The Stroke Association commissioned The Westcott Group to run a leadership development programme for approximately 200 of our leaders in 2018/19. It has had a huge impact in helping them to understand the external environment and the power of systems leadership and in enabling them to develop relationships and influence beyond organisational boundaries. The programme was also a catalyst for strategy development, cultural change and developing stronger cross-directorate internal relationships. We are now building on this to embed an integrated operating model and a more progressive culture based around trust, empowerment and distributed leadership. I would highly recommend The Westcott Group because of their deep understanding of the health and care landscape, their clear grasp of organisational culture and their exceptional ability to develop their participants knowledge, approaches, behaviours, skills and impact.
Our work with The Westcott Group on a systems leadership development programme, Leading Across Boundaries, was one of the most transformational pieces of work I’ve sponsored at the Alzheimer’s Society. The work we did together for over 150 of our colleagues in 2022 has laid the foundations for where we are today as an organisation. We identified that radical changes in health and care meant we needed a radical change in how we work, both internally and externally, to achieve the impact we need. The programme has directly led to:
The Westcott Group’s understanding of the system, but importantly the role of charities within it, meant they worked with us to co-design a programme which people still talk to me about today.
I came to Judy with some specific challenges I wanted to work through. She has a great deal of skill in building trusting and honest relationships and understanding inter-personal and group dynamics. This has given me some great insights into what I need to do to develop my skills in the task of leadership, and I’ve made some fundamental changes in my approach to these aspects of my work. I am still a work in progress, but that progress is quicker - and more satisfying - than it would be without Judy's perceptive challenges and support.
The Westcott Group team has facilitated a programme of partner events across our whole ICS system. These have helped us develop our thinking about our ICS and future ICB Board and have helped us shape our thinking with Place-based community colleagues as well.
Their understanding of the health policy landscape and the inherent challenges of integration, devolution and prevention were vital to the sustained period of discussions they facilitated.
Their collaborative approach, listening, process design skills and ability to work with senior leaders from across the sectors have stimulated real engagement, and I'm sure will help build the platform for our ICS to deliver high impact outcomes in the future.
The Sussex Hospices Collaborative engaged The Westcott Group to help us to do the early thinking around what collaboration between the seven Sussex-based hospices might look like. They put in place a great process to analyse and refine a number of collaboration work-streams and then facilitated the work to turn these into concrete programmes. Equally importantly, they helped us to think through the cultural aspects of collaboration and how to keep things on track. They have remained in the background offering advice and, despite some disruption caused by Covid-19, our collaboration programmes are now making good progress and we are forging an ever-stronger collective identity, which is helping us to advocate effectively for the role of hospices within the Sussex Health and Care Partnership.
...I cannot speak highly enough of the transformative experience it provided. The course is meticulously designed, blending theoretical insights with practical, real-world applications that have profoundly enhanced my leadership capabilities.
...Overall I could not recommend this course enough. It is absolutely money and time well spent.
I have already promoted this programme within my organisation and others. The last few months have been an exceptional learning platform for me.
[I] Fully recommend this programme for the environment the hosts set out, the level of interactivity, each session was engaging and left me feeling positive about my role.
