Are you a strategic leader?

Over the past year I’ve been on a leadership journey, taking part as the pilot cohort for the Growing Faith Foundation’s ‘Strategic Leaders’ Programme.  Delivered via a mix of asynchronous e-learning and a 2-day residential, over the course of a year, we’ve covered topics around vision and values, change management strategies, how to handle conflict and how to communicate well.  We’ve also had to put our learning into practice, by crafting a ‘How do I…?’ question, tackling a live work issue, and staying accountable to work through the challenge, during zoom ‘coaching huddles’.

The programme is rooted in theology, but also draws from best practice in secular business, delivered by a diverse range of voices from people who work full time for the Church and those who are Christians working in secular settings.  I’ve had the pleasure of journeying alongside 20 other fellow travellers: a mix of church children and family volunteers, school chaplains, vicars, ordinands, diocesan advisors and those in other parachurch organisations, all united with a purpose to help change the culture within our particular settings, so that children and young people are part of the DNA in everything that we do.

On Friday 8^th December, we met at Lambeth Palace library to celebrate our year of learning and gave short 5-minute presentations to summarise the journey we’ve been on.  You can read Aike’s presentation here.  So many of the group expressed how at the start of the year, they felt a fraud and had struggled to see themselves as strategic leaders.  However, many reported that the course had enabled them to make their voice heard and were seeing positive changes in their workplaces, and churches.

If you want to find out more about joining a future cohort, check out:

https://www.churchofengland.org/about/education-and-schools/growing-faith-foundation/programmes