Fully Functioning Leaders and Managers.

A unique approach to Leadership
and Management training and development.

After many years of experience and research Danny has developed a unique approach to Leadership development and training.

The key ingredients to the unique approach include:

• Peter Drucker’s concept of the “effective person” who “focuses on contribution”.
• Commitment to the Rogerian “person-centred” approach where valuing the person, their right to respect and freedom from judgements as well as their dignity and their happiness.
• The role of friendship, as researched by Danny in his doctoral research and also promoted by Tom Rath in his forthcoming Gallup publication “Vital Friends”, in creating healthy engaged employees in healthy, productive and effective organisations.
• Belief in the importance of Sir John Harvey-Jones approach to Leadership: If you want to be a leader, start with yourself. It’s something you have to find in yourself and then you have to work at it.
• o The concept of Leadership with an Open Heart as espoused by Ronald A Heifetz, Harvard University, John. F Kennedy School of Government.
• o Belief in learning Leadership and Management using the experiential “guide by your side” rather than the “sage on the stage” approach.
• Use of the “Success Case Evaluation Method” as pioneered by Professor Robert Brinkerhoff of Western Michigan University
• Follow-up mentoring and coaching that takes the form of an ongoing supportive friendship.

Danny offers a comprehensive and discrete development programme that he designed to generate managers and leaders who are “fully functioning” and “fully engaged” in their organisation. These are managers / leaders who are seriously committed to their organisation and the objectives of their organisation. This programme is best delivered on a one on one basis but can be delivered to small groups.

Some background to “Fully Functioning” Leaders and Managers.

Danny gave this innovative approach the title, “Towards fully functioning managers, leaders and teams” as part of a successful collaboration with the University of Strathclyde and the Lanarkshire Business Gateway in Scotland recently. Danny designed, project managed and delivered the concept / programme.

Introducing the Concept.

“Towards Fully Functioning as Leaders, Managers and Team” is a unique approach to management, leadership and team development that is focused on generating:

• More mature individuals / professionals who can communicate and interact robustly and with respect for each other.
• More mature individuals / professionals who can navigate conflict confidently and consistently towards “WIN / WIN” outcomes.
• Unified team-working that produces consensus-driven behaviour and decisions.
• Highly productive team-work that creates a self-propelling dynamic.

Underpinning the concept.

This concept sets out to address the immediate and long term needs of individual managers, leaders and the team. It embraces the notion that development needs can be both personal and professional. These can be blended with the use of innovative and interesting models and methodologies. Two of the most important approaches are listed below which are unique to Danny’s facilitation:

• The “Person-Centred” approach pioneered by psychologist Carl Rogers which promotes the practice of respect, unconditional positive regard, empathy and congruence.
• Leaders and managers actively and constantly work at their personal and professional development as a natural part of their everyday lives. Peter Senge and his “learning organisation” notion promote this approach. This is also espoused by Sir John Harvey-Jones.
• Leadership and management practices informed by Dr. Danny McGuigan’s leading edge research on the influence of the friendship experiences of senior managers in organisations. In particular, the power of friendship to influence individual and organisational wellbeing and performance.
  
  The following three training phases are central to this concept:

1. Understanding myself; my thinking, communication and emotional patterns, my preferences, my strengths, my gifts, my behavioural habits, my skills and talents, my values, my beliefs, my growth and development path.
   
2. Understanding others; patterns in thinking, emotions and behaviour, how others impact on me, exploring and making sense of difficult behaviour, managing perceptions, coaching emotionally for respectful relationships.
   
3. Understanding teams; the challenge of dynamic interaction, communication patterns and impact, the role of friendship and trust, the fundamentals of the “WIN / WIN” approach, the role of energising, motivating and inspiring in teams, the power of formal and informal authority, the complexity and simplicity of team culture and its influence on physical, mental and emotional wellbeing as a window on performance.

The concept in practice.

“Towards Fully Functioning as Leaders, Managers and Team.”

This concept will include a pre-programme evaluation as well as three phases which will include, in Phase 2, the three-day training package.

Phase 1.

360 degree feedback using a globally recognised tool.

Private consultations with each participant to discuss unique temperament (referring to a Temperament Sorter) and several self-reported indicators to include the Pressure Management Indicator (PMI), leading to a unique development plan.

Phase 2.

Three-days of training modules to explore deeper understanding of self, others and the team.

Phase 3.

Success Case Evaluation and coaching / mentoring follow-up.

The overarching objective of these three phases will be to progress the participants as speedily as possible towards “fully functioning” and “”fully engaged” as leaders, managers and team members.

The modules included in the training programme are designed to invite participants to deepen their self-awareness, their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as an end in itself but also in order to strengthen their confidence in their dealings with team members and also their superiors at work.

Pre-programme evaluation.

Rather than using traditional methods of training evaluation which focus on the straight line model of “training leads to impact” that can somehow be measured, Dr Danny McGuigan proposes to apply a new approach which is based on the “Success Case Evaluation Method”. This method has been pioneered by Professor Robert Brinkerhoff of Western Michigan University (see appendix 4).

The history of the Business Development Centre.

Danny McGuigan established the Business Development Centre in 1995 after more than ten years as managing director of his marketing consultancy sister company, Creative Business Services (CBS). CBS was heavily involved in providing marketing consultancy for the Dep’t of Trade & Industry’s Enterprise Initiative Scheme for clients throughout the U.K.

Danny specialises in delivering the following executive training and development interventions:

• Leadership development training – one to one and small groups
• Management skills training – one to one and small groups
• Mentoring, coaching and teambuilding for top performance
• Mediation, conciliation and training processes for resolving conflict
• Supporting organisations as they navigate culture change processes
• Guiding individuals and organisations on work / life balance issues
• Guiding organisations on personnel recruitment & retention

Centre Director.

As Centre Director of The Business Development Centre, Daniel McGuigan supervises a team of ten consultants based in Europe, some of whom are freelance and work in specialist areas within larger organisations and universities. The team includes internationally experienced trainer consultants, qualified psychologists and British Association of Counselling accredited counsellors.

Client portfolio.

The European Patent Office (EPO). June – August, 2005.

Location of training - EPO Headquarters, Munich.

Nature of intervention -
o Facilitating teambuilding project with legal / para-legal group.

Glasgow School of Art. April 2005 – present.

Location of training – Glasgow School of Art, main campus.

Nature of the intervention.

Half-day seminars targeted at academics, research, administrative and technical staff on:

• Managing Stress at work to help achieve work/life balance.

Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board. 1998 – present.

Location of training – Ayr, Crosshouse, Kilmarnock and Glasgow.

Nature of the Intervention.

• Facilitating organisation-wide annual stress audits using the Pressure Management Indicator (PMI).
• Facilitating large group intervention meetings for the entire organisation to deliver the PMI
• ggregate reports and encourage staff to create action plans to inform the annual Organisation Development (OD) Plan.
• Training and development interventions targeted at issues raised in the PMI aggregate data report and the staff action plans.
  These include:
  • Relationships and friendship at work.
  • How to manage stress to achieve work / life balance.
  • How to deal with awkward and difficult people in conflict situations.
  • How to manage change in a healthy and positive way.
  • Assertiveness and how to be appropriately assertive in organisations.
• Mediation services to facilitate resolution / remedies for serious conflict.
• Mentoring and coaching to key management staff.
• Facilitating large group intervention meetings to encourage staff to navigate major change initiatives.
• Rolling out the 3-day Leadership Development Programme (one to one) to all executive board directors and senior managers.

Siemens A.G. and Fujitsu Siemens - Private sector multinational. 1999 – present.

Location of training – Munich, Amsterdam, Augsburg, and Lisbon.

Nature of the intervention.
2 day seminars on “Managing stress at work” and also “Leadership”, using the person-centred approach and the PMI. This intervention was targeted at “fast track” executives identified by Siemens / Fujitsu Siemens to receive intensive management training and leadership development support.

Specific issues addressed were:

• How to manage stress at work to help achieve work/life balance.
• Friendship / Emotional intelligence and the role of emotional coaching in dealing with awkward and difficult people and situations at work.
• Leadership development and the importance of personal as well as professional development.

University of Glasgow, Staff Development Service, 2001 – present.

Location of training – University of Glasgow main campus.

Nature of the intervention.

One day seminars targeted at academics, research, administrative and technical staff on:

• Managing people and their Performance.
• The role of Strategy in organisations.
• Managing Change.
• Interpersonal Skills.
• Managing Stress at work to help achieve work/life balance.

The Health Education Board for Scotland, now NHS Health Scotland. 1999 - present.

Location of training – The Business Development centre, Glasgow.

Nature of the intervention.
3-day Leadership Development Programme with follow-up mentoring for senior management.

University of Strathclyde – Graduate Business School, 2004 – present.

Location of training – The University of Strathclyde, Graduate Business School.

Nature of the intervention -
A workshop series in collaboration with the University Business School and open to private sector, government ministries and other public and organisations. The series began in February of 2004 with a one-day workshop on “Managing Stress at Work.” Delegates attending were from public sector and government ministries as well as national and multinational corporations.

Cadbury Ireland, Limited – 2001.

Location of training –The Business Development Centre, Glasgow.

Nature of intervention.
3-day Leadership Development Programme (one to one) for the CEO, with follow-up mentoring.

Health Care International, Clydebank – Private UK healthcare sector. 1996 – 1999.
Location of training – Clydebank, Scotland.

Nature of the intervention –

• Organisational Development.
• Teambuilding with the Executive Board of Directors.
• Mentoring with the CEO and other Executive Board Directors.
• Creating and monitoring Continuing Personal and Professional Development for all Executive Board
• irectors and key senior management.
• Mediating conflict situations.
• Facilitating teambuilding workshops.

Scottish Hydro-Electric. 1999.

Location of training.
Aviemore, Scotland.

Nature of the intervention.
Facilitation of a two-day culture simulation game, designed to heighten awareness of cultural differences, individual differences and the implications for the performance of an organisation.

Railtrack Scotland PLC. 2001 – 2002.

Location of training –
Railtrack Scotland Glasgow Headquarters.

Nature of the intervention –
Creation and development of the organisation’s continuous Personal and Professional Development (PDP) Manual for all members of management and technical staff. This involved the following:

• Consulting a cross-section of targeted staff (1,500) through small focus groups on their needs and aspirations with respect to PDP.
• Consulting all the professional Institutes and bodies to which members of staff were affiliated to ensure synergy and avoid duplication when creating the PDP manual.
• Creating, designing and writing the manual in consultation with the HR team.
  Facilitating pilot processes to test the new PDP manual.
• Roll-out of the “tried and tested” manual to all staff via small group workshops.
• Follow-up monitoring, mentoring and coaching support.

The Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health -(SCIEH). 2001.

Location of training – Glasgow.

Nature of the Intervention –

• Facilitating organisation-wide annual stress audits using the Pressure Management Indicator (PMI).
• Facilitating large group intervention meetings for the entire organisation to deliver the PMI aggregate reports and encourage staff to create action plans to inform the annual Organisation Development (OD) Plan.

Danny delivers programmes across the globe and welcomes enquiries from private, public and voluntary sector organisations.

danny.mcguigan@ntlbusiness.co.uk