Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Emerging Leaders Participants - Cohort 1, Obstacles and Challenges, In…

- - - - Actively Seeking Feedback and Mentors: Many participants wrote about asking for feedback from managers, colleagues, and even direct reports to better understand their gaps. “I specifically asked for honest feedback about my communication, and I’m now consciously working to improve it.”
      - Taking on Stretch Assignments: Reflections often highlighted participants volunteering for tasks just outside their comfort zones. “I led a meeting I would usually just attend, which made me realise I enjoyed the challenge. I asked to run more sessions.”
      - Self-Reflection Practices: Coaching questions and themed reflection sessions (e.g., Friday challenge reflections) helped nurture a growth mindset. “Dedicating regular 10-minute growth reflections made me more open to learning and sharing vulnerabilities.”
    - - Improved listening & empathy:
        “I tried to remember that I needed to do some information-gathering first… I then applied empathetic listening to allow the team member to express their point of view” (Annie).
      - Confidence growth:
        “I recognised that I have a degree of imposter syndrome… I’ll ‘act like the leader I want to be’ until it aligns with who I am” (Emma).
      - Work–life resilience:
        “Painting again reminded me I am capable; it gave me energy and motivation” (Annie).
      - Operational clarity:
        “Breaking my days into more manageable chunks has allowed me to improve the quality of my work” (Harry).
    - - Delegation & empowering others:
        “I empowered a colleague to own a swimming scheme task… initially reluctant, but with support they mapped out a full scheme of work successfully” (Dale).
      - Difficult feedback & performance management practice:
        “Using SBI for negative feedback made me nervous, but gave a clear framework and left my colleague feeling supported” (Emma).
      - Adaptive style:
        “In a deadline push, I switched to an autonomous leadership style, though I usually prefer democratic” (Annie).
      - Ripple of structured reflection: multiple participants noted now preparing before meetings/difficult convos with frameworks – a transferable skill across contexts.
    - - Clarity of communication → consistency:
        “Meeting outcome: consistency doc updated, clear guidelines now in place” (Annie).
      - Psychological safety through transparency & mistakes:
        “As a leader, I ensure I am honest about mistakes and show the team we are all learning” (Annie).
      - Celebrating effort, not just outcomes:
        “Recognising effort made a big difference to the team, not just KPIs” (Annie; echoed by Sofie).
      - Enhanced meeting structures:
        “Previously, our ideation sessions were chaotic. By adding agendas the day before, everyone engaged more fully and meetings became more productive” (Mikey).
    - - Use of coaching mindset:
        “Instead of solving for them, I used coaching questions. It gave them ownership and strengthened growth mindset” (Annie).
      - “Resisted ‘fixing’ things too quickly — when I asked open questions, colleagues thought for themselves and grew” (Sofija).
      - Encouraging professional CPD:
        “I worked with a fixed-term member to identify development areas which led to reallocation and an extension of their contract” (Dale).
    - - Inclusion & equity focus:
        “The distinction between equity and equality is vital — we ask people what they need to succeed, rather than treating everyone the same” (Annie).
      - Bonding across functions:
        “I initiated social/team games that mixed editors and designers; they bonded and now communicate more efficiently” (Kirsty).
      - Collegial support → resilience:
        “My team rallied around a member having personal struggles — this built rapport across us all” (Annie).
    - - EDI priorities turned into strategy:
        “EDI became our overriding team focus to align with the primary company goal” (Annie).
      - Cross-team ripple:
        “Created a Sales Guide ‘for Dummies’ for Australia staff, now other teams want to adapt it” (James).
      - Transparent pushback:
        “I declined stakeholder requests that over-stretched us and instead directed work to Fast Response. Stakeholders appreciated the collaboration and my team felt protected” (James O’Keeffe).
    - - Processes scaled beyond one team:
        “I streamlined onboarding with checklists and mentors… reduced time to productivity. Ripple: this approach adopted by other teams scaling up” (Dale).
      - Innovations shared:
        “Consistency guidelines from my meeting now used across product line” (Annie; indirect ripple).
      - Culture of reflective agendas:
        Meeting prep/agenda setting strategies (Mikey, Lulu) inspired parallel improvements in other project meetings — norms of structured, purposeful meetings ripple outward.
    - - Stronger conflict management:
        “Bonded with a colleague after personality clash… now a strong working relationship” (Annie).
      - “Asked questions during conflict between support and tech teams; resolved collaboratively and defined responsibilities” (Emma).
      - Mentoring behaviours:
        “I reminded a colleague they were capable; their accountability increased with encouragement” (Annie).
      - Psychological safety at micro level:
        “Colleagues felt more comfortable coming to me after I introduced short daily check-ins to replace remote distance” (Jasmine).
    - - Clearer ownership of targets → project drive:
        “Team member lacked confidence, so we set SMART objectives on communication; regular check-ins meant they felt accountable and progressed quickly” (James O’Keeffe).
      - Structured peer contribution:
        “We collaborated using Whimsical boards to build onboarding guide; even junior members volunteered for harder tasks, energising the project” (Jasmine).
      - Ripple into product consistency:
        “Cross-team consistency document applied across content areas, making guidance accessible and reducing duplicated effort” (Annie).
    - - Personal
      - Time management & confidence:
        “Struggle letting go due to high standards; need to delegate more” (Emma).
      - “I still take too much on because I fear things won’t be done right” (Sofija).
      - “Often avoidance in conflict stops me progressing; I’m building a toolkit of phrases to increase confidence” (Lulu).
      - Organisational
      - Contracting/morale impact:
        “I had to deliver news on contracts ending; team members were upset and morale affected” (Dale, Dale’s reflection ripple echoed by Harry).
      - Constant change shifting goalposts:
        “Business priorities shift — hard to set consistent team goals” (Jasmine).
      - “KPI values kept changing mid-project, team was frustrated and burnt out” (Mikey).
      - Budget/environmental challenges:
        “Schools’ shrinking budgets mean we must reframe Twinkl as essential, not luxury” (Harry).
- - - - Business Significance:
        A culture with frequent, high-quality feedback breaks down silos, shortens learning cycles, and supports continuous improvement. Practiced communication skills mean less misalignment, better morale, and reduced risk of disengagement escalating into larger HR issues.
      - Trend Observed:
        Nearly every participant reports using frameworks like the SBI model for feedback, initiating conversations on praise and communication preferences, and seeking or acting on feedback from their reports.
      - Evaluation:
        Instead of just being aware of frameworks, people describe using these tools ("I have replaced this with me bespoke comments that are trained on a certain aspect of what I am praising that person for specifically.") and reflect on results ("...the feedback was received really well as I layered the positives with the thing that needed an improvement."). Multiple reports of acting on feedback to improve inclusivity, team meetings, recognition, or personal behaviour.
- - - - Evaluation:
      - Many participants describe moving from a reactive or "fixing" mindset to a facilitator or coaching mindset, e.g., "I realised it could be more valuable to use the coaching style questions to help people understand the problem and come up with solutions themselves, with support." This shift demonstrates deeper understanding of leadership as influence rather than control, which aligns with modern management best practice and Twinkl’s values.
      - Business Significance:
        Leaders who are self-aware and adaptable foster higher employee engagement and resilience, supporting retention and improved team performance, especially during transitions or times of change.