Breaking Down Barriers to Leadership Development

LeaderShift provides a rare opportunity for leaders in community and primary health care to develop their capacity, ignite cross-sector collaboration, and play an important role in shaping the future of our health care system.

Response to LeaderShift – and the LEADS Learning Series that lies at the heart of it – has been tremendous. Thanks to the efforts of our excellent project team, collaborators, and partners, we’re well on track to meet (and probably exceed!) our target of supporting 575 current and emerging leaders in enhancing their skills, advancing themselves and their organizations, and extending their impact.

While we’re excited about the transformative potential of this large-scale capacity building initiative, we’re also sensitive to the reality that leaders in our sectors often face significant barriers to participating in professional development – especially the kind of deep development opportunity that the intensive 5-day LEADS Learning Series offers.

Barrier: Time and Logistics
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Survey respondents told us that time and logistics are the biggest barriers to leadership development in their organizations. Some leaders explained that five days was too long to be away from the office. Community and primary health care leaders are busy and it can be hard to cover them off while they’re away.

“We are a small agency with a very small management team
and it is difficult to be out of the office for any length of time.”
-Survey respondent

We don’t want any organizations to miss out on the tremendous opportunity that LeaderShift represents just because the logistics may be tricky. So we’re rolling out a condensed, online version of our LEADS Learning Series. The deadline to apply is December 7th.

LEADS LITE is packed with the same great actionable insights and information as our in person LEADS Learning Series. But you can do it from the comfort of your office, cutting down on travel time. It is not meant to serve as a full replacement for the LEADS Learning Series, but a convenient and useful introduction to the LEADS framework.

​Barrier: Timing

Finding the time for leadership development is one thing; getting the timing right is another. Some respondents told us that the dates or locations we’ve offered so far hadn’t been convenient for them, but that they were interested in future offerings.

We’re offering lots of new dates and locations for the LEADS Learning Series in 2019. We’ve released our 2019 LEADS Learning Series dates early to help you plan well in advance.
 
Barrier: Budget
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While some leaders can participate in the LEADS Learning Series locally, others have to travel to participate. And some survey respondents told us that a lack of funding for accommodations, travel, or other expenses was standing in the way of their participation in the LEADS Learning Series.
You probably already know that LEADS certification through LeaderShift is fully subsidized; there is no registration fee for successful applicants. What you may not know is that we also offer travel subsidies for participants who need to travel to attend a LEADS Learning Series.

Funds are limited so full reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses is not guaranteed. Travel subsidies are distributed equitably among applicants in each LEADS Learning Series cohort.

Before you click submit, make sure to fill out the fields on the LEADS Learning Series application form related to your travel subsidy estimate. This is the best way to ensure that you receive pre-approval of reimbursement of out-of-pocket travel expenses .

Leadership development is powerful, and LeaderShift presents a tremendous opportunity for our sectors. We don't want time, logistics, timing or budget to hold you back from participating in this transformation.
Check out our upcoming LEADS Learning Series dates and sign up now and start a LeaderShift!