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Holding steady, moving forward
Avanti Academy / Programmes / Flagship
Flagship

Holding steady, moving forward

Local Government Forwards Programme.

Six half days on leading through change in local government: uncertainty, management, wellbeing and resilience, culture and relationships, political acumen, and designing what comes next.

Level
Flagship
Learning time
27 hours 30 minutes
Where
Serving the public
Price
£549

When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms

Go to the course

Certificate of Completion, or Certificate of Completion and Assessment with a short assessment

About this programme

Overview and Outcomes.

Who It's For

Local government officers and managers leading people through major organisational change

Overview

Local government is changing shape, and officers are being asked to lead organisations, teams and services that do not yet exist. This flagship brings together six half days as one foundation. It starts with leading through uncertainty, then management through change, and wellbeing, resilience and readiness. It moves on to culture, trust and relationships, and political acumen and influence. It closes with designing what comes next: the new council, strategy, decisions under uncertainty, creativity and design thinking. Each half day can also be taken on its own.

Aims

The aim is to give officers a shared foundation for leading through change: steady in themselves, skilled with their teams, aware of culture and politics, and ready to help shape what comes next. It is for local government officers and managers at any stage of organisational change, who want one coherent journey rather than separate courses.

In summary, you will be able to:

  1. Lead yourself and your team through uncertainty and change, choosing the response each situation needs and looking after wellbeing along the way.
  2. Read and shape culture, build trust and partnerships, and work with elected members with political acumen and integrity.
  3. Think strategically and creatively about the new organisation, deciding well under uncertainty and designing services around people.

What you'll develop

Through the programme, you will be able to:

  1. Use Honey and Mumford's four learning styles to choose development that sticks for you and to coach each team member in the way they learn.
  2. Explain how Maslow, Herzberg and Vroom each identify a different mechanism behind motivation, and use them to diagnose a specific motivation problem.
  3. Distinguish wellbeing as a state, resilience as a capacity and adaptability as a skill, and explain why each needs a different intervention.
  4. Explain Schein's three levels of culture and why underlying assumptions, rather than espoused values, predict what people actually do.
  5. Describe the four dimensions of a councillor's role, representative, decision maker, community leader and case worker, and explain why they pull in different directions.
  6. Describe Huish and Milliner's five phases of transition from district into unitary and the leadership demands of each.
  7. Explain Edmondson's definition of psychological safety and describe how a leader's response to the first piece of bad news builds or destroys it.
What is inside

Built from 6 parts.

27 hours 30 minutes of learning.

  1. 01When the map runs outLeading through uncertaintyExplore
    The 5 modules in When the map runs out
    1. Self Awareness and Continuous Learning as a Discipline High Performing Managers
    2. Foundations: The Evolution of Leadership Thought Leadership
    3. Foundations: What Got You Here Won't Get You There High Performing Managers
    4. Leading through Complexity and Uncertainty Leadership
    5. The Cynefin Framework: Making Sense of Complexity VUCA, Uncertainty and Complexity
    5 modules
  2. 02Keeping the team on courseManagement through changeExplore
    The 5 modules in Keeping the team on course
    1. Motivating and Engaging Teams Management
    2. Managing Change and Transition Management
    3. Managing Teams: Dynamics, Development and Performance Management
    4. Critical Conversations: Feedback, Coaching and Conflict Management
    5. The Modern Manager: Context, Practice and Applied Case Studies Management
    5 modules
  3. 03Staying well, staying readyWellbeing, resilience and readinessExplore
    The 7 modules in Staying well, staying ready
    1. Foundations: Wellbeing, Resilience and Adaptability Resilience, Wellbeing and Adaptability
    2. The Anatomy of Resilience Resilience, Wellbeing and Adaptability
    3. Personal Resilience Through Change Resilience, Wellbeing and Adaptability
    4. Mindfulness and Wellbeing Practice Resilience, Wellbeing and Adaptability
    5. Leading Others Through Adversity Resilience, Wellbeing and Adaptability
    6. Readiness and Adaptability Resilience, Wellbeing and Adaptability
    7. Sustaining Resilience and Wellbeing at Work Resilience, Wellbeing and Adaptability
    7 modules
  4. 04Bringing people togetherCulture, trust and relationshipsExplore
    The 7 modules in Bringing people together
    1. Models of Culture II: Schein, Deal and Kennedy, the Competing Values Framework and Denison Culture in Organisations
    2. The Cultural Web: Diagnosing Culture in Practice Culture in Organisations
    3. Building and Changing Culture, and Culture in Mergers Culture in Organisations
    4. Self-Awareness and Self-Management in Practice Emotional Intelligence
    5. Trust, Safety and Strong Cultures Culture in Organisations
    6. Foundations of Partnership Working Working with Communities and Partnerships
    7. Conflict Styles and Choices Leading through Change and Conflict
    7 modules
  5. 05Working with the grainPolitical acumen and influenceExplore
    The 6 modules in Working with the grain
    1. Foundations: The Councillor's Lifecycle and the Many Hats They Wear Working in a Political Environment
    2. Reading the Political System Working in a Political Environment
    3. Political Leadership Working in a Political Environment
    4. Member-Officer Relationships Working in a Political Environment
    5. Foundations: Power, Authority and the Anatomy of Influence Influence, Persuasion and Negotiation
    6. Negotiation Foundations: From Positions to Interests Influence, Persuasion and Negotiation
    6 modules
  6. 06Designing what comes nextStrategy, creativity and the new councilExplore
    The 7 modules in Designing what comes next
    1. From District into Unitary: Avanti's Five Phases Leading through Reorganisation, Mergers and Shared Services
    2. Leading Change in Public Services Leading through Change and Conflict
    3. Foundations: What Strategic Thinking Is (and Isn't) Strategic Thinking
    4. Decisions Under Certainty, Risk and Uncertainty Strategic Thinking
    5. Measuring What Matters in a System Systems Leadership
    6. Foundations: Creativity, Innovation and Why They Are Not the Same Thing Creativity and Innovation
    7. Design Thinking: Principles, Process and Practice Creativity and Innovation
    7 modules
Where it fits

Keep Going.

Next: Building the new council