Leaders in the Social Development Sector are entrusted to address complex social issues, often referred to as ‘wicked’ problems and increasingly now, at scale. Furthermore, the ecosystem in which Social Purpose Organisations function, is changing rapidly, with growing inequities, the climate crisis, and a large population without access to basic needs. This change, however, has brought about the opportunity to transform the paradigm, creating space for all to thrive and flourish. Social purpose organisations, hence have a moral imperative to build their leadership and management skills to be able to create the future in a systemic, collaborative and regenerative way.
Social development leaders can benefit from
- A deeper understanding of development perspectives and the ability to analyse social issues to grapple with complexity, ambiguity and emergence in the space
- A deep understanding of society and the complex forces that operate at the level of an individual, community and society
- An ability to unravel complex social systems within which social issues exist and identify intervention/ leverage points for sustained social change
- An ability to root oneself in universal human values and derive all the strength and courage from within oneself
- An ability to envision solutions through a Systems Thinking lens that also lays a strong foundation for a collaborative, collective approach to sustainable, scalable social change
Apart from the PGP-DM course, ISDM anchors a Continuing Education Program for development sector practitioners, leaders and social entrepreneurs to engage with strategically curated program enhancing their capacities and catering to the diverse needs of their work. The Continuing Education Program furthers ISDM’s vision to evangelise Development Management as a key principle in the Social Development Sector today.
Through a combination of different kinds of Leadership Development Program (Short term, custom- long term and online), ISDM supports a continuous learning journey for both individuals and organisations through a blended approach. These courses are built on well-researched, contemporary and contextual development leadership and management approaches and methods like systems thinking, appreciative inquiry, behavioural economics, purposeful program theory, modern theories of motivation, strategic communications and engagement. The courses are designed and facilitated by senior practitioners and leaders, and employ holistic learning methods - readings, discussion, experiential learning, collaborative projects, coaching and mentoring, learning circles, Communities of Practice etc.
Who is it for
- Board, CXO level professionals in the sector organisations
- Mid-Senior level professionals in sector organisations
- Senior leaders preparing to take up CXO/CEO level roles soon
- Organisations in the sector desiring to change leadership practices and design
- Philanthropists, Funders, Funding Organisations desirous of building leadership capacity in their grantee organisations (with a focus on smaller grassroot organisations)
Engagement so far
- Short Term Program
We launched Short Term Program in October 2019 with 4 program across 3 cities. By February we facilitated 6 program across the 3 cities, meaningfully engaging with 73 different organisations from the sector. We continue to engage with all the participants, who are Continuing Education Alumni.
Watch out this space for the next program.
- CXO forum
The first convening of the CXO forum saw representation from 45 Social Sector Organisations. The leadership present at the convening engaged with the idea of Sustainable Development Goals, the role each one plays individually and all the organisations together to achieve vision 2030.
- Custom Program
We continue to engage with a diverse set of organisations for the capacity building of its members. These engagements are around 6 months involving multiple 2-3 day workshops and action periods in between where participants work on a project, applying their learning from the workshop and engaging in the process of meaning making through individual reflections and peer/group work.
Looking Ahead
In the months to come we will be launching a Leadership development Program for senior leaders aspiring to be CEOs soon apart from what we have been doing so far i.e. continuing with our short term program, custom program and CXO forum.
Keep checking this corner to know more.
