By Nicole Murphy, Leadership & Graduate Development I APS Academy
The APS Academy has partnered with the Australian Taxation Office to offer the EL2 Leadership Program to all EL2s across the service. Nicole Murphy was lucky enough to undertake the program earlier this year and shares some insights of how she benefitted from the course.
The EL2 Leadership Program is run by the Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of New South Wales. It takes you through some of the more popular theories of leadership around the world, including Adaptive Leadership, the Cynefin framework and Leader/Follower relationships
Be warned – it does require a substantial commitment. The program entails 9 two-hour webinars, 3 one-hour coaching sessions and completing two activities across 12 weeks. It is all delivered virtually, so no travel is required but the sessions are not recorded so if you can’t attend one, you’ll miss out. The slides are available on the program website for you, but it’s not the same as actually being there.
What do you learn?
The real value of the program comes from the discussions you have in the session. You undertake the program in a cohort of 24 peers. While the expert facilitators take you through the theory, you will spend time in both open discussion and in small groups talking about the application of the theory in your circumstance.
You learn so much from other people’s stories and lessons learned. As people talk about their thoughts and understandings, it drives your own understanding deeper.
Of the people who did the program with me, everyone had something different that they were taking from the program. For me, the highlights were:
- The HBDI assessment. This is optional but I am very glad I did it. Not only did it give me a real insight into how my mind works, it also helped to shed a light on difficulties I have working with some people and showed me exactly why we would have problems communicating. We were opposite thinking styles and could work at odds with each other if we didn’t adapt to what the other needed.
- Cynefin Framework. This made real sense to me. We humans like labels and being able to put a label to your work context and that label then assisting you to determine what approach you should take was really valuable. What I liked most about it was the idea that you could move forward. You might be in a work context of chaos, but you didn’t have to stay there. Identify the right way forward, do that and you can move it into an easier context to handle.
- Reflective inaction. As part of identifying the way forward, we covered the concept of reflective inaction. It really resonated with me because I know that when I’m overwhelmed, the best thing to do is stop and think. And I’ve seen teams that either burn themselves out or end up going in the wrong direction because they’ve jumped straight to solutions without taking time to consider if they are the right ones.
So what will you take out of the program?
Registrations are now open on APSLearn. The dates for the next program are listed, so check that you’re available for all of them and will therefore get the most out of the program.
If you have any questions, reach out at LeadershipEdge@apsc.gov.au.