Leadership Model

In Q4 of 2024, our numbers were fewer and our capacity was more limited than it had previously been. We halted our progress on some key initiatives, assessed the current needs, listened to our executive’s feedback on the different programs, and decided that it would be best to focus primarily on a leadership development program.

The original owner for the development program project was no longer with the company, so somebody had to pick up the wonderful, well-researched pieces they left behind and run them through the ADDIE model to keep it moving forward. I gladly volunteered and was thrilled to be at the forefront of such an exciting development project.

The Analysis

• I studied my former co-worker's work.

• I spoke to my direct leaders about what they did and did not like about the existing framework.

• I met with some of the company's senior leaders to identify potential gaps in leadership performance, but I also tried to find aspirational leadership qualities.

• I also did some extra external research to gain a better understanding of current leadership trends and general best practices.

• I then analyzed my findings, highlighted key takeaways, and brought them before my team.

The Design

• I presented my findings to the team and worked with them to compartmentalize some of the takeaways and develop our first attempt at our leadership competencies.

• We shared our model with our direct leader, received some feedback, and continued to iterate and simplify.

• We shared a later version with the executive team, received some feedback, and continued to iterate on that version until we landed on our final competencies and descriptions (see below).

• I then presented a soft-launch presentation of our program to the People team and developed a few workshops to guide them through the application process.

The Development

• I worked with my team to develop and define the tiers in our leadership model, ensuring everyone in the company had a space to develop their leadership skills (see tiers below).

• I created a brand palette for the program that aligned with our company brand AND developed a presentation layout that aligned with our value card layout (for familiarity).

• I found, modified, and/or designed icons for each competency.

• I gathered internal and external resources and organized them by competency and tier.

• I worked with my team to build those resources into our internal knowledge base to create a robust leadership content library with 20 articles and 175+ resources—in less than a month.

• I also created accompanying career planning sheets, competency assessments, development plan frameworks, and a few how-to articles to guide employees and leaders through the model.

Unfortunately, my role in the company was eliminated shortly after I completed these development pieces, due to a reduction in force. So I am unaware of the project's final impact/outcome. But I'm still pretty jazzed about my work on the project and the program itself. And I'm sure my team members will take the baton, run with it, and create something that is beautiful, scalable, impactful, and evergreen.

Tools Used: Microsoft Excel, Adobe Illustrator, Canva, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Forms, and an internal knowledge base system