We designed an 18-month development programme for the Directors of the British Library, which included facilitated business sessions as well as training and development sessions. During this time we also facilitated networking with other organisations to share best practice ideas. The development programme was commissioned by the Chief Executive particularly to enable the Directors team to tackle key challenges facing the organisation in the time frame covered.

The move to St Pancras, restructuring Directorate responsibilities and managing within an increasingly constrained budget were all challenges facing the Directors and their colleagues.

Additionally we worked with the Directors on a development of this programme called BL2001. This multi-faceted organisational change programme was developed to engage colleagues from across the organisation in the key issues and options faced by the Library and to build commitment to the changes, which were ongoing. This programme was refreshed in 1999 as BL2007 and the initiatives continue with renewed vigor. Centell was instrumental in facilitating this process.

We also created the development programme for the next tier of managers, some 80 people. Working in partnership with Training and Development and the Directors we launched a series of Development Centers in the Library. The key focus here was for each Director to sign up as a coach on several centers and thus the Directors coached their colleagues. This was most desirable as it brought colleagues together and focused them on the agreed capabilities for effective leadership in the BL of the future. This programme was supported by full Capability profiles for each participant.

The continued development of this group is through one-day workshops and Centell currently facilitates these in the areas of: Coaching for performance excellence; Using the Profile Dashboard to get beneath the written reports and plan specific behaviour development; working with process to improve problem solving, decision making and teamwork; and a 'Strategic Issue forum' once a quarter where Directors and Managers come together to consider the bigger picture issues facing the BL.

Key Achievements

These are:

• Directors focused on strategic issues as well as resolving day-to-day issues more effectively
• Greater clarity about the capabilities required for effective leadership and training programmes developed to support this
• A strategic programme of work to review the core and non core activities of the BL and to engage colleagues from a wide range of areas and levels in the ideas and implementation process
• Tough decisions being taken more objectively and in time so that overall organisational effectiveness is improved
• The language of leadership, capability and appropriate behaviour is increasingly anchoring the culture of the organisation