‘Celebrate your success’ is a Result CIC theme tune. When times are tough and disrupted, celebrating can feel tricky. Yet at these times celebrating is even more important; we need those small pockets of time for joy and connection even more. Our DELTA (Disability Empowers Leadership and Talent) programme, delivered with the Leadership College for Government, for future leaders in the Civil Service with disabilities or health conditions, have been no exception. For the first cohort, after only one workshop in person back in January 2020, everything switched online. It meant a rapid and steep learning curve for us all. And a lot of patience. We had an enjoyable short online graduation event but meeting in person was not an option.
The second cohort of DELTA started work in 2022. Due to fresh Covid risks, the first two workshops ran online. It was great to be able to run the third and fourth workshops face to face with participants and feel the connections being made between them. There was a feeling of people making up for lost time, making the most of being able to speak naturally to each other, compare ideas and develop common interests.
There was real enthusiasm for a celebratory graduation event this year. In July it happened, despite the inevitable shifts and last-minute changes in the still bumpy period as we all gradually emerged from the pandemic. There was much to celebrate. Graduates of the programme have got new jobs, got promotion to the Senior Civil Service and found interesting new directions including secondments and fresh starts. One graduate said DELTA ‘produced a life-changing outcome for me.’ Another described it as ‘absolutely transformational.’
Our guest speaker at the graduation was Natalie Golding, Director of the College for Leadership. Natalie described her own leadership journey, including taking the META (Minority Ethnic Talent Association) programme frankly and with warmth. There was a sense of real identification with her story and her advice to connect naturally with people with whom you feel an affinity.
At our half-day event, some DELTA participants met in person for the first time. The activities organised aimed to reinforce skills emphasised on the programme:
- Value yourself and all the opportunities available to you.
- Understand and appreciate your power as a disabled leader and a potential change agent.
- Get help when you need it: be clear about what you want and seek people who can provide it.
One striking group discussion looked at the future impact which this group of leaders with disabilities and long-term health conditions wanted to have.
The feedback on the programme shows how important it is to feel part of a group or community with common experience. Several participants commented on feeling less isolated and more confident as a result. You can read Helen Jeffries blog for us here which underlines this point. Being able to compare notes with others can ease the process of opening up about your disability or health condition.
One participant wrote, ‘The power of being open and transparent about how my disability affects me. I definitely wouldn’t have done that before (DELTA).’
The day felt like a real celebration marking the progress of a remarkable group. Congratulations to them and we look forward to hearing about how they use their leadership talents to make an even more of a positive impact in future!
If a programme combining group workshops and individual coaching sounds like something your organisation might benefit from, why not have a chat with us?