The Homeward Bound global leadership initiative is structured around four core program streams, each led by facilitators who have expert knowledge in those areas. Here, the facilitators of the Leadership stream in the current Homeward Bound 7 program, Jo Porter (left) and Christine Seddon, describe what participants learn about leadership in the Homeward Bound program.
What sort of content do you cover in the Leadership stream?
We tailor our sessions to the key needs of Homeward Bound participants and link it to the other sessions for a seamless delivery.
Our content helps participants develop their leadership philosophy, their emotional intelligence, decision-making, influence and impact and how they see and work with complexity.
We begin with reconnecting participants to the purpose of Homeward Bound, which is to ‘amplify the voices of a global leadership network of STEMM women to foster a sustainable planet’ and invite women to consider what this means for each of them in practical terms.
Our intention in the Leadership Stream is to develop leaders to be able to deliver this purpose in their own context.
This means considering their strengths and how they can be most effective in their leadership roles, to build their capability for maximum impact, as well as considering how they might limit themselves and provide practical approaches to how the can overcome this.
Similar to the other streams we start with self, including self-awareness and intention, and increasingly expand this to leading with and through others, and leading community, which maybe an organisation or another system.
Homeward Bound’s Leadership Stream aims to deepen your awareness of your own personal leadership philosophy (what), purpose (why) and practice (how). How do you do this, and why is it important?
We hold very interactive sessions so our participants can gather perspectives from a diverse group.
We invite challenge and curiosity into our group discussions.
We have two different types of sessions, the first is content rich, where we introduce theory and practical strategies for developing leadership capability.
Participants are then asked to apply these in their own context and return for the second, equally important aspect – the reflective work that our participants do.
These reflective sessions may have a very small amount of new content but are mainly for the group to share their experiences of trying out these new behaviours and ways of being.
This might be as a whole group or in small, intimate conversations with their peers.
This enables participants to build connections, learn from each other, and share their experiences in a safe, supportive environment.
In the Leadership stream, participants leadership capabilities will be developed using diagnostic tools, frameworks and reflective practices that aim to surface the elements that enable their leadership including identity, power, values, mindsets, and style. Can you explain how this works?
We draw on a variety of theory and frameworks, in particular the Human Synergistics Life Style Inventory which enables our participants to quickly gauge their leadership effectiveness – what’s working / what isn’t, and how to develop greater effectiveness.
This is supported by dedicated one-to-one executive coaching.
In addition to this, each of the leadership stream sessions includes one or two core theoretical frameworks and strategies for applying this in whatever context participants find themselves leading.
The frameworks presented in Homeward Bound are all underpinned by research, easily applied, and build capability at all levels of leadership.
How will Homeward Bound help participants become a better leader?
As with all leadership development it is your engagement with the content and most importantly your application in your own context that will help you a better leader.
Leadership is not a theoretic exercise.
Our intent is to enable and guide motivated participants to become better leaders for greater impact, providing evidence based, practical approaches for you to succeed in your leadership role.
If you’re motivated and willing to dedicate some time to your development, then you will surely benefit from the Homeward Bound experience.
Edited by Diane Nazaroff