We continue to live in challenging times and the last few years have brought much change.  This is set to continue; we have all been affected, but this has been particularly true for the leaders at all levels in our organisations.

Gone are the days when you got to a leadership position, just through your experience or specific skill set or expertise.  Now, in addition to these aspects you need to be able to support your people (both individually and as a team) on a personal as well as a business basis.

Many leaders feel uncomfortable with this shift, not knowing how to have such conversations or to help support individuals with their specific areas of concern.  In many cases this can result in them not truly listening to their people or understanding the impact it is having on the overall performance, of not just the individual but also for the wider team and business. 

Our leaders have a key role and are critical for ongoing business success; it is important that we ensure that they have the competencies needed to support the changing needs of their business and people. So how can we help them ?

In 2021 Mckinsey reported inclusive and diverse organisations outperform their less inclusive and diverse competitors by 25%.  At both the 2019 and 2020 World Economic Forum, emotional intelligence was identified as the single most important skill that business leaders will need to survive and thrive during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

In 2022 Deloitte highlighted ‘Embracing Diversity of Perspective’ as the new frontier in Leadership.  They reported that organisations that embrace diversity of perspective are 20% more innovative and 30% more likely to spot risks.  Additional research by Deloitte found that teams with inclusive leaders are 17% more likely to say they are “high performing,” 20% more likely to make better decisions, and 29% more likely to collaborate.

Research from the Niagra Institute concluded that Emotional Intelligence accounts for nearly 90% of what sets high performers apart from peers with similar technical skills and knowledge.

Now, more than ever before, we need to help leaders to enhance their knowledge and awareness of Emotional Intelligence and Inclusion, and develop the core competencies underpinning these, thereby enabling them to be ‘Conscious Leaders’.

The good news for everyone is that we all have a degree of emotional intelligence, and that it can continue to be developed and can grow.  There is also now a great individual and team profile  that can be used to measure current levels of emotional intelligence and how, with the support of individual coaching and a development plan, it can be enhanced.

Here at Acaria Coaching & Consulting , we have partnered with Joe Wells and The Inventum Group to create The Conscious Leader programme,  helping organisations, teams and individuals to become aware of, and then grow, their emotional intelligence; integrating inclusion and wellbeing as key elements.

The programme is very much tailored to an individual organisation’s needs, both current and future.  Time is spent adapting the content to the business strategy and aligning it with an organisations purpose, values & behaviours.  The approach taken is interactive, with a focus providing current and future leaders with the tools and skills that they will need moving forward.

The programme typically includes :

• An introductory workshop for leaders, introducing them to the Conscious Leader programme; weaving in the neuroscience and psychology that underpins Emotional Intelligence and providing that much needed business case, with supporting research, facts & figures.

• The following can then be either be separate more detailed workshops, or integrated and explored at a higher level in a single workshop:

1. looking at the importance of emotional intelligence and inclusion from a personal perspective i.e. Self-Awareness (workshop 1), this is the foundation upon which the rest of the programme is built;
2. then how emotional intelligence is integral to successfully identifying and influencing Business opportunities (workshop 2);
3. and finally, how emotional intelligence can support the Future Growth (workshop 3) of a team and business.

• The individual ECR profile can be completed by participants as part of the programme, and coaching provided to support individual development.

• There is also the opportunity, either as part of the overall programme or as a separate event for your total population, for organisations to identify ‘The Moments That Matter’ for their people, and then this can be weaved into the overall programme. Knowing what these are is critical to attracting, retaining, and engaging your people; again, these can be built on and measured as part of your approach to Employee Engagement.

The important differentiator for this programme is that it is tailored to your individual needs; your organisation’s purpose, values & behaviours can also be integrated, with continuity in language and approach to ensure that it dove tails into other initiatives.

Really important though to its success and integration is that the programme is supported and led from the top of your organisation, from the CEO down so that there is very visible sponsorship.

Further elements can be added to the programme, as it develops in your organisation; these include :

• A 360 ECR profile; good to complete perhaps after 12 months of an individual working through their own development plan and participating in the workshops. The completion of the 360 will then give wider feedback and insight, so that an individual leader can continue to develop themselves as a conscious leader.
• The development of an Executive or Leadership team profile, for the overall time; helping to highlight areas of strength and progress, and where additional development support might be required.
• To support future talent recruitment and development initiatives

For more information – please do contact Annette Andrews at Acaria Coaching & Consulting 

07849 136293

info@acariaconsulting.com