International Leadership & Innovation – NEW

The Centre for Competitiveness and IoD Northern Ireland, in co-operation with both Queens University Leadership Institute and the University of Ulster, have joined together to create a unique and radical approach to providing leaders in the private, public and voluntary sectors with practical world class tuition in international leadership and innovation skills without having to travel overseas.

The programme is designed for Managing Directors, Chief Executives and company Directors, who currently operate or plan to operate their business internationally. Tutorial workshops will be structured to support breakthrough thinking and big impact improvements in business performance.  With years of experience of international trade, negotiation, top academic incubation and teaching, our team of tutors has insights into the most creative spaces in the world.

The programme is NOT designed for academic achievement but to address the day-to-day practical problems and opportunities facing leaders within their own working environment. Workshops are organised to last for 1.5 days off-site for intensive tuition and problem solving periods covering individual and group activities five times per year.  The workshops are supported by highly respected University Professors from leading universities in Europe and the USA (details attached).  Follow-on mentoring appropriate to business needs can also be arranged.  The future “has become a moving target.” Uncertainty today is not an occasional, temporary deviation from reasonable predictability; it is a basic feature of the business environment.” Pierre Wack, HBR. Leadership groups will form from the workshops and inter-disciplinary groups will meet to devise, design, develop and deliver ideas in products, goods and services.  It will be a jacuzzi in which ideas blend.

A start-up pilot workshop was arranged for a maximum of 20 participants on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd October 2011 (am) at the new Queens University Leadership Institute, Belfast.  It was led by two international University Professors from Sweden and Finland supported by the Course Director, Professor Alistair Fee, visiting Professor of Innovation at Queens University, Belfast. To ensure that the tuition delivered meets the needs of the participants, the Programme Director assessed individual needs on application through confidential interviews prior to each workshop.  Registrations of interest were made through the Centre for Competitiveness on compete@cforc.org or the Institute of Directors on iod.northernireland@iod.com.

Leaders wishing to be included in the pilot programme were asked to meet entry level requirements regarding aspirations for their organisation and these are outlined in the programme prospectus, a copy of which will be available to those wishing to participate. The programme was innovative in how it teaches leadership and innovation – by doing, by practising, by building teams and by example.

In order to keep the costs associated with engaging international professionals at a reasonable level, especially for SMEs, the workshop size has been designed for 20 participants at a cost of £3,000.00 for each 1.5 day engagement including a networking dinner, refreshments, networking arrangements, administration and workshop materials.  Companies with access to Invest NI or DEL support were advised to contact their client Executive to seek support for the cost of participation.

The first tutorial and workshop is being followed by the cohort of the leaders meeting again at a breakfast session in December to follow through on actions from the first cohort and decide on next steps.

These fall into three tracks depending on the individual leaders preference:

Track 2 – Leaders may choose to join an International study visit

Track 3 – Personal coaching and mentoring

Track 4 – Join the Centre’s CEO Leadership Club meeting 1 day/ Quarter

The next Tutorials and Workshops are scheduled for 2/3 & 5/6 March 2012 involving one new cohort and a follow-on with the existing cohort.

 

Great Leaders       Need   Great Tutors

The Greater the Problem                        –            The Greater the Pain

The Greater the Pain                             –            The Greater the Insights

The Greater the Insights                        –            The Greater the Paralysis

 

Socrates:  An unexamined life is not worth living

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Get Involved! – Contact Bob Barbour for more information and to reserve your place. Tele 9073 7950 or email bob.barbour@cforc.org