Leading for Impact: Program Overview

Date updated:November 21, 2017

Updated by: Bob Searle

Session overview: ~1 hour total time (varies somewhat by size of group):

Sections / Time / Cumulative time
Welcome and today’s agenda / 5 min / 0 hr 5 min
Team, individual and facilitator introductions / 30min (varies) / 0 hr35 min
Overview of the program & curriculum / 10 min / 0hr 45min
Closing – roles, norms, funder thank-you / 15 min / 1 hr0 min

Prepopulated Charts:

1.Agenda for the Day

2.Norms:

Full Participation

Preparation and practice

Confidentiality

Candid feedback

No cell phones

Additional bullets to build on your starter list

Welcome and today’s agenda – 5 min

Welcome to Leading for Impact! We’re so excited you’re here.
For many of you, we have been thinking about this day for over a year and for all of you we’ve been enjoying getting to know you in our pre-kick off meetings and other conversations. You are an impressive group and we’re really excited to kick off work with you and introduce you to each other.
Bridgespan has spent over a decade preparing for our work together: when we set out to develop a program that would allow us to share the experience we’ve gained over the last fifteen years in supporting organizations in strategy work, we researched the most effective ways to do leadership development like this and we identified several things that we have based this program on:
The first is that leadership development has the most impact on an organization when more than one leader is exposed to the learning together—so that when they return to their organizations they are able to apply what they learned much more readily—this is why you are here as a full executive team—so you can build a common language and identify shared priorities for taking your organization to the next level
The second thing we learned that strategy and team go hand in hand—that without an effective working relationship as a team, you will not achieve the strategic impact you want—this is why our curriculum includes both elements of strategy and team
The third is the power of experiential learning—adult learners retain the most when they are able to rapidly apply what they’re learning to real life—this is why the project component is such an important piece of our work together—not only do we hope it will help you address important issues you are wrestling with as a team, but it also gives you to deepen and further your learning for broader application as well
The final is the importance of sustained engagement—this stuff takes time and so we’ve developed this program to give you two years to work with us—through this process, you will have extended periods of time away from minute-to-minute micromanaging to pull up and think about the most important issues your organizations are facing. And over two years, you will have ample opportunity to make headway on these issues with Bridgespan’s support.
You’re joining a family of organizations who will benefit from those learnings. A total of XX organizations have completed are in the process of participating in Leading for Impact in Atlanta, DC, Seattle, Boston, and Chicago, as well as in our initial pilots.
Our goal over the coming months and years is to help you get the most out of this program, both personally, as a team, and as an organization. It will require an investment from you—and it won’t always be easy, but we want you to know that we are committed to your success and will be here every step along the way to push you and support you in any way we can.
But first, I am going to briefly outline what you all can expect today [Flip chart:Agenda of the day, tailored as needed by cohort]
We will start with the program overview. The program overview will mostly consist of introductions: to each other, to the program, and to our organizations.
Then we will transition into a discussion of “Achieving Strategic Clarity”. While all of us are familiar with nonprofit strategy, but we want to do an activity that will help us all align on how we will talk about strategy throughout this program.
Then we’ll break for lunch and a deeper introduction to one another’s organizations
After lunch, we’ll spend some time talking about effective organizations, including discussing your organizational diagnostics and the insights it provides for your team
We will end by 4:30pm
Tomorrow we’ll continue our strategy discussion, and delve further into project planning and goal-setting for the coming six months, and then will turn to the topic of Executive Team effectiveness
Okay, before we get started, a few logistical notes:
First is a tour of the binders you have in front of you—have the materials for today in them as well as a facebook of the other participants here, please take these home and keep them handy—don’t need to bring them back, but we will be giving you the materials from each session to keep in there; also have a learning journal—will give you an opportunity to reflect and capture your thoughts, please bring these back each time
You’ll notice we’re videotaping in the back--- this is only for our learning purposes only—we torture ourselves by watching ourselves teaching so we can get better. We will not use this tape for anything other than that.
We’ll talk about norms later today, but there’s one I want to establish upfront. Everyone take out their phones, put them on silent, and put them under your chairs. We’re really going to ask you to be present for these sessions—we understand you’re busy and there are things you may need to attend to, but we ask if you do that you step out of the room. Glancing at your phone can be a slippery slope
Please also make sure that your nametag is on so that I can pretend I already know all of your names…and so you can learn each other’s
(insert any other announcements, e.g., food, restrooms, etc)

Team and individual introductions – 30–40 min

[Slide: Introductions (shows logos)]
I'm going to ask each person on the team to introduce themselves, telling us your name, your role in the organization, and [customize introduction instructions depending on group size/timing and prior conversations with teams – for example, “something about you that isn't on your resume”. Intersperse Bridgespan team introductions throughout to help keep energy up]
[Insert description of non-profit intermediary participants if appropriate]

Overview of the program and curriculum – 10 min

[Slide: Two-year calendar]

As I mentioned, LFI is a two-year experience. We begin in the first six months with a series of classroom workshops and your first project, in parallel. Months 6-12 will focus on implementing the decisions you make in that first project.
Beginning in Year 2, you will start a second project. [Mention half-day class sessions 8 and 9, if appropriate for the cohort – and update slide]
Last, we anticipate bringing together all of the active cohorts periodically to dig in on particular areas of interest; we’ll ask for your help in thinking about that content and focus
When people ask me what it looks like for organizations to really get the most out of this experience, what I say is this: our work together over the next two years has to be tremendously relevant to the things you are working on. It can’t be a side project or make-work.
I really encourage you to think about how to make the most of the next two years for your executive team and organization—they can look very different for different organizations—the projects you do, the issues you discuss with your coach, the way you use the classroom time.
Keep in dialogue with your Bridgespan coach about this over the next weeks and months—we are really committed to making this work for you.
[Slide: In the next six months we are anchored in seven full-day classroom sessions]

I talked about what makes LFI unique, and now I’ll explain how it works. We have designed the classroom curriculum to help you think about your organization from multiple perspectives and to give you a taste for some of the most important nonprofit management tools and concepts that we’ve encountered in the last 17 years of work with our clients
In the strategy strand we will focus on core areas of work of most Executive Teams:
We begin by taking a big step back and asking, “what impact do we seek, and what is our high-level plan for achieving that impact?” This establishes your strategic north star.
In the “aligning programs” module, we’ll discuss how to use that strategic north star as a guide for analyzing your portfolio and determining where you should be investing more deeply and where you might need to cut back or exit.
Building on this broad assessment of the portfolio, we talk in session 4 about how to go deep in a few programs or operational areas to improve your performance
Then in session 5 in a conversation around the funding streams that can best support the work your organization will prioritize going forward.
Finally, we will talk in session 6 about how to measure and manage your organization’s progress toward that strategic north star by making sure you have clear strategic priorities and that you measure progress toward them using an Executive Team dashboard.
In parallel, we will discuss a set of topics around Executive Team effectiveness so that you are better equipped to help the organization deliver on its strategic goals and priorities.
We’ll start this strand this afternoon, helping you think about how to create and high-performance organization.
Tomorrow the CEO’s will convene to start discussions about leading the Executive Team, and in the afternoon we’ll spend time together talking about what makes for an effective Executive Team. We will give your team time to identify what LFI modules and other actions will help you improve your team’s effectiveness.
Session 3 pulls the camera back a little to focus on decision-making processes in your executive team and organization. We’ll share frameworks to help you thing both about good decision behaviors and decision role clarity.
In session 4 we’ll discover our individual leadership styles, and talk about the implications of these styles for how to best work together as a team.
In session 5, we’ll talk about how you can strengthen your leadership pipelines so that you’re not just achieving impact today, but growing the strength of your team and your impact over time.
Session 6 will start with another CEO Workshop on the Executive Team. In the afternoon, we’ll zoom back in on the tactics that can help you lead and manage change in your organization. At this point, you will be in the closing stages of your project, and we will use that opportunity to think strategically about communicating and engaging with stakeholders to ensure an effective implementation of changes stemming from your project work.
The LFI classroom sessions culminate with the presentations of your project work. The complex challenges you are taking on will necessarily require attention to both strategy and team. We will close by giving you time to create an action plan on how you can continue to make progress in these two dimensions in the remaining 18 months working with Bridgespan.
In parallel with the classroom sessions you will be working on your first project. We’ve already talked with each of you about the timing for this project. What I’ll highlight here are some additional in-person sessions we will offer to provide support for you in this work. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the fundamentals of project planning for success. And later – in sessions 3 and 5 – we will lead working sessions for the Project Leads around key skills that are essential for moving your project along at each stage of the process.

[Slide: We’ll explore concepts using a variety of techniques]

Throughout this program, we’ll use a spectrum of methods to help us understand these leadership capability areas.
The goal is to ground this program in theory, but to ensure that we’re thinking of the practical implications to the work that we do. We strive very hard to make sure you’re really learning.
We’ll try as much as possible to front-load exposure to new ideas through videos and pre-readings. It’s really important to do this pre-work so that you can spend the majority of your class time applying concepts to your organization.
We know that adults learn best by doing, so there will be lots of time to work with your team to apply these concepts
You’ll also have time to reflect on how best to bring some of these ideas back to your organization

Slide:Find session materials and related tools on-line]
In order to help facilitate that connection to your broader organization, we give you access to all the classroom materials through this website
And if you prefer to capture your work with the frameworks and templates electronically in these sessions, this is where you can get access to them

[Slide: Leading for Impact is designed to help you become a more effective Executive Team]

As we said when we went through the curriculum, LFI is designed to help you improve your team’s effectiveness.
We will do this through a focus on three elements of executive team effectiveness: clarity on the roles and responsibilities of the Executive Team and key areas of work that you perform; helping you improve how you work together as a team; and working with the CEOs on the challenges of leading the team.
Your projects provide you with an opportunity to put into practice many of the practices that can help improve the effectiveness of the Executive Team

Roles, norms, and closing– 10 min

[Slide: All of us have different roles]

Everyone here has a role to play in the success of the LFI experience.
To get the most out of this opportunity, we ask that you all come prepared to classroom sessions and that you participate actively during the day.
We also ask that you use this chance to get to know each other—we’ll be facilitating this a bit by having some time almost every session for you to discuss issues in groups of peers from other organizations.
Individually, how far you take any piece of content is likely to vary by organization. Some modules will focus squarely on something you are wrestling with currently as an organization or in your project work. In other cases, the module may be the only time over the next 6 months that you focus on this particular issue – that’s fine, though it may plant the seed for a future project or question you ask as an organization.
In the project work, we ask that you be proactive in thinking about the next steps. Right now, that might be tightening the question you’re addressing or sharpening the decision you want to make. Later, we’ll need you to drive forward the analysis, pull out the big insights, come to decisions and think through an implementation approach.
The role of the Bridgespan team is to push your thinking. In the classroom, we’ll do that by facilitating modules and team discussions. We’ll sit with you during classroom discussions. And in the project work, we’ll help you shape the process all the way through, serving as critical friends and pushing you to address your priorities with rigor. We’ve gotten feedback in the past that teams want us to push them—both to deepen their thinking, to redirect when things get off course, and to share our perspective when you’re struggling. Our goal is to lean into that feedback—but please let us know how it’s going—either we’re pushing to much or too little.
Most of you heard a little bit more about Bridgespan in our pre-kick off meetings. The most important thing I want you to know about Bridgespan is that we are a nonprofit ourselves with a deep commitment to social impact. We come to this work because we care about social change—and you sitting in this room are our conduit for that change. Your success is our social impact. I say this because I want you to know what a deep commitment we have for helping you—so when we probe and push and ask hard questions it come from that place
[Insert description of non-profit intermediary participants if appropriate]

[Slide : In our time together we will adopted a common set of norms]

I want to close this session by briefly going over the "norms" for this program that I hope we will all agree to:(you might choose to prepopulate a chart with these items and then build based on discussion)
Participation, including attendance and engagement
Confidentiality (including any reporting expectations to funders, if relevant)
Preparation and practice: homework/expectations in-between the modules
Group standards (respect, collaboration, cell phone policy – ask that participants leave their cell phones in their bags during the sessions and leave the room if they need to check something or take a call)
Candid feedback (surveys, etc.)

Are there other ground rules you would like us to follow?[Capture on flip chart to save/post each class session]