Leadership Learning Circle: New Supervisors
Leaders whose jobs in the best of times can be challenging, are especially stretched in these tough times. There is growing demand by new leaders for opportunities to develop stronger ties with other leaders at similar points in their career, in order to establish a network of peers to confide in, depend on, support, and grow with.
The North STAR Center offers several Leadership Learning Circles to support the diverse needs of leaders through cohort learning offered throughout the year.
What are Leadership Learning Circles?
Each program provides facilitated discussions, peer coaching, mentoring, support, resources, and relationships. The program gives new leaders the extra support they need to address the challenging issues they face on a regular basis, as well as support their commitment to learning and growth professionally.
Leadership Learning Circles are composed of 5-6 leaders committed to supporting one another. Discussions in the circles are confidential, supportive, and focused on learning and action. A trained and experienced facilitator helps participants use the circle to identify goals and resolve individual challenges. Participants meet once a week for 5 weeks to:
• share insights and reflections on session materials
• support and challenge each other
• further develop specific skills with a focus on growing as a leader
Who should attend?
The New Supervisors Learning Circle at the North STAR Center is intended for individuals who transitioned, for the first time, into the leadership role of supervisor or manager within the past 12 months. The cohort will include 5-6 individuals, who have been identified by director or executive leaders as candidates for this professional development opportunity or who have self-selected to continue their professional development.
When is the next program?
The program includes five sessions over five weeks. The sessions will be weekly for an hour and a half in length (1:00 pm -2:30 pm EST) on Zoom Meeting. In addition to the 7.5 total hours of time together in the Learning Circle, cohort members will have pre and post homework that should take approximately 1-2 hours to complete each week.
Session 1 – Introductions & Exploring Common Pitfalls
Session 2 – Fundamental Practices of Leadership
Session 3 – Leading Holistically
Session 4 – Changing Relationships: From Peer to Supervisor
Session 5 – Supporting Success as a Supervisor & Wrap-up
Please note, attendance at all sessions is required, given the small size of the group and the weekly discussions that will be a foundational piece of the Learning Circle.
How are each session structured?
Each session will follow a general outline, although there will be flexibility and the sessions will adjust based on the flow of the discussions. As a group, we will walk through the following each week:
- Opening reflection by cohort members
- Introduction to the current session’s topic
- Questions and comments about the current week’s content and pre-work
- Discussion/exercise about how to apply the current session’s topic
- Identify 1-2 takeaways from the current week’s session that can be put into practice immediately
- Brief introduction of next week’s session topic and pre-reading materials
- Final reflections by cohort members
What is the content based on?
This program will introduce frameworks and principles that will allow participants to explore who they are as new supervisors, moving from self, to relationships, through systems to support success. Content will be based on readings, videos, and exercises drawn from various sources curated by the facilitator and will ground our learning and development.