PDP flier brief

The

…an extraordinary Leadership Development opportunity

➢ Stop the high cost of losing high-performers!
➢ Inspire them to stay
with REAL Leadership and REAL Development

Power + Direction = Progress

✓ Deliver new efficiencies, new productivity – enhance profitability
✓ Restore trust in your leadership,

employee engagement,
commitment to the enterprise

✓ Give your best employees a once-in-a-career experience
✓ Be that company –

the one they will remember (positively) for years to come

Contact:

MARC STRANO

[email protected]
844 4 LDRSHP ● 844-453-7747

Design of the Professional Development Program

Embarking on the Professional Development Program is truly a fantastic
journey. Many graduates recall their participation in the PDP as a unique and
precious rite of passage in their career.
For the Managers of Participants, the PDP has proven to be a rewarding
experience, enhancing productivity and professionalism for their
Department, and improving profitability for the entire Enterprise.
As with any significant undertaking – whether in the corporate world, or on a
classic voyage – there is much to discuss: destinations, preparations,
considerations, implications. The PDP is no different. All in due time.
To introduce newcomers to our flagship program, we provide the following
high-level description of the basics. The descriptions are not exhaustive but
serve as good conversation starters.
To those who would take this first step on a very worthwhile pursuit, let’s
begin by “navigating the seven C’s” of the PDP…

“A journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step.”

–Lao-tzu

MARC STRANO ● [email protected] ● 844 4 LDRSHP ● 844-453-7747

(1) Co-created:
Key to its success, the PDP must be customizable, flexible, and adaptable, since
every organization, every group of participants, and every timely set of
circumstances is unique.
SHIFT partners with the Client-Stakeholder to establish targets and goals of the
program in line with Client’s Leadership, Vision, and Strategy.
Several aspects – such as intended audience, desired outcomes, internal
challenges, and business landscape – are evaluated to determine major themes
and specific topics that will comprise the program.
Milestones will be set to measure progress, evaluate impact, and adjust initial
plans.

MARC STRANO ● [email protected] ● 844 4 LDRSHP ● 844-453-7747

(2) Cohort participation:
Group mix: Each PDP cohort is comprised of 18-24 employees who show
“sparks” of leadership. The group’s composition is both
- homogeneous, for example, all directors, or mid-level
managers, or high-potentials
- diverse, by demography, geography, corporate function,
tenure

to capture a holistic sense of the employee experience, and to represent a
breadth of organizational perspective.
Character: Employees should be employed for a minimum length of service
prior to being recommended for the program, perhaps 1 or 2 years. This timing
provides grounding in the current culture and familiarity with the organization.
Sponsorship: Entry to the PDP is not by assignment, but by the
recommendation of a Manager-Sponsor, followed by an application process
which includes written and oral parts.

Important Note:
The PDP is not an automatic “ticket” to promotion within the organization. The
explicit purpose of the program is to increase Participants’ effectiveness in their
current roles and to enhance the value they contribute to the enterprise.
However, for one employer of the PDP, although the “not-a-ticket-to-
promotion” agreement was in place, 75% of PDP graduates were promoted, or
had positions created for them upon discovering – and applying – hidden
talents and newfound skills.

MARC STRANO ● [email protected] ● 844 4 LDRSHP ● 844-453-7747

(3) Concurrent development:
The PDP program uses a blended learning approach to optimize the experience.
Usually spread out over several consecutive months, the cohort meets face to
face for 2-3 days, every 5-6 weeks. They participate in synchronous webinars,
and there are offline assignments between these in-person events. Projects
may be created by the group to exercise new skills in new roles.
In partnership with their Manager and the PDP Director – and parallel to the
cohort program – every Participant creates an Individual Development Program
(IDP), a personalized path or series of development opportunities, which is
typically completed within the arc of the PDP program.
This development series combines a mix of events and independent work,
comprised of formalized learning, industry events, projects, and assignments.

MARC STRANO ● [email protected] ● 844 4 LDRSHP ● 844-453-7747

(4) Continuity:
The PDP is designed to supersede any ordinary succession of learning events.
The program immerses key employees who are already successful in their
career – energetic, interested, unselfish – in a conversation over time, in an
experience with depth and breadth that elevates the mind, raises standards,
exceeds expectations.
The return on this investment goes beyond measure. As Participants realize
gains in their careers, they also find their personal lives enhanced. In holistic
fashion, the program fosters a new and valuable synergy that has positive
impact at work, at home, and beyond.

MARC STRANO ● [email protected] ● 844 4 LDRSHP ● 844-453-7747

(5) Coaching:
During Cohort group meetings, Participants explore new thinking and
reconsider unproductive habits and routines. Between meetings, they will
challenge self-imposed limitations, engage in new conversations.
Participants will receive specific coaching on how to be thoughtful, responsible,
and professional as they test the waters, trying on new ideas, skills, and
behaviors.

MARC STRANO ● [email protected] ● 844 4 LDRSHP ● 844-453-7747

(6) Consistency:
The PDP is designed to instill an equilibrium and steadiness in our “VUCA world”
(volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous). Developing this skill will not only
benefit the Participants but will have a direct positive impact on the people and
organizations with whom they interact.
Through the rigor and high standards of the PDP program (discussions,
activities, assignments, and training), Participants will have access to
conversations that do not ordinarily occur in other parts of their life, whether at
work or outside of work. The resulting insights and personal power will make a
measurable, substantial, and important difference in their career, at their
employer, and in the world at large.

MARC STRANO ● [email protected] ● 844 4 LDRSHP ● 844-453-7747

(7) Commitment:
Due to the challenging nature of the PDP program, Participants declare their
commitment to sticking with the program and to taking support to overcome
the barriers to greater success – which is the foremost reason for completing
the program.
From this commitment, extraordinary and unexpected results happen:
new productive relationships, unprecedented problem solving, awesome
talents revealed.
Invest and improve. Perspectives and possibilities. Growth and gain.
This is the PDP.

MARC STRANO ● [email protected] ● 844 4 LDRSHP ● 844-453-7747