“The Senior Management Development Programme has definitely taught me the importance of balance, planning and taking a strategic view (zooming out) in all aspects of your life,” shares the winner of a Top Achievers/Director’s Award, Kirsty Smit. “Proactivity and goal setting are key elements of driving towards a future you want to see.  It was wonderful to “walk the talk”, especially with two school-going children – who were seeing their mom putting in the work and taking time to complete assignments and tasks by due dates. I believe my family also grew with me in this journey and I am truly thankful they were there to support me every step of the way.”

With her development goals including the strengthening of her strategic thinking skills, thinking beyond just her business, and wanting to build networks, Kirsty enrolled. “As part of my development plan, I had identified a management development program as a key stepping stone for my learning and future growth. I was fortunate to be selected and afforded the opportunity of attending USB-Executive Deveopent’s Senior Management Development Programme in 2021. I really wanted to build my “leadership toolkit”, to be exposed to the latest thinking and strategic approaches and wanted to enhance my thinking at a more strategic versus operational level. I wanted to have the opportunity to actually spend some time in the clouds, and just do some thinking!”

As such, this was something that struck her – “‘Zoom out’ is a phrase I will never forget!” she says. “The importance as a leader to pause and think, ensuring you think about the broader picture and not trying to always solve for the now is so very important!”

“I was reminded to include others as you look to build the future – as being a manager does not mean all the responsibility lies with you! It is important to take those around you on the journey with you and give them an opportunity to bring their ideas to the table. Furthermore, there are often elements outside of your control that can impact your business. It is so vital to always scan both the internal environment and the external one too. This allows you to “predict” the potential impact on your business in any situation and helps you to proactively work with your team to think through different solutions for potential scenarios.”

By doing the programme, Kirsty has found that there is a difference in the way that she now approaches things as a manager. “There has been a definite shift in the way I approach tasks and team. I feel more confident bringing in others and spending more time analysing why things have gone wrong to ensure we fix the root problem rather than just the visible outcomes.  In business generally, there are time pressures but I am striving to ensure we look at short, medium and long term strategies to drive proactivity and identify potential risks prior to them happening.”

“To this end, I have stepped it up as a manager and leader and definitely feel closer to my team. I’ve included them more and more through sharing learning and activities together. I brought them in on key strategic projects to get their thoughts and feedback and it allowed us to also collaborate and grow together. Including and leveraging the members of our team ensures that we grow together. I have even restructured my team in order to allow them to think more strategically and focus their learning on a specific country and then share their learnings.”

In terms of the programme content, she shares, “The Business Driven Action Learning project and Integrated Individual Assignment were the cherry on top for me. Being able to actively engage with an NPO to learn and give back really teaches you it’s about so much more than just marks. Interacting with your team and pulling together strategies based on your learnings in a practical manner, building an organization, is such a satisfying one. Learning and having the actual on-the-ground experience really embedded the principles we learned. I shared my integrated Individual Assignment with my organization in order to share my learnings further. I believe it helped strengthen our internal ways of working within my team and set a benchmark for the future.” 

Navigating through the challenges of the pandemic helped Kirsty to bring new strengths and skills to light. “Although I experienced the programme during COVID-19, we utilized all tools available to us to drive connection and learning. Completing this programme under different circumstances allowed us to practice the strategies we learnt during the programme, speaking about a VUCA world and operating whilst in it are two different realities. We were challenged to adapt and embrace new ways of working whilst remaining agile and dealing with new realities (i.e. technology, wi-fi, load-shedding, etc.).”

“The experience definitely exceeded my expectations. The programme builds a well-rounded individual, and I took my learnings with me into the workplace as well as my home life. This was truly a life-changing programme that built my whole being. The networking, connection and experience are invaluable. Not only did I meet like-minded driven individuals, I left with friends.”

Best suited for senior managers from any industry, the Senior Management Development Programme is especially for those in management positions who are interested in developing a strategic leadership mindset and acquiring the ability to sense and respond to new business models. The programme broadens worldviews, cultivating an empowered resilience for dynamic business environments while instilling a design mindset to explore strategic management concepts around innovation, collaboration, organisational change and business agility in a complex world. For further information about the programme, click here.