The Evolution of a Leadership Program
In 2020, The District of Muskoka received the Professional Development Award from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA). The award recognized the District’s commitment to leadership development. This is the second award they have received in this category for collaboration on, and implementation of, MCE’s Future Ready Leadership programs.
The first award was for Future Ready Leadership Level 1. Having almost 60 graduates from this program, Michael Duben, CAO at the time, wanted something for his more senior leaders. Together with Anna Landry, the District’s Director of Human Resources (now retired), and MCE, Future Ready Leadership Acceleration was born.
After the award and during COVID, we decided to revisit the program. We knew it was solid; however, we thought it could be more. How could we make it even more beneficial for senior-level leaders?
The inaugural program consisted of 3 assessments, individual coaching, and 4 pre-determined training days. The format worked, but we knew it could be further enhanced. What if we created our own 360 assessment/feedback tool based on the leadership competencies MCE uses in our FRL series? What if we allowed the participants to select their own coach? What if we custom-designed the 4 days of training to match the needs identified in the combined 360 report?
Before moving ahead, we wanted to review our ideas with our loyal clients at the District and surrounding municipalities (as they also had graduates of the original program). We held a virtual focus group with HR leaders, including Anna Landry, Jackie Mattice, Jeff McWilliam at District of Muskoka, Nicole Abofs at County of Simcoe, Claire Evans, and Lori McDonald at Bracebridge, and Simon Stafford at Oakville.
Then we reached out to Michael, now the CAO of Oxford County, and Amy Smith, HR Director of Oxford County. After a few discussions with them, we incorporated their ideas into the program which we launched in May. The program is approximately 8 months in length, allowing for sustainable learning and application.
We love the collaboration and enthusiasm. We love that we now offer a unique program to leaders of leaders.
Stay tuned for updates. For more detail now, check out the brochure below.