Leadership Team Development

"Just absolutely loved it and the opportunity to engage in this workshop to launch our executive team and provide such a strong foundation for our work. [Julie was] Responsive, inclusive, agile and nimble,connected, engaging, perceptive ............so many more words. Honestly the best coaching session and launch I have experienced. Thank you so much. "

Feedback from the Principal after a full day with the Executive Team (2022)

Team Development

Drawing on decades of experience developing and facilitating workshops, focus groups, reviews and retreats, I will work with you to design and deliver a program which keeps participants engaged and meets the objectives you want to achieve.

In a complimentary “discovery” meeting, we will discuss what’s important for your group/team – this might be a skill gap, a shift in thinking your organisation is trying to make, or something you want to see more of in your leaders.

Perhaps you want to create a feedback culture.
Maybe you want people to start having tough conversations.
Build the resilience of your leaders.
Develop greater empathy by listening to understand.
Get people thinking more strategically.
Stop and celebrate success.
Start conversations about personal purpose and how this links to organisational success.

“Thank you so much for the gentle way you have delivered our Staff Retreat. The staff were engaged, relaxed, reflected on themselves and had the opportunity to interact with others”.

Feedback from the Principal after a whole school full day Retreat (2020)

A ‘bespoke’ solution

Unlike large firms who deliver off-the-shelf programs, I do not take a “one size fits all” approach. Instead, I will work closely with you and your team to develop a half-day or full-day workshop which is tailored to meet the specific needs of your team.

I will help you design and prepare a bespoke session for your team, based on the outcomes you actually want.

I will use an approach (or variety of approaches) that best fit the needs of the group.

I will structure the session(s) to create energy and maximise creativity.

I will honour the wisdom of the group.

I will foster open participation, with respect for participant diversity.

I will manage participant interaction.

I will create opportunities for everyone to have a say and draw-out participants with different thinking styles.

I will create a psychologially safe environment, in which issues can be surfaced.

I will bring an independent view, which also helps me keep the session on track.

I will ensure group members are fully engaged, while I focus on process.

Reports and Diagnostic Tools

There are many different psychometric tests, measuring everything from psychological fitness to cognitive ability, skills and performance. When incorporating individual leadership development into a group workshop, I can recommend a range of reports and diagnostic tools which can be utilised prior to a workshop to identify leadership strengths and areas for improvement.

Other reports can be used to reveal the spectrum of Best Self (positive and productive) and Shadow (sometimes subtle, but always negative, unproductive and automatic) behaviours exhibited by people.

For some diagnostic reports it is appropriate for individual debriefs to be arranged prior to a group workshop, but in other cases a team debrief can be incorporated into the workshop. The purpose of a team debrief is to understand the personal strengths of each team member, as well as any potential challenges and how these might impact on the team’s performance.

You can read more about the tools, assessments and reports I like to work with here.

There are some fabulous assessments available for free here. If you are interested, look through the list for tests of: character strengths, grit/perseverence, work-life satisfaction, stress and empathy.

Team Coaching

Team Coaching is about maximising the abilities and performance of the team, with a focus on how each team member can develop their contribution to the team’s effectiveness. It can also be about uncovering attitudes or behaviours within the team that impact on team dynamics, developing a clear purpose and then deciding how the team will work together to achieve that.

Do you lead a team who are not performing as well as they could be? Perhaps your team is well-established, but there are attitudes or behaviours within the team that are impacting negatively on the team dynamics. Or maybe you’re leading a new project group and you need to get them working together quickly.

Team coaching empowers the team to take charge of their own development and to collectively manage: Team performance; Team goals; Focus of activity; Decision making; and Communication.

The team attends regular team meetings, but team coaching may also involve some individual coaching of the team leader and other team members, with a focus on how each team member can develop their contribution to the team’s effectiveness.

Some of the benefits of coaching to your organisation will include:

Cultural repair and change – building positive individual and team behaviours.
Building resilience – learning how to prioritise what matters most for now and for the long term: focusing on what matters to enhance individual and organizational resilience.
Retaining valued staff – helping to build motivation and focus for valued staff.
Developing leaders – working with the rising stars / future leaders who will be stretched to take on new challenges.

“I have had Julie working as a Coach with my senior management team over the past nine months during a time of significant change… Julie has been instrumental in maintaining and increasing the performance of the individuals and the team.”

Executive Director, Australian University (2018)

What makes a high performing team?

The research of Richard Hackman (What Makes for a Great Team, 2004) identified five conditions that increase the probability of team effectiveness. They are:

Is the group a real team (or just a group?)
Does the team have a compelling purpose?
Does the team’s structure enable teamwork?
Does the team’s social system support members to carry out their work?
Is competent coaching available to help team members?

A team will never be high performing if they don’t have a clear & specific purpose, or if they don’t understand how to work together. Team coaching can be useful to create energy and impetus within the team, build the team’s capability, and improve the team’s capacity for the future.

Feedback from Participants

“Julie Lines was professional, positive, and open-minded to tailoring a program to our school’s needs. Her ability to effortlessly weave contemporary research into our workshop enabled students to experience the breadth and depth of her skills.

As active participants, we trusted Julie in moments when she provoked our thinking and challenged our preconceptions and assumptions.

Julie took time to listen to us as individuals, to personalise our program requirements, and to check in along the way. We look forward to having Julie back with us in the future”.