Launching AMA Victoria’s Middle Leader professional development program
14 December 2021
A leadership development opportunity for doctors, consultant level and above whose roles require them to both, lead up and down to be effective – hence the term ‘Middle Leader’!
There will be two intakes in 2022, commencing:
1. Saturday 26 February
2. Saturday 6 August
AMA Victoria is excited to launch a new professional development program aimed at supporting our members (consultant level and above) to develop and hone their leadership skills as they prepare for a third year of leading their teams and departments in a pandemic, with all that this brings.
We have developed this program in response to our leadership coaching work with doctors in middle to senior leadership positions over the last 18 months. In this work we have seen several commonalities in the areas they find challenging in their leadership work with many of these doctors having recently stepped up into significant leadership roles.
Stepping into a new leadership role and taking up the new authority with confidence and skill is hard, and the current COVID environment has exacerbated this. Specialised professional development can support this transition and the ‘Middle Leader’ professional development program has been specifically designed to support doctors leading up and down to be more effective in their leadership work. Please see the website here for intake dates, cost and program structure. AMA Victoria members receive a further 10 per cent discount off the member price if they register before 31 December 2021. Please enter the code AMAMEMBERSEARLY2022 when booking.
Challenges faced my middle leaders
Many leaders have spoken about challenges in:
- Feeling confident in the role and taking this new, greater authority in conversations and decision-making with other senior leaders (especially difficult for internal promotions, when you gain greater authority over someone who was your peer or perhaps even previous boss).
- Wanting to create a more cohesive team – but being unsure how to go about it.
- Wanting to form stronger professional relationships with important colleagues – both senior and junior, and not being sure how to have these trust-building, open and honest professional conversations.
- While they have a very strong sense of who they are and what they believe in (personal and professional values), being unsure how to talk about them and share them in a professional way to contribute to the wider culture.
And many of these challenges are not specific to doctors but are common across sectors and industries:
- How do I take up my role in this complex system? How can I speak up and have influence without stepping on toes?
- How can I contribute to a more collegial and effective culture? And perhaps change the culture as it is currently?
- How can I deal with feedback and critical feedback? How can I ensure 360 feedback is productive for me and my team/area?
- How can I find time for my own work with so much more on my plate? How can I manage my time and increase the efficiency of meetings?
Leaders can benefit from specialised leadership training to support their development of effective skills and behaviours that they can use immediately in their role. The Middle Leader Program is a specially designed leadership program, combining a series of group webinars and a one-on-one coaching session with the program director.
How professional development programs can help
Leadership development provides focused professional training on the skills and behaviours that enable you to take up your leadership role and responsibilities with confidence and appropriate authority, and develop skills for leading and developing others around you in your teams and departments or units.
The Middle Leader Program
The MLP is specifically designed to support doctors to feel confident and strong in their leadership work, by being clear about their role and responsibilities, clear on their own values and purpose and the kind of team and organisational culture they want to cultivate around them.
They are critical in building strong teams, and a strong and healthy culture. They must be skilled in establishing effective team norms and behaviours, group, and interpersonal communication – to exercise effective development and performance conversations, manage conflict and difficult situations, and have the confidence to push back when needed – both to junior and senior colleagues.
Middle leaders need to have strong skills in professional conversations – especially in performance conversations and review, in giving feedback, and in navigating challenging situations and conflict with colleagues.
Middle leaders also think hard about how to balance the demands of their work, with their family and personal life. Questions such as, “How can I make my work more sustainable, and ensure my own health and wellbeing with a heavy workload?” This program will address these questions, and provide practical support to navigate these issues and create workable and personalised solutions that can be applied immediately.
Core content
Themes
- Creating a strong leadership identity.
- Leading and developing others.
- Leading and developing an effective and healthy team and organisational culture.
- Leading and navigating change.
This program is delivered as a series of webinar modules over five to six weeks. The sessions are spaced out to ensure time to apply the learnings and bring the experiences and reflections back to the group. The sessions are highly interactive, with constant opportunities to share and embed learning in small group discission, and the opportunity to practise skills and receive feedback form peers.
I look forward to working with you in 2022. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have questions at AnnaClark@amavic.com.au
Dr Anna Clark (PhD)
Leadership consultant, coach and educator
