LEADERSHIP SHORT COURSE
WORKBOOK | MODULE 1 ACTIVITIES
Increasing your understanding of effective leadership and how to develop your practice in designing, building and managing successful and high-performing teams.
LIVE SESSION NOTES.
Notes
LIVE SESSION NOTES.
Notes
MODULE ONE TASK
ACTIVITY 1: SETTING A BENCHMARK.
Please read the statements in the table below and then rank yourself 1-10 (1=low, 10=high). Use your current / most recent role as the basis for these reflections.
Where are we now – assessing your team culture
I am clear what identity means in the context of team development
I create a clear vision for my team and communicate it repeatedly
I understand how to integrate values into my team identity
I have clarity about how to develop positive team behaviours
I proactively advance and defend my team’s togetherness
My team and I regularly review our work on our team’s togetherness
Reflecting on the above how did you arrive at your answers?
Pre module score (1 = low, 10 = high)
Post module score (1 = low, 10 = high)
VISION.
Vision: Your ideal future state. A vision allows a team to understand - Why we are here and where we are going? A vision will therefore be - Direct and purposeful, future focused, positive, inspiring and motivating, action-orientated, relatable. With this in mind answer the following questions from the perspective of your current / most recent role.
1 What will success look like?
2 What do you want to become?
3 What will make you distinctive?
4 I have clarity about how to develop positive team behaviours?
5 I proactively advance and defend my team’s togetherness?
6 My team and I regularly review our work on our team’s togetherness?
7 If you are playing to your strengths what would those be?
8 What tangible outcomes can you achieve in 1 - 5 years?
9 What facts support your vision?
10 How are you going to involve your team in setting your vision?
MODULE ONE TASK
ACTIVITY 3A: PORTRAIT VALUES QUESTIONNAIRE.
Values
The Portrait Values Questionnaire, created by Professor Shalom H. Schwartz, is designed to assess how individuals, across various contexts, prioritise ten universal human values.
Schwartz’s research shows that while these core values are recognised globally, the importance placed on each one can vary significantly across countries and social groups. People from different cultural backgrounds and life experiences often demonstrate unique value profiles, reflecting what they consider most important in life.
One important remark: there are “male” and “female” versions of the questionnaire. The reason for this is the fact that you will be asked how much you identify with the person described in each individual question. So the assumption when the Portrait Values questionnaire was created was that a male might have difficulty identifying as a female or vice versa. We think that in 2025 we are beyond this stage already and we therefore use the female version only!
PLEASE NOTE - At the end Press “Calculate My Result” BUT DON’T PRESS SUBMIT!
You wil only need the results screen (copy and paste below) and do not have to submit your test.
Take the Questionnaire
ACTIVITY 3B: VIA CHARACTER STRENGTHS SURVEY.
Strengths
The VIA Character Strengths Survey is a highly regarded and scientifically validated tool designed to help individuals gain insight into their unique character traits. Created by renowned positive psychology experts Dr. Christopher Peterson and Dr. Martin Seligman, this assessment is rooted in extensive research and has helped millions of people around the world discover their core strengths.
Taking the survey online takes approximately 10 minutes and provides a personalised ranking of your character strengths. The results offer valuable guidance on how to use these strengths to enhance your well-being, improve relationships, and achieve greater fulfilment and performance across various aspects of life.
The VIA Character Strengths Survey evaluates these key strengths across six virtue categories: Wisdom & Knowledge, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance and Transcendence.
PLEASE NOTE - You will need to register to access this for free
MODULE ONE TASK
ACTIVITY 4: CREATE: BEHAVIOURS.
Consider the values – Excellence and Respect - What behaviours are associated with these values?
Value - Togetherness Behaviours
• Group huddle
• High fives with purpose
Value - Excellence
• Rehab support
• Lunch tables
What are the behaviours associated with excellence?
Value- Respect
What are the behaviours associated with respect?
• Dress code
• ‘One team’
ACTIVITY 5: ADVANCE AND DEFEND –EVENTS AND RITUALS.
Identify examples of the ways you could proactively and creatively use the below aspects of heritage, events and performance to help to advance and defend your team values.
Heritage Events Playing / Performance
Club History Socials Wins
Club Badge Structured Sessions Milestones
Town/City Rituals Debuts/New Players
Fans Song/Mantras’s Plans/Targets/Reviews
Example 1 - Heritage
Example 2 - Events
Example 3 – Playing / Performance
Pre-Season
MODULE ONE TASK
ACTIVITY 6: IDENTITY REVIEW QUESTIONS.
Please use the table below to identify actions to support the development and management of your / your teams identify. Proactively and creatively use the below aspects of heritage, events and performance.
Statement Detail Your review action
What will you keep doing?
What will you do more?
Something that is working and bringing value.
Something that is helpful but you do too infrequently.
What will you do less?
What will you stop?
Something is overused, inefficient and draining.
Something that does not serve the team.
What will you start doing?
New ideas that you could try.
What three points stand out for you from module one?
What are the three small actions you are going to work on following module one?
FURTHER READING, WATCHING AND LISTENING:
Book ideas
Belonging - Owen Eastwood
In Belonging, Owen Eastwood reveals, for the first time, the ethos that has made him one of the most in-demand Performance Coaches in the world. Drawing on his own Maori ancestry, Owen weaves together insights from homo sapiens’ evolutionary story and our collective wisdom. He shines a light on where these powerful ideas are applied around the world in high-performing settings encompassing sport, business, the arts and military.
Article
More than sport: A social-identity intervention to support transitions out of elite sport – Young et al., (2024).
Elite athletes often make large personal sacrifices to pursue excellence, but there is insufficient support for them when they leave elite sport. Identity loss is central to athletes’ transition trajectories and hence the management of identity change is a crucial area for support. The More Than Sport (MTS) program is a novel digital intervention that aims to provide this support—helping athletes manage identity change in the process of leaving elite sport. This study focuses on elite athletes’ experiences with the MTS program and their perceptions of its usefulness in managing the transition away from elite sport.
View the Article Podcast
Lessons from Legacy - James Kerr
In this podcast James Kerr comments on the people-centric nature of leadership, recognising that the ‘soft skills’ can actually prove to be some of the hardest to put into practice, but the rewards for doing so, are great. James suggests that leaders ‘make the weather’ in a team, and where climates add up to cultures, great cultures are founded in respect, humility, accountability, and psychological safety.
Listen to the Podcast