The Johnson & Johnson New Leaders Forum - Creative Development of Leaders

In this note, I would like to articulate the process and content, or the educational design of our four days together.

The Johnson & Johnson New Leaders Forum is a unique and powerful vehicle for the debate and definition of the very essence of leadership.

It is not a "how to" training program or a skills workshop. Instead the Forum's focus is on the fundamental values involved in positive leadership. It is vision-driven and truly inspirational, starting with belief in the self and the real potential that each of us can bring to bear to achieve success.

The Forum's view is that leadership is "from the inside out" and it therefore identifies and nourishes the core values within individuals. The nurturing process is one of stimulating the courage within participants to act on these core values and beliefs, and to encourage congruence between values espoused and values in use.

The Johnson & Johnson New Leaders Forum is a catalyst that awakens leadership potential. It is intended to further develop each participant to more successfully face the challenges in a world saturated with continuing, increasing and unprecedented change and crisis. To achieve this aim, the leaders taking this program will:

1. Explore and gain access to their inner power as creative leaders.

2. Raise awareness both to their personal hidden potential and the power of synergies that can be developed when leaders network with other leaders.

3. Discuss key leadership possibilities to address issues that need to be addressed and solved, eg. The increasing irrelevancy of some of our institutions and methods for improving the quality of life for humans and the rest of creation.

4. Discuss ways to focus our vision or to work towards them when they are out of focus.

5. To examine the power of vision.

6. Learn how to encapsulate the vision within a mobilising mission.

7. Generate team visions.

8. Generate philosophies and principles of leadership.

9. Explore the power of values.

10. Question the assumptions of the status quo in any area of life.

Now, there are so many models of leadership you may ask why we have chosen the Values-based, Vision-driven, Inspirational one. Well it's simple - that is the model that underpinned the leadership of Martin Luther King, Ghandi and latterly Mother Theresa, as opposed to the model underpinning Hitler's leadership. You can take the opportunity at the Forum to debate this if you wish (have a think about Florence Nightingale and Lech Walesa!).

You may have decided yourself on another model, eg. Servant-leadership or Followership. Whatever, there seems to be little dispute about the fact that:

a) Leaders have something within them that drives them.

b) They attract supporters.

c) They decide to lead.

d) They lead.

Leadership is active. It is a process of creating purposeful (vision-oriented) interaction to achieve results. Underpinning this definition is the creation of interaction. I am not talking about management here. Managers don't necessarily have an urge to change the world. Leaders do.

Leadership creates connections that work. The connections are about people and things. There are definitely connections and interactions about their vision and goals; about the wants and needs of their followers and their visions with reality. So leadership is more than interacting, it is creating interactions.

So creating interaction is the what of leadership. It is not the how of leadership.

I think leadership is also the integration of the inner and outer reality. Leaders make connections between what's going on inside themselves and their followers and relate those goings-on to the realities of the situation. "Leadership has something to do with the spirit." (Chris Gleeson)

Anyway that's one way of looking at leadership. What's yours? Do you see any difference between leadership and creative leadership? Do you draw a distinction between leadership and management?

At the Forum you will be presented with ideas about the what of leadership, and the emphasis will not be on the how. The reason for this is that you can easily learn the skills which leaders use like problem solving, communicating, planning, etc. from many other sources (like books). We will direct you to the books, but we are assuming you are a leader already using those skills. The four days are too short really, to get into all the skills a leader might use. Our emphasis is more on the principles. The assumption we also make is that if you have a sound philosophy of leadership and know the principles, then you will be motivated to develop the skills yourself.

All the prescriptions for successful leadership, eg. "The ten practices of highly effective leaders" are no doubt based on wisdom and research and provide real help. However, we address fundamental processes that we believe will, over time, improve our leadership practices by allowing us to get at the causes, not the symptoms, ie. the generic issues or forces which drive us.

The Forum is not designed as a total talk-fest or an academic dialogue between high flying "professionals". It is simply an opportunity to get to the "guts" of leadership by the stimulation of leaders who have led or are leading.

The design is in no way intimidating to any participant and no participant will be asked to do anything that they do not want to do. You will be respected as the person you are and accepted as such. If you decide during the Forum to change your mind, on anything - then that's up to you. We will simply be presenting you with a learning opportunity. You will both learn and teach by your presence. You will meet eighty to ninety people and I am sure appreciate every one of them.

Gordon Jackson

Forum Convenor and General Manager

Johnson & Johnson New Leaders Foundation