in your organisation through programmes like Leading Diverse Teams.
Leading Diverse Teams Content
Leading Diverse Teams is offered in two formats – either as a one-day programme covering the basics, or as a comprehensive programme delivered over three-days. Both formats include additional one-to-one coaching for each manager, and sessions can be run with a minimum of 8 and maximum of 10 participants to ensure maximum participation and benefit.
| Half Day | Programme | |
|---|---|---|
| Economic benefits | ✓ | ✓ |
| Research | ✓ | ✓ |
| Personal insights | ✓ | ✓ |
| Developing others | ✓ | ✓ |
| Purpose and goals | ✓ | ✓ |
| ‘Walk in their shoes’ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Covering | ✓ | ✓ |
| Organisational barriers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Great feedback | ✓ | ✓ |
| Development in-role and development to next role | ✓ | ✓ |
| Team gap analysis | ✓ | ✓ |
| Personal targets for change | ✓ | ✓ |
| Difficult conversations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Collective endeavour | ✓ | ✓ |
| Building confidence | ✓ | ✓ |
| Personal plans | ✓ | ✓ |
| One-to-one coaching | ✓ | ✓ |
| Performance reviews | ✓ | ✓ |
| Leadership styles | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coaching as a leadership tool | ✓ | ✓ |
| Buddy system | ✓ | |
| Meeting dynamics | ✓ | |
| Improve communication | ✓ | |
| Sponsors and strategic networks | ✓ | |
| Review, share progress, establish new goals | ✓ | |
| Models for improving team performance | ✓ | |
| Review and measurement | ✓ | |
| Continuous review of goals | ✓ |
For more information about Leading Diverse Teams please contact Alison at alison@execpipeline.com or call 020 7636 9002.
Executive Education
The Pipeline develop and run exceptional leadership programmes for individual leaders and for organisations that want to be better at managing and developing diverse teams. We specialise in working with women and other under-represented talent to build confidence, enhance executive presence, deliver compelling presentations, prepare for interviews and ultimately secure promotions.
Creating Woman Leaders of the Future
This women’s leadership programme is for organisations building a sustainable pipeline of female talent that find too many high-potential women languish in middle management and do not find their way into executive roles.
Increasing Women in ExCo & CEO Roles
There are countless women with the potential to step into the top job. This senior women‘s leadership programmes provides the tools and the networks to make this a reality for your organisation.
Helping More Women of Colour Break Through
Organisations succeed when they are more diverse, and yet women of colour face significant barriers to their progress in the workplace. This programme gives them the tools and the know-how to break through to the top.
