New, bold and different – those were the words that described McMaster’s goals for its new Strategic Leaders Program.  Organizers believe those lofty goals were achieved as twenty-three leaders representing different employee groups from across the University earned Certificates of Completion at the final session at Dundurn Castle, June 21.

“I’ve taken many of the training programs offered here at McMaster through CCE (Centre for Continuing Education). The Strategic Leaders Program was the first one that truly made me feel valued as a leader here at the University,” said Gord de Pass, Manager of Information Technology, Finance, Research & Facilities. “It’s not that the other programs weren’t good, the SLP was just that much better. It supported & enforced all of McMaster’s core leadership capabilities but more importantly, gave meaning and reason to adopt them.”

Spanning four months, participants experienced seven days of learning about various leadership topics at different McMaster and Hamilton locations. More than 40 facilitators, speakers, and panelists shared their expertise including McMaster leaders, alumni, community leaders, and consultants.  Participants gained valuable insights about their current leadership capabilities through a multi-rater assessment and had opportunities to refine and build their skills through the highly tailored and interactive curriculum. They also collaborated on or led initiatives in alignment with McMaster’s focus on community engagement, including 100 in 1 Day Hamilton.

“The program has been a very rewarding, thought-provoking, insightful and even an uncomfortable experience at times,” said Kristina Vukelic, Program Manager for Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact. “I am grateful for the opportunity to participate and believe that it speaks volumes about the University that a program like this is offered.”

Planning for the next Strategic Leaders Program, delivered by CCE, will begin following evaluation of the initial offering.  More details will be released in the fall with the program’s anticipated start date in early February 2018.

The program is one of various new leadership development initiatives that McMaster provides for its employees which are being developed through collaborative efforts of Human Resources Services, CCE, and DeGroote Executive Education.  In McMaster’s updated leadership framework, strategic leaders are defined as overseeing a function and/or team within a department or faculty.