London College of Fashion (LCF), UAL is a world leader in fashion design, media and business education offering a multitude of fashion courses designed to encourage students to examine the past and challenge the present. They inspire students to develop ideas that go against the grain of social and political agendas and give them the skills and opportunities to put those ideas into practice.
MEET
Our work with LCF began several years ago when Maier were brought in to offer a fresh perspective and insight to a capable and well established team. Initially, there were a number of ‘leadership challenges’ that needed addressing in order to develop the team to their full potential and drive for commercial success.
CREATE
The work began with a focus on management structure and communications, more specifically, in ensuring this talented leadership group performed together as an effective team so as to deliver against the current business plan, but also as part of longer-term vision for the college.
Our starting points were;
CLARITY OF PURPOSE
Establishing a clarity of purpose for the core leadership group and agreed expectations, as well as sharing new perspectives in terms of team strengths and leadership styles required to deliver results
CLIMATE & CULTURE
A fresh take on the current commercial climate and its link with the organisational culture, operating processes and common themes related to; clients, business influences, stakeholders, management and leadership strategies
CONSISTENCY OF MESSAGE
Achieving a consistency and continuity of message as a group and how this effectively cascades to the wider population
FACILITATE
As a way of gaining a deeper understanding of team dynamics, organisational culture, and individual and shared priorities a series of 1:1 sessions were held between Maier and each team member. This insight allowed us to map out and design a series of events aimed at identifying the shifts needed in both organisational practice and behaviours, in order to deliver on the aspirations for the business.
“We have worked with Maier now for several years and Karyn and her team have been instrumental in helping us to transform the ways in which our management and leadership teams across the college operate, lead and collaborate. It has been a really successful partnership.”
EVALUATE
Through having built strong working partnerships with both the core leadership group and management groups, our facilitation and strategic input have helped in the creation and development of dynamic leadership teams across all of the Schools and departments.
Now with an established leadership framework, the focus has shifted to developing collaborative working practices across Schools and Departments as the college prepares for an imminent move to Stratford where cross-collaboration will play a fundamental part in giving students the tools and skills they need to succeed.