21 February 2018 
Nick Kapoutzis, Head of Leadership and Organisational Development, University of Westminster
Nick Kapoutzis, Head of Leadership and Organisational Development at University of Westminster, reflects on his experience of the LFHE’s Future Professional Directors Programme.
Leadership and Organisational Development is what I do, my bread and butter. So, one might think that going on a Leadership Development programme was unnecessary, or even excessive. I wanted, selfishly maybe, to give myself the opportunity to have some space and time to look at my own leadership capability, potential and career, and to start visualising what taking the next step might look like. My motivation came from a combination of things: ambition, need for new challenges, thirst for learning and for connecting and quite possibly spurred on by my middle-life identity exploration. (No, it is not a crisis… yet!)
The FPD has been a truly transformative experience and we, in HR and OD, know how valuable these are in facilitating change in individuals and organisations. The programme is based on experiential activities and active inquiry processes. The facilitators were very skilful in responding to our individual, and group needs and held the social learning space beautifully for all of us to have a great experience. In one word, they were inspiring.
Here are the top 5 powerful lessons I learnt on my FPD journey:
1. The art of being strategic
FPD helped me take a broader, strategic view on the future of my University and the sector, and helped me think through how best to engage people in our organisations in these discussions. It reinforced how motivating it could be if everyone had an opportunity to contribute to the strategic direction of their university and had a clear line of sight of their contribution to the bigger picture. It was energising and thought-provoking to engage in a strategic dialogue activity, where we had a Vice-Chancellor, a Chief Operating Officer, a Director from the Health sector and one from KPMG explore with us their different perspectives and experiences of leading strategic engagement in their organisations.
2. Leading in a culture of change
My institution, the sector, the country, the whole world even seems to be in a constant state of change. The programme helped me reflect on and share experiences on what it feels like leading People Services, and people themselves, in this environment. I had the opportunity to work on a Challenge Group project with some amazing colleagues from other universities and we produced a toolkit that explored critical factors that would help a manager engender greater influence and navigate through organisational politics. It’s available here and I’m very proud of it.
3. Inspiration
I got fresh ideas, approaches, and perspectives, and had the opportunity to look at how leadership works in practice in other universities. The most memorable activity was working on a case study for an ‘engagement-driven change’ approach introduced at the University of Hertfordshire. We had the luxury of spending a whole day with leaders of the university (even their Vice-Chancellor joined us at dinner!) engaging in a co-operative inquiry process and unpacking their experience.
4. Confidence
The programme gave me confidence not only to see myself as a future director, but a leader who already has impact in my organisation’s success. Delving into the concept of boundary-spanning leadership along with an in-depth 360-review exercise, supported by a deeply insightful coaching session, really held up a mirror to who I am as a leader and where my strengths lie!
5. Connections
Finally, I met colleagues from different institutions, roles and departments with similar aspirations. I worked with them in ways that were exposing and challenging both at personal and professional levels, and equally supportive and fun (!) and I learnt a lot. I gained a broader view of the sector, its diversity in terms of institutions, practices, cultures, and ways of working. I appreciated the pressures other departments are facing, which is very important for us in HR and OD and our journey towards being strategic partners to our universities. Finally, I learnt a lot about myself: how I connect with others, how I prefer to lead and what impact my behaviour is having on others! All powerful, transformative stuff that I am still pondering on, three months later.
You can apply for the here. 2018 applications are open until Friday 23rd February.
