Leaders of any description and department are struggling. Society is awash with social technologies; employees want to be included in the conversations and decisions; and management is stuck sorting out how teams should operate using dated leadership models in a new and technologically– sophisticated social world order. Human Resources needs to catch up with technology; Finance continues to operate in a silo; and IT is tripping over both legacy systems and newer, social technologies, while experiencing difficulty adjusting to a more collaborative behavioral model. Most importantly, employees are becoming significantly more disengaged.
Does any of this sound familiar?
There is no easy way to undo what years, and even decades, of outdated management practice have done to leaders. Command and control is rampant, evil and unnecessary. The process of change has to start with the leadership in any organization, and Flat Army is designed to prevent your organization′s ship from sinking. Dan Pontefract knows and understands what happens to organizations when employees are unhappy and uncommitted. More importantly, he knows what it takes to create a leadership culture that drives engagement, empowerment and encouragement amongst continued execution. In all of the corporate leadership roles he has had, he held a steadfast belief that a collaborative, connected and participative leadership framework is the only way in which to operate.
Pontefract is currently the Head of Learning and Collaboration at TELUS an international telecommunications organization of 40,000 employees where he and the TELUS team instituted concepts such as the TELUS Leadership Philosophy; a formal, informal and social learning model known as Learning 2.0; and a plethora of open, social and collaborative technologies that, in part, helped TELUS augment its approach to leadership and engagement.
Today, employee engagement at TELUS sits at 80 percent, the highest in Canada for large–sized organizations and in the top one percent globally. TELUS and Dan have received multiple awards from ASTD, CLO and Skillsoft in recognition of the growth of a new culture of leadership, collaboration and learning.
Prepare to be entertained, shocked and engaged. Challenge yourself. Challenge the status quo. Flat Army pushes the boundaries of organization change. It can change yours.
FLAT: to be on a level surface, not in a hierarchy
ARMY: a large group of people who share similar aims or beliefs
FLAT ARMY: an unobstructed flow of corporate commonality
About the Author
Dan Pontefract is the Head of Learning & Collaboration at TELUS (www.telus.com). He is responsible for the overarching leadership development, learning and collaboration strategy for the company. He has driven a philosophical and cultural shift in the way TELUS views and experiences learning. Called “Learning 2.0”, it′s a social, informal and formal learning and collaboration model for all 40,000+ team members, bringing TELUS to the forefront of learning leadership. Dan also championed the introduction of the TELUS Leadership Philosophy (TLP), an open and collaborative–based leadership framework for all TELUS team members, alongside a litany of social collaboration technologies.
When he′s not cycling, he′s goofing around with Denise, Claire, Cole and Cate. You can reach him at www.danpontefract.com.
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