Being a Leader at
U of T
Leading people
is a significant milestone in a person’s career. It’s a rich experience, but also a challenging one.
The LLC has developed a suite of leadership programs for every stage in the leadership journey. Leadership is not a job title, it’s a set of behaviours that every employee can engage in to demonstrate self-leadership. Leading a team of people involves both guiding them through the employee lifecycle, from hire to retire, and critically, building trust and strong reciprocal relationships so that everyone feels included, valued and that they belong. Taking on a senior leadership role means taking a more strategic and nuanced view of the landscape that the University operates in, with its size, complexity and role in the world. The combined suite of programs described below will help you reach you leadership potential.
Self-Leadership
Leadership starts with self. Everyone in every role at the University can be a leader – it’s a set of behaviours, not just a title. It’s about accountability, self-awareness and continuous learning. How can you lead others if you can’t lead yourself?
These foundational skills, behaviours and attitudes can be developed through a variety of offerings: LLC workshops,
Linkedin Learning, School of Continuing Studies, outside professional development, job shadowing, mentoring, and on-the-job experience.
Employee Lifecycle
There are two essential components to being a people leader. First, and foundational, is the requirement to be a Talent Developer and support your team members through the employee lifecycle at the University. It’s important to understand how to administer the processes that are part of every employee's time at the University.
To better align with this objective, we’ve updated the former Manager’s Academy into the Employee Lifecycle Leadership Program (ELLP). This program covers how to lead within our unique unionized environment. It includes how to build your team through proper job descriptions, strategies for purposeful hiring, onboarding and promoting a culture of recognition and engagement. It provides guidance on supporting the ongoing cycle of career development, implementing best practices for impactful 1:1 meetings, providing performance feedback, off-boarding, (and eventually) succession planning.
The ELLP is a hybrid learning program that includes in-person, virtual, and self-directed learning. The total time commitment is 20 hours spread over five weeks and is offered twice a year (Fall and Spring) for new Staff-Appointed, Professional Managerial, Advancement Professional, and Librarian managers.
The second component is people leadership behaviours, addressed in the next part of the Leadership Suite.
People
For those who aspire to people leadership, it means leading yourself, coaching, nurturing, and developing your team’s talent. People leaders are authentic, make their employees feel valued and are aware of the impact of their own behaviours on others. Most importantly, they create inclusive workplaces, where everyone feels they have a voice.
These are the behaviours that are at the core of being a people leader. It means, in both great times and stressful times, we are behaving in ways that builds trust, collaboration, engagement, and most importantly, inclusivity.
Our nine-month People Leadership program introduces you to the concept of Partner-Centric Leadership, which focuses on collaboration between people leader and employee. The first phase is a three-month learning journey about the principles of Partner-Centric Leadership. Your direct reports will also attend a session introducing them to the same principles, what you are committing to as a leader, and what they will commit to as part of their self-leadership. The second phase is a deep dive into the behaviours that underpin the mindset. There is a 360 Emotional Intelligence Assessment, and five full day sessions on best practice leadership behaviours. It’s an opportunity to hold up the mirror, recognize, and modify anything that isn’t serving you as a leader. The final phase is group coaching, where you will consolidate what you have learned and bring your everyday practice and challenges to the group for discussion and support.
We run two cohorts every year:
PM6-PM11 & AP2 from January to December
PM4-PM6 & AP1 from September to May
Strategic
For those who aspire to strategic higher education leadership, it means having strong self and people leadership skills AND the ability to engage in strategic thinking, planning, as well as a more sophisticated level of relationship skills (e.g. negotiating, influencing, etc.), along with deep knowledge of the higher education sector.
For those who aspire to senior leadership at the University, the LLC will be building a program that provides a focus on the strategic skills required to be successful in this role. In addition to an in-depth understanding of the higher education sector in general, and U of T in particular, running an organization such as the University, with its size, complexity and role in the world, requires skills that are outward-looking, strategic, and nuanced. Senior leaders steer the University in the direction of the future, which requires an understanding of the broader environment in which we exist.
Developing this program is part of the long-term plan of the LLC. We anticipate partnering with several internal and external experts to create a program that meets the needs of future senior leaders for our unique institution.
Leadership Commitments
Download
You may download the pdf of the Leadership Suite for your reference.
