"Leading Effectively" Programme delivered by OLPD in Shetland and the Western Isles

Following the successful pilot in Orkney with twelve managers from NHS Orkney and Orkney Islands Council, Robin Burgess of OLPD has provided this leadership programme (specially tuned to remote, rural and island experience) in Shetland and Western Isles. The programme is sponsored by NES with the support of the Remote and Rural Health Education Alliance (RRHEAL). In Shetland, participants from NHS Shetland worked in partnership with colleagues from Shetland Islands Council in developing their adaptive leadership skills and their ability to offer action learning to colleagues. In the Western Isles, a large cohort of NHS senior managers have taken forward the leadership skills and confidence they built on the programme in practical, sustainable initiatives beyond the programme. Both programmes culminated with locally designed "Conferences of Learning" in November, 2011, when participants engaged with local stakeholders in exploring leadership and its sustainable development to take forward local challenges in change and partnership. Both offered their colleagues an experience of action learning as a way of sustaining ongoing leadership development locally.