OUTreach/ TransformationFirst Leadership Framework

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Manila, 8 May 2019 — What is the leadership framework that underpins your training and coaching, I was asked. Here it is.

Direction-Alignment-Commitment

So you are interested in leadership development and you’re wondering what it takes?

At TransformationFirst.Asia, we work with the modern definition of leadership as a Process of Influence. Building on the work of the Center for Creative Leadership, we use the DAC model that describes the three main outcomes of this process as Direction, Alignment, and Commitment.

Leadership as a process of influence involves many people in making changes happen. It is therefore a collective process, in which many individuals participate. Using our modern definition of leadership, we can call these individual influencers leaders.

Leadership doesn’t happen without leaders. And a leader without leadership is a dreamer. The two depend on each other.

Leaders include both people with and without a title and position of authority, like a manager or executive. In a paradigmatic change of leadership sweeping countries around the planet, it is now recognized that people can become a leader from a young age.

Think of Melati and Isabel Wijsen in Bali, who started their Bye Bye Plastic Bags campaign when they were 10 and 12 years old and turned into international icons for environmental cleanup and sustainability leadership.

And Greta Thunberg, who started her school strike for climate action at age 15, sparked a global movement by her example, and was consulted for advice by national and international leaders at the highest levels.

On the other side of the spectrum, professionals and executives at a (much) later stage in their career and life can still discover that they want to become a leader. It’s never too late to become a leader.

TransformationFirst Leadership

Through our training and coaching services at TransformationFirst.Asia, we help people, both individually and collectively, to work and learn across the canvas that is shown below as the 4-quadrant TransformationFirst Leadership framework.

To help you start growing your leader abilities, look at the bottom-left quadrant of Leader Training. Note that this is, however, not just a place to visit only once.

Throughout your career working as a leader, as you practice in the bottom-right quadrant of Leader Development, you can regularly return to the Leader Training quadrant whenever you feel that you need to level up your mindset, behaviors, and skills.

Above the fold, in the top half of the framework, is where you grow leadership, which is what you do collectively, together with other leaders.

Similarly to the leader training and development in the bottom half of the framework, you train in the top-left quadrant, and practice your Leadership Development in the top-right quadrant.

Action Learning

Bookstores are full of resources to learn about leadership. How does this framework add value?

In contrast to the abundance of available learning resources to increase your knowledge, we focus on Action Learning.

Research has shown that most of your growth as a leader will come from action learning as you take on challenging assignments together with training, coaching, and mentoring.

Action learning helps you move toward your goals, shown as Direction on the right side of the framework. This is a process of development.

To advance, however, you need to (re)align your current knowledge, mindset, and behaviors with what you need to achieve your goal. Think of leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith’s famous adage What got you here, won’t get you there.

That’s where the left side of the framework comes into play. It is devoted to your Alignment, which happens through structured learning activities that we call training for short.

Where to start?

With transforming yourself first!

All leader and leadership development starts in the bottom-left quadrant with getting to know the basics of how to lead yourself and what it takes to move on to the other quadrants.

The Leader Training quadrant is also the place to return to whenever changing circumstances prompt you to transform yourself again to meet a new set of challenges.

Now look at the center of our framework. The centerpiece, or capstone, of the DAC model is Commitment, which is shown as the transformer at the center of everything we help you with.

Without your commitment, individually and collectively as the case may be, nothing significant happens.

Examples

Looks good so far? But what does this all mean in practice, you might ask. And rightly so!

Here are some examples of how you can explore this 4-quadrant canvas and start making it your own leadership arena for leader and leadership development.

Leader Training. We help you in assessments, strategy, and execution, with training and coaching focused on any important area of choice, from self-awareness, values, and time management to transformational leadership behaviors, productivity, healthy lifestyle, and more.

Leader Development. Think of getting coached in your career transitions, development of your leader roles and styles, leader behaviors, work-life balance, learning and unlearning practices, ability to cope with complexity and engage more inclusive worldviews, and more.

Leadership Training. We can help you in assessments of your (leadership) team to boost collaboration, performance, and innovation, to analyze and learn new communication and influencing skills, and how to grow more leaders throughout your business.

Leadership Development. We can help your business or organization to innovate, update your strategy, open up effective communication with all levels, increase staff engagement and cross-generational leadership to boost execution. We’re passionate for your business or organization to become an influential leader for sustainability.

Bridging East and West

When you work with us to learn through action, you will discover that we bridge East and West by building on the best of science and the treasures of Asia’s wisdom traditions. We help you adapt the best approaches to your local conditions.

There, we have answered your question about the leadership framework that underpins our training and coaching services for you.

It’s our framework for TransformationFirst Leadership. Designed for a lifetime of learning, unlearning and new learning, individually and together, to lead positive changes in your business and our world. Starting with yourself.

Have a question?

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