I find the open LFT (Leadership For Transformation) programme exceptional in many ways which, I must admit, took me by a surprise. Only in a positive way, of course.

In the humanitarian sector, (from where my own experienced is gained), professionals pay a lot of attention to train their people. It is no wonder that work conditions in this field are often so challenging and dynamic and that every humanitarian worker is expected to be well prepared at all times. This includes top managers and HQ decision makers not only the ones who are working directly in the field. Having worked in the sector for years, I’ve participated in a number of trainings, including those related to managing people and leadership. Most of them were designed with a purpose to take participants out of their comfort zone and place them under a lot of stress by simulations, actor-based games and real-case scenarios. What I’ve experienced on the LFT is much more than that, or I should rather say – far more effective. What makes it so unique is the coaching style and approach demonstrated by the coaches present throughout every stage; before each module, during group sessions and during follow-up afterwards.

The programme is focused on transformation in its broadest sense looking at individuals, teams and organizations and how they interact systemically together. This holistic approach helps to meet the demands of the rapidly changing business and social environment. The first module (personal transformation) is the most challenging yet also the most crucial to succeed further to the next level. In order to make it happen, each participant, with the support of a professional business coach, sets up their own individual goals of the programme. The same coach assists him or her during action learning sessions in order to strengthen the learning process and to boost their personal development by asking meaningful, thought-provoking and powerful questions. And it works amazingly well, both for individuals and groups.

During the first module I heard multiple times from the faculty team that we would learn as much as we gave from ourselves. Easier to say, harder to do – especially in a group of people we’ve just met for the first time. It is here the coaches create most value and impact as their candid feedback and extremely bold questioning following each simulation stretched our capabilities to both give and get more than we had initially expected. Sometimes it was me at the centre of that process and sometimes it was my fellow participant – either way, we felt empowered to do more and in a smarter and sustainable way. It was a great learning and team building process. What surprised me the most was that the programme gathered 20 participants from different backgrounds, organizations, cultures, who each had different goals; all with individual transformation and a personal development focus in mind. I strongly believe these goals and objectives were only achieved because of the coaching approach, which created the core programme foundation and was consistently demonstrated by the coaches and facilitators throughout the entire 9-month journey.

Maria Juraszczyk
Associate at Fluent

Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash