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LEADERSHIP PODS

Dr. Laurie Anderson created Leadership Pods to offer a leadership development strategy that was, in many instances, better, faster and cheaper than individual coaching or group training. Via peer consultation groups, senior managers commit to the development, execution, and continuous improvement of individual leadership strategies. They meet monthly in two hour increments to receive expert coaching as well as provide each other with the support, challenge, synergy, and accountability not often experienced at the top tiers of an organization. And thus they learn and practice how to coach others skillfully without relying on outside consultants.

Since Laurie started facilitating Leadership Pods three years ago, she has discovered that when executives share responsibility for the success of each other, amazing things transpire. They tell the truth, offer support and ideas, provide accountability for changing in ways that are good long-term although challenging short-term. They have the opportunity to become true colleagues, to transform organizational cultures into great places to work and to drive organizational greatness.


Specific Objectives of Leadership Pods:

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To ensure that senior mangers actually have a clear and compelling leadership vision and strategy.

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To provide senior managers with just-in-time feedback, coaching, and teamwork for the design and implementation of their individual leadership agendas.

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To accelerate and deepen individual leadership development via more frequent and skillful peer coaching.

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To reinforce how to give effective coaching support.

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To help build leaders build their leadership capacity with and for each other in ways that builds a genuine coaching and learning culture

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To strengthen shared business and development accountability among executive peers.

Proven Benefits of Leadership Pods:

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The opportunity for managers at the same level within the organization to examine common leadership challenges and design multi-dimensional solutions that thrive on ongoing support from the coach and the peers.

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The chance to incorporate peer accountability into specific department/organizational initiatives and business objectives.

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The ability to increase the sustainability of learning from executive training via periodic, brief and feedback-based follow-up.

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The realization of a more cost-effective and integrated way to use executive coaches and coaching.

More about the process of creating and implementing a Leadership Pod
Based on a 12-month program

Phase 1: Getting started (months 1-3)
Laurie meets individually with potential Pod members to explain the process and recommend how members should be divided into specific groupings based on the characteristics and preferences of the participants (recommended Pod size is 4 participants). Pod members typically meet monthly, with each session lasting two hours.

During Phase 1, a group review of individual needs, motivations, and expectations is conducted. This review helps openly assess the group’s commitment and expectations related to peer support and accountability, to define parameters for the development, execution, and evaluation of individual leadership strategies, and to agree upon individual and group measures of success. At the end of Phase 1, each participant will have a written leadership vision and strategy.


Phase 2: Executing the Leadership Strategies (months 4-11)
During this phase, the Pods conduct an individual and peer review of the status, success, and challenges associated with implementing the individual leadership strategies. Pod members collaborate in order to increase individual and organizational effectiveness, identify and apply team and individual learnings, and establish, wherever indicated, additional developmental goals and strategies for individual follow-up. At the end of Phase 2, members gather individual summaries of key learnings and use this information to pinpoint anticipated adjustments in leadership strategy, style, practices, and development.


Phase 3: Evaluating the Results (month 12)
During the third phase, members work together to assess individual, group, and organizational results. As the involvement of the expert coach is phased-out, members determine follow-up coaching practices for pod-mates. At the end of Phase 3, members will have developed updated leadership statements, individual development plans, and peer coaching strategies.