From knowing leadership to practising it

Overview

Client: Australian Federal Government agency
Program: Executive Leaders Leadership Development Program
Participants: 12 emerging executive leaders
Duration: 8-month leadership development journey

Challenges 

Stepping into EL1 leadership brings a different kind of challenge. The role is no longer simply about delivering good work. Leaders need to think beyond their immediate team, navigate complexity, make decisions with incomplete information, influence across boundaries and create the conditions for others to perform.

The agency wanted to strengthen the leadership capability of its EL1 cohort through a development experience that went beyond traditional training, creating space for participants to reflect, practise, experiment and apply their learning directly to their work.

The focus was not simply “How do we give leaders more tools?”

It was:

How do we help leaders think differently, lead themselves differently and create a different experience for the people around them?

Coaching approach 

We delivered an eight-month leadership development journey combining facilitated learning, group coaching, self-awareness assessment and workplace application.

Rather than treating each workshop as a standalone learning event, the program created a continuous learning cycle:

Learn → reflect → discuss → experiment → return → learn again.

The program explored four interconnected dimensions of leadership:

Strategic leadership
Helping leaders lift their gaze beyond the immediate and think about the wider system, organisational priorities, stakeholders, trends and strategic choices.

Self-leadership
Building the self-awareness to recognise personal patterns, manage reactions, protect energy, understand values and become more intentional about how they show up.

Leading others
Exploring the human side of leadership; influence, relationships, communication, trust, feedback and the responsibility leaders have to create the conditions for others to contribute.

Complex decision-making
Helping leaders become more comfortable when the answer isn't obvious: slowing down, challenging assumptions, considering different perspectives and making decisions in uncertainty.

Learning beyond the workshop room

A key part of the program was creating space for participants to work on real leadership challenges, not hypothetical ones.

Individual coaching provided a confidential space for leaders to explore their own goals, challenges and leadership patterns.

Group coaching created another layer of learning, allowing participants to bring workplace challenges to their peers, hear different perspectives and learn from experiences beyond their own.

The result was a learning environment where the cohort wasn't simply receiving knowledge from a facilitator. They became part of each other's learning.

What changed?

The most interesting part of the program wasn't what participants remembered. It was what they started noticing and doing differently.

Participants described becoming more intentional in their leadership, including:

• making more space for strategic thinking
• considering different perspectives before acting
• slowing down to make better decisions
• becoming more conscious of their energy, boundaries and wellbeing
• asking more powerful questions
• thinking differently about their leadership identity
• becoming clearer about the type of leader they want to be
• applying concepts directly to workplace challenges

One participant described their shift as:

“A more active approach to leadership involving reflection, purposeful action and courage.”

Another reflected:

“I’ve considered more about the leader I want to be and the legacy I want to leave.”

And perhaps one of the simplest, and most powerful, reflections was:

“I don’t need to know everything to lead. Curiosity is so powerful, and questions are the language of strategic thinking.”

From learning to leadership practice

The participant feedback showed that the learning was being translated into workplace behaviour.

Examples included leaders:

• deliberately creating time for strategic thinking
• becoming more conscious of where they invest their energy
• setting stronger boundaries
• reflecting on their leadership qualities and role models
• applying strategic thinking to workplace problems
• considering broader perspectives before taking action
• using new approaches to decision-making
• becoming more intentional about the leader they want to be

One participant captured the shift particularly well:

“I learned not only to think strategically but also how I can initiate innovation and bring strategic change.”

Another described learning to:

“slow down and make more measured and well thought out decisions.”

The ripple effect

Leadership development doesn't stop with the person sitting in the workshop.

When a leader changes how they think, communicate, make decisions and respond under pressure, that change travels into their team, their stakeholders and the wider organisation.

That's what made this program particularly meaningful.

The cohort developed not only individual capability, but a shared language for talking about leadership, creating opportunities to challenge assumptions, learn from one another and continue the conversation between formal learning sessions.

Peter provided a 5-star review, stating that Mariana’s coaching was instrumental in boosting his confidence and enhancing his strategic approach to the job search process. He highlighted her abilities in active listening, asking insightful questions, and creating a collaborative, motivating environment that led to actionable plans and clarity in his career direction.