Leadership Academy Implementation Guide

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Welcome to the Leadership Academy
Implementation Guide

The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) Leadership Academy is designed to build and support leadership skills critical for the success of child welfare program supervisors, managers and directors. The Leadership Academy’s Implementation Guide provides guidance to child welfare programs who wish to create, develop, and implement a Leadership Academy Program in their own jurisdictions, and integrating the academy into their existing training systems.

This guide supports exploring, planning, implementing, evaluation and sustainability and is divided into five (5) sections: Leadership Academy overview and planning, trainers/facilitators, coaches and coaching, participants and 360 assessments. Each section contains recommended downloadable templates, forms, and documents specific for each component area. Additionally, the classroom curricula and training materials are available in formats that allow programs to customize the content. This comprehensive guide offers:

  • An overview of the Leadership Academy components, principles, competencies and learning objectives
  • Steps to prepare for implementation, including timelines, steps, needed resources
  • Access to the curriculum content
  • Materials for Training of Trainers and Training of Coaches
  • Lessons learned and suggested strategies for successful implementation
  • Evaluation and materials
  • 360 assessment materials
  • Examples to illustrate key concepts

If implemented as designed, learners who complete the Leadership Academy will become nimble leaders, able to identify and tackle both technical and adaptive challenges and to support their programs in achieving their full potential.

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Leadership Academy Overview

Leaders guide and empower child welfare programs to achieve their mission of keeping children safe, steering families to permanency, and improving children’s well-being. “Leadership” happens when leaders engage in behaviors that collectively inspire, motivate, and direct the work of child welfare programs. These behaviors are articulated in a competency model of the knowledge and skills that collectively represent a leader’s efforts. The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute’s (NCWWI) Leadership Competency Framework (the Framework) provides a model to develop, guide, and evaluate leadership at all levels within a child welfare program.

Leadership Academy Structure

The Leadership Academy supports program leaders in developing the skills to sustain an equitable and positive organizational climate and facilitate sustainable change. Leadership Academy participants experience online and in-person or virtual learning opportunities accompanied by leadership development coaching. The modularized curriculum provides explanations and opportunities to apply concepts that reinforce the leadership fundamentals, along with the four quadrants of the NCWWI Leadership Framework. Each module includes:

  • Online module designed for supervisors, managers, and directors 
  • One day (6-hour) synchronous classroom training delivered in-person or virtually to role-specific cohorts of 10-25 supervisors, managers, and directors 

The Leadership Academy curriculum utilizes a problem-based learning, flipped learning format.  Leadership Academy participants will:  

  • Engage in various scenarios and situation-based activities designed to facilitate critical thinking  
  • Be encouraged to collaborate and promote team work  
  • Foster a safe holding environment  

Preparation Tools

Prior to participation in the Leadership Academy, learners will complete training preparation activities, including viewing three online foundation modules (Foundations of Leadership and Workforce Development Parts I and II), exploration of a Change Project aligend with agency workforce priorities, and engaging in two or three pre-training readiness coaching sessions. Additionally, at the discretion of the program, learners may be required to complete the following optional activities: 

Coaching Program

Throughout their training experience, Leadership Academy participants receive developmental coaching support from a Leadership Coach. The Leadership Academy Coaching Program integrates best-practice coaching competencies approved by the International Coach Federation (ICF) to help Leadership Academy participants engage in transfer of learning activities, ongoing leadership skill development, and guidance to support successful integration of their Change Projects. 

The coaching program consists of three coaching phases: Pre-training Readiness Coaching, Leadership Academy Coaching, and Post-Academy Coaching.   Coaches provide two to three training readiness sessions prior to the Academy; monthly, 45- 60-minute leadership development coaching sessions during the Academy delivery, in addition to 4-6 monthly coaching calls at the completion of the modularized training delivery. 

Summary

Participation in the Leadership Academy provides supervisors, managers, and directors with an opportunity to become the leaders that they strive to be.  Child welfare leaders require special expertise and must learn to navigate through the “whitewater” and anticipate what is coming up next. Program leaders must recognize the importance of communicating a vision, charting a course for ongoing organizational development, and supporting a workforce training to improve outcomes. To that end, participation in the Leadership Academy grants leaders with the opportunity to develop skills to manage both aspects of leadership ‒ vision and reality ‒ and practice the resiliency to stand in the tension between the two. 

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Planning and Action Steps

Considerations

Many considerations go into an agency’s decision to deliver and integrate the Leadership Academy.  Action steps to build sustainability from the outset and support a successful Leadership Academy within your agency must include time for exploration and planning.

Please take a moment to walk through a high-level Leadership Academy Overview to provide some context of the Leadership Academy as you continue your exploration and planning.  As you begin planning, consider:

  • Creating a planning team
  • Identifying your overarching goal
  • Assessing agency capacity to implement and sustain
  • Creating a process for recruitment/selection of trainers, participants and coaches
  • Selecting self-assessments to be used to complement learning
  • Planning for evaluation
Capacity

Agency capacity considerations to deliver the Leadership Academy include: 

  • How can implementing the Leadership Academy support other agency initiatives and priorities –what are the current demands on workforce and the system?
  • What workforce resources are available to serve as trainers,  coaches, and IT support?
  • Is funding available to support the planning, delivery, and evaluation?
  • What supports and/or resources are necessary for participants to fully participate?
  • Is there executive level buy-in, engagement, and support?
Planning Team

The Planning Team will work to identify the overarching goal in implementing the Leadership Academy and will take the lead in tracking and implementing the various components. Two tools that can  support the team’s work include:

  1. Logic Model. Provides high-level visualization of your overarching goal, along with planning action steps, and outcomes of implementing the Leadership Academy.
  2. Pathway to Change. This template and Pathway to Change Example can be used to facilitate discussion and for communication planning.  
Communication

Effective communication is not only informative, but helps to build trust and excitement in securing buy-in, active participation, and resources necessary for successful implementation and sustainability of the Academy.  Along with the Leadership Academy Logistics Timeline Template and Leadership Academy Logistics Timeline Example, a communication plan is also a tremendously helpful tool in organizing and monitoring the efforts of the Planning Team.

The Planning Team will identify audiences for communication, how communication will be delivered, when, and with what frequency.  The message itself may be different based on the intended audience, i.e., seeking resources and support to implement; securing buy-in of executive-level; recruiting coaches or participants; etc. A Communication Plan can be used as an effective tool for targeting specific audiences and messages, i.e., coaching – why is the investment in developing a cadre of coaches valuable to your agency.   

Delivery Method and Training Platform

The Leadership Academy is designed to be delivered virtually or in-person and specific training materials are available for each method.  If choosing a virtual delivery then the platform used will need considered thought.

  • What platform does the agency currently use?
  • Will additional technology training be required for trainers or participants?
  • What can the IT system of the agency support?

Two common media platforms used are Zoom and Microsoft Teams.  Suggestions for Zoom are embedded in the virtual trainer materials. Virtual Academy trainers may need to engage in their own learning to master the media platform and all its functionalities before delivering this learning experience.

Assessments

The Leadership Academy recommends the use of assessments to facilitate leadership self-awareness and working with teams.  This Implementation Guide provides a detailed section on the 360º assessment which is recommended but not required and has costs associated.  This assessment is specific to the NCWWI Leadership Academy and Competency Framework.  For further information please contact Tony Mack.

The StrengthsFinder assessment is recommended but is not required and has cost associated.  Leadership Academy Discovery Tools provides alternative self-assessments for consideration.

Evaluation

Conducting an evaluation of your own organization’s implementation of the Academy can be beneficial for helping you: 1) understand its impact on leadership development for participants from your organization; 2) collect information that will allow you to better tailor the Academy to your organization’s needs; and 3) improve and more effectively replicate the Academy for subsequent participants

The Leadership Academy Evaluation Guide provides an overview of evaluation activities and resources that a state, county, tribal, or private child welfare agency can use to evaluate their delivery of the Leadership Academy.  The Leadership Academy Pre-Training Survey and Leadership Academy Post-Training Survey are discussed at length in the guide.

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Timelines  

  • Link to Leadership Academy Planning and Getting Ready (Note for us:  You will find this excel document on the main “Leadership Academy Implementation Guide” page of the primary one drive folder – hope that makes sense)  
  • Link to Leadership Academy Coaches Planning and Delivery Timeline  

Trainer Selection

As you plan for the selection of trainers consider your organization’s capacity to use internal trainers or potential resources if using external trainers, and how to best build sustainability to deliver the training to future cohorts.

The Academy is designed to be co-facilitated, whether delivery is in-person or virtual. For successful delivery of the Academy, trainers must be able to facilitate (ask questions that promote reflection and critical thinking), engage participants in both in-person and virtual settings, and use technology for virtual delivery.

To deliver the Leadership Academy it is important to understand the design of the curriculum and expectations for the selected trainers, as it requires specific competencies, skill sets, and comfort.

Link to Train the Trainer Observation Rubric (Note for us: I did not find that we had an example of trainer competencies from one of our WE sites or that NCWWI created.  I think this document could be modified to just include competencies with definitions (not observation definitions.  I’m wondering if we would want to add facilitation as a competency or do you feel it is covered in the content already on the form?) 

Link to Leadership Academy Trainer/Facilitator Orientation PPT 

Trainer Preparation

The trainer role during sessions will be to facilitate, coach, support, and reinforce the application of the leadership concepts and topics initially introduced to participants during the online modules. 

 The Train the Trainer should include trainers/facilitators and all coaches.  This provides maximum exposure to the Leadership Academy curriculum and deepens understanding and knowledge of concepts.  All will fully participate in the TOT Curriculum Walk Through, while the trainers will be facilitating the teach back portion with the coaches filling the role of the participants. 

When using a virtual platform to deliver the Leadership Academy, keep in mind that facilitating skill development in a virtual space is different, as well as the level of engagement the trainer must maintain to maximize interest and learning.

Curriculum

In-person Curriculum

Virtual Curriculum

In-person Curriculum

Virtual Curriculum

 

In-person Curriculum

Virtual Curriculum

 

 

In-person Curriculum

Virtual Curriculum

In-person Curriculum

Virtual Curriculum

 

Link to Leadership Academy Train the Trainer Curriculum Walk Thru PPT (Note for us:  We should add verbiage here about including coaches with the trainers in the TOT and the expectation that they come to this TOT having viewed all of the on-line modules and the in-person and/or virtual classroom materials.) 

Link to Leadership Academy Train the Trainer Teach Back PPT 

Link to Train the Trainer Observation Rubric (Note for us: This is the same document I suggest linking to above, but it works as is here to be used with the TOT Teach Back). 

When facilitating a Virtual Academy trainers need to engage in their own learning to master the Zoom platform and all its functionalities before delivering this learning experience. Some resources include:  

Trainer Support

Ideally, a Lead Trainer will facilitate supporting of coaches throughout the Leadership Academy, including Training Readiness, Leadership Academy Coaching and Post-Coaching. It is best to schedule a monthly support call with coaches. Early on it is best for these to be a group call with all of the coaches to maximize group learning but may be rotated or supplemented with individual support calls as needed. Support calls with coaches follow the same continuum as used by coaches with Leadership Academy participants: more prescriptive and directive during Training Readiness support and moving along the continuum to more facilitative and less directive during Leadership Academy Coaching and more facilitative in nature during post coaching support where the coaches lead the agenda.   

 It is important to keep in mind confidentiality when supporting coaches in a group setting.  If using a platform like Zoom, coaches can send a private chat to the facilitator who can speak to the specific example or question generally without revealing the identity of the participant; this allows for maximized opportunity for group learning.  When needed, the facilitator should schedule a private session with the coach to speak more freely. 

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Coaching

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To Be Added

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To Be Added

Overview
Planning
Trainers and Facilitators
Coaches and Coaching
Participants
360 Assessments

Welcome to the Leadership Academy Implementation Guide

The National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) Leadership Academy is designed to build and support leadership skills critical for the success of child welfare program supervisors, managers and directors. This Implementation Guide provides guidance to child welfare programs who wish to create, develop, and implement a Leadership Academy Program in their own jurisdictions, and integrating the academy into their existing training systems. It is intended to be used with support from the NCWWI Leadership Academy team. Please contact Tony Mack (admack@albany.edu) for more information.

This guide supports exploring, planning, implementing, evaluation and sustainability and is divided into six (6) sections: Leadership Academy overview, planning, trainers/facilitators, coaches and coaching, participants, and 360 assessments. Each section contains recommended downloadable templates, forms, and documents specific for each component area. Additionally, the classroom curricula and training materials are available in formats that allow programs to customize the content. This comprehensive guide offers:

  • An overview of the Leadership Academy components, principles, competencies and learning objectives
  • Steps to prepare for implementation, including timelines, steps, needed resources
  • Access to the curriculum content
  • Materials for Training of Trainers and Training of Coaches
  • Lessons learned and suggested strategies for successful implementation
  • Evaluation and materials
  • 360 assessment materials
  • Examples to illustrate key concepts

If implemented as designed, learners who complete the Leadership Academy will become nimble leaders, able to identify and tackle both technical and adaptive challenges and to support their programs in achieving their full potential.