MTI Newsletter
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL
Organisational and Personnel Development
The LEAD Initiative
Accelerated Learning for Leadership Skills of Chinese Managers
The LEAD Initiative was introduced on the International Business Breakfast
in Beijing on 24th of November
Introduction
MTI (Beijing) organizes its Inter-
national Business Breakfast
every two month. On the No-
vember Breakfast MTI (Beijing)
and Small Steps (China) pre-
sented a new learning concept
called the LEAD Initiative which
will provide Chinese Managers
with excellent leadership skills.
Peter Strijdonk (Senior Consult-
ant) introduced the new learning
program to the participants. Af-
terwards the participants had
time for further discussions
about the topic.
Backround
With the relatively recent devel-
opment of China’s economy,
leaders in China are on-average
10 years younger than those in
comparable positions in West-
ern countries. Large expecta-
tions are placed on people with
limited experience in a fast-
changing economy.
More than ever before, China’s
leaders are required to excel in
strategic thinking, creative prob-
lem-solving, cross-cultural man-
agement, developing high-
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL • Dohrmanns Horst 19 • D-27374 Visselhövede
Phone: +49 (0) 42 62 / 93 12 - 0 • Fax: +49 (0) 42 62 / 38 12
Email: info@mwteam.com • Internet: www.mticonsultancy.com
performance in teams and indi-
viduals, and increasing aware-
ness of social responsibility,
while keeping a clear head in
stressful times.
This is a lot to expect from Chi-
na’s talented and up-and-
coming executives. The LEAD
Initiative is a leadership accel-
eration program, designed to
support China’s emerging lead-
ers to reach their full potential
faster.
About the LEAD Initiative
The LEAD Initiative is a coop-
eration between Machwürth
Team International (MTI) and
Small Steps (China) Ltd. offering
tailored programs for acceler-
ated leader development in the
Chinese market. In addition the
LEAD Initiative provides a
framework for companies to
educate their leaders in corpo-
rate responsibility.
Our core competencies include
MTI’s background in leadership
programs globally, as well as in
China, and Small Steps’ experi-
ence in coaching, Corporate
Social Responsibility and adven-
ture activities.
The Approach
Successful leaders have the
ability to adapt appropriately to
their changing working environ-
ments. They are also able to ad-
just their own behaviors and atti-
tude in changing situations.
The LEAD Initiative turns the
traditional concept of leadership
training upside down.
Instead of conceptual learning
as the beginning of a develop-
ment program, and have the
application to the workplace af-
ter the learning, we integrate
learning and application to the
workplace within the experiment
phase.
The experiment assesses par-
ticipants’ current leadership
skills and accelerates their abil-
ity to adapt appropriately to a
changing work environment.
In today’s fast-changing world,
accelerated leadership skills de-
velopment is essential since
change in behavior and attitude
usually is a long and challenging
process.
The LEAD model facilitates the
learning process in an optimal
way and enables sustainable
learning results.
“If you tell me, I will forget. If you
show me, I will remember. If you
MTI Newsletter
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL
Organisational and Personnel Development
let me do it, I will understand.”
Confucius
Adult learning is not only about
acquiring new knowledge; it is
about changing one’s behavior.
For sustainable learning the par-
ticipants need to reflect on ap-
propriate real-life experiences to
create greater relevance for
their own professional situation.
Encouraging participants to re-
flect on personal experience
strongly supports the learning
process; topics become ‘alive’
and relevant. This creates moti-
vation for new behavior, which is
the first step to lasting change.
When introducing new course
material, we use many varied
forms of presentation according
to the different learning styles.
This stimulates and maintains
the interest of our participants.
““It doesn't matter how beautiful
your theory is, it doesn't matter
how smart you are. If it doesn't
agree with the experiment, it's
wrong”
Richard Feynman
In the LEAD Initiative, we use
several different forms of ‘ex-
perimentation,’ that support the
conversion of new knowledge
gained about leadership, into
reality for participants.
Community Projects: from the
selection of a project relevant to
the scope of your organization
and organizational values, to the
completion of the project, this
approach provides a unique op-
portunity for teams to engage in
planning, implementation of sus-
tainable solutions, and the mea-
surement of project outcomes
by the impact on the community.
In this way, leaders have imme-
diate feedback on the outcome
of their operation, and imple-
ment learning back to the work-
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL • Dohrmanns Horst 19 • D-27374 Visselhövede
Phone: +49 (0) 42 62 / 93 12 - 0 • Fax: +49 (0) 42 62 / 38 12
Email: info@mwteam.com • Internet: www.mticonsultancy.com
place with more confidence.
These projects put values in
practice and are often life-
transforming experiences. They
also allow companies to inte-
grate the leadership develop-
ment programs with their own
global issues activities and thus
integrate with their company
values.
Experiential Activities: through
simulated scenarios, teams
work on various problem-solving
activities that bring out issues
relevant to the content of the
learning modules. Reflection af-
ter the activity and linking the
outcomes to the workplace en-
sures the transfer of the learn-
ing.
Adventures: over 3-5 days,
‘journey leaders’ implement
concepts of planning, vision,
mission, taking risk and explor-
ing the unknown. These activi-
ties are designed to fit individual
company cultures and bring out
issues your organization is fac-
ing at the moment. Hiking, de-
sert walking, bike challenges or
multi-challenges bring the lead-
ers together in overcoming
hardship over shorter periods of
time. Adventure remains a me-
morable experience and point of
reflection at later stages when
faced with challenges at the
workplace.
“First comes thought; then or-
ganization of that thought, into
ideas and plans; then transfor-
mation of those plans into real-
ity.” Napoleon Hill
The most important aspects of
training – and yet the aspects
that are often least accom-
plished – are ensuring that new
learning transfers to the work-
place, and is then effectively
measured in terms of its impact
on organizations. In reality, this
transfer often doesn’t happen,
regardless of the successful de-
livery of a program. Individuals
quickly return to old behaviors,
afraid of making mistakes when
implementing new approaches
based on their learning. The fa-
miliarity of the ‘old ways’ brings
predictable results, and there-
fore continuous learning doesn’t
take place, and sustainable
change doesn’t occur.
The LEAD model is structured in
a way so that participants reflect
on what they have learned in
order to transfer learning back to
the workplace in every phase.
“Without continual growth and
progress such words as im-
provement, achievement and
success have no meaning.”
Benjamin Franklin
In order to further develop the
participants’ leadership skills in
the workplace, we provide on-
the-job coaching. Through set-
ting tangible goals and actions,
based on the exercises and re-
flections in early stages, partici-
pants are held accountable for
actively applying and further de-
veloping their newly acquired
skills, insights, behaviors and
strategies in the workplace.
Coaching helps to address ob-
stacles, challenges and issues
that participants encounter once
they start implementing their ac-
tion plans in the workplace.
The Benefit
Quality of leadership is a big is-
sue for companies around the
world. Poor leadership can re-
sult in unmotivated employees,
low quality levels, poor cus-
tomer-orientation and lost prof-
its. The faster that companies
MTI Newsletter
MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL
Organisational and Personnel Development

are able to develop high quality Our aim is to make a substantial

leaders, the faster their busi-
nesses can achieve greater
success.
Specifically designed and de-
veloped for the Chinese market
and Chinese market require-
ments, programs in the LEAD
Initiative are tailored to meet the
specific needs of leaders in this
country.
contribution to the accelerated
development of leadership and
to shape successful leadership
cultures in multinational compa-
nies and institutions in China.
What we want you to think
about: What do you want lead-
ership in your organization to be
like five years from now?

Many training programs focus About the cooperation of MTI

on ‘theory’ for the content, with
minimal classroom practice for
participants. With the acceler-
ated learning approach of the
LEAD Initiative, we not only
achieve faster learning for par-
ticipants, but the learning is re-
tained better, supporting a much
higher chance of achieving the
necessary change in leadership
approach.
Management Consulting (Bei-
jing) Ltd. and Small Steps (Chi-
na) Ltd.
MTI supports build-
ing effective organi-
zations and is spe-
cialized in training and organiza-
tional development thinking
globally but acting locally.

Participants are able to take Small Steps (China)

more from the training workshop is specializing in
and apply this in their daily work. coaching, global
The risk of mistakes when im- community devel-
plementing new skills in the opment programs,
workplace are reduced, because Corporate Social Responsibility
the new knowledge is more and adventure initiatives.
‘real’ and relevant for partici- We both design customized so-
pants, rather than merely theo- lutions and deliver interventions
retical. that ensure sustainable impact.
With experiential learning and a
holistic and in-depth approach,
the LEAD Initiative ensures that
accelerated learning is imple- MTI
mented, while at the same time
being sustainable for companies
in China today.

The Vision

To enable leaders in China to

realize their full potential. In to-
day’s China we see a vast need
for professionals with state-of-
the-art leadership skills, who are
able to lead their organizations
through challenging times.

MACHWÜRTH TEAM INTERNATIONAL • Dohrmanns Horst 19 • D-27374 Visselhövede

Phone: +49 (0) 42 62 / 93 12 - 0 • Fax: +49 (0) 42 62 / 38 12
Email: info@mwteam.com • Internet: www.mticonsultancy.com