Program Information

Discovery in Action® (Leadership Circles) involves small groups of people leaders (~5 people) meeting 7 times with a coach over a six month period. Through a facilitated process, where people share, discuss and refine their thinking, participants develop their own ‘model of people leadership’.

The Discovery in Action® program…

Generates sustainable behavioural change

The Discovery in Action® process generates real insights that lead participants to undertake conscious, purposeful and sustainable actions to improve their leadership practice.

Discovery in Action® is a high impact, practical, workplace based development activity that bridges the gap between theory and action. People leaders reflect on their experiences and beliefs to articulate their own model of leadership and then actively test it in practice. This clear ownership of their thinking, coupled with the inherent accountability through the peer group, brings an authenticity to their leadership, and creates momentum and impetus for action. Through the process participants increase their skills in reflective practice, gain deep insight into their own beliefs, become more conscious of their day-to-day leadership behaviours, and better understand the impact of their actions on others. Participants build their capacity to seek feedback, learn from experience and really focus on improving the performance of their people.

New and innovative

Discovery in Action® is completely new and unique process that takes leadership development beyond current practice and creates a renewed energy around leadership development programs.

Discovery in Action® draws on the principles of leading thinkers in fields such as action science, reflective practice, attribution theory, emotional intelligence, influence patterns and adult learning. It is highly sophisticated in its design, powerful in its simplicity and practicality of application, and effective in achieving results. Discovery in Action® is a leading edge program. It is not another diagnostic tool, new leadership model or skills training program – it is a leadership development process that is unique in supporting participants to convert their experience into knowledge through being active researchers into their own leadership practice. Discovery in Action® operates as a unique, stand alone program, yet can be integrated well with other typical leadership development activities such as skills training and 360° instruments.

Cost and time effective

Discovery in Action® is a cost-effective alternative to executive coaching and is structured to be a manageable time commitment by participants.

The fees for Discovery in Action® are considerably less expensive than provision of executive coaching and compare very favourably to external leadership development courses. There is a fixed per participant fee which also provides the certainty of known costs. Program evaluation is also embedded in the process such that it is relatively easy to assess the value and outcomes from the program. The structure of the program, which consists of seven 2-hour facilitated peer group meetings over a six month period, makes the time commitment manageable for participants, as well as providing the necessary elapsed time for thinking, reflection and action.

Creates new peer networks and supports cultural change

Discovery in Action® has depth and honesty in peer group discussions that builds stronger relationships between peers and creates a new organisational dialogue.

Through the Discovery in Action® process a safe environment is created that supports people to honestly share and reflect upon their beliefs, experiences and actions. This exchange of knowledge not only supports individual learning, but also develops a new style of interaction and dialogue with their peers, their staff and in many other relationships inside and outside the organisation.

Discovery in Action® programs are facilitated by Approved Delivery Partners (ADPs). ADPs are coaches / facilitators highly skilled in facilitating an exchange of ideas, thoughts and experiences. Using the Discovery in Action® framework, our coaches provide space and structure to small group conversations, help raise awareness and insight, and support participants to become more confident and effective leaders.

The Discovery in Action® programs are stand alone programs, but experience has shown that they work very well as part of a broader, overarching leadership program.

For example, at the core of the Leading People program is the concept of participants developing their own people leadership theory. We do not deliberately introduce specific theories and models, however from time to time, we may mention a relevant model / theory in a session, or suggest some further research / articles on certain topics for review after the session.

Customised training on topics such as feedback, delegation, coaching, motivation etc would work well along side this program. In addition, access to 360 degree instruments, and individual coaching sessions, have also worked well.

If you are already running an existing leadership program, it would be particularly useful to set up a Discovery in Action® program for graduates who are looking for the ‘next step’ 6-12 months after the existing program ends.

Each program participant is assigned a Program Facilitator / Coach and is given access to the Participant Member section of our DiA Learning Management System (LMS).

Discovery in Action® involves small groups of people leaders (4 – 5 people) meeting seven times with a coach over a six-seven month period. Through a facilitated process, where people share, discuss and refine their thinking, participants develop their own ‘model of people leadership’ and identify their relative strengths and weaknesses. They test their thinking with their staff before they develop an action plan, implement new behaviours and reflect on the impact of those behaviours. The peer group works collaboratively to make sense of their experiences and participants further refine their beliefs and change their behaviours in practice.

Momentum and impetus for action is built through ownership of their thinking, the public commitment to action and the peer sharing of anecdotes, stories and experiences.

Discovery in Action™:

• Provides space and structure for leaders to think about leadership
• Makes leaders more conscious of their leadership actions
• Creates more confident leaders
• Encourages rich and open dialogue between leaders and their people
• Builds leaders’ capacity to seek feedback and learn from experience
• Creates new peer networks and supports cultural change

Handouts and guidance material for each stage of the process is available through the Participant Member section of the web site. In addition to this guidance, participants have exclusive access to supplementary resources such as content specific ‘tips and hints’ on common leadership challenges (such as ‘Feedback’ and ‘Difficult Conversations’), reference to articles on a number of leadership themes, and access to support resource summaries.

At at June 2020, almost 700 participants have experienced Discovery in Action® programs (total current and alumni participants).

Programs have been run at Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP – Victoria), City of Whitehorse, Treasury Corporation of Victoria, the Nillumbik Shire Council, Country Fire Authority (CFA), Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR – Victoria), Agriculture Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation (Victoria) and City of Bayside. Some organisations have run single programs with senior leaders, others have run the program with multiple cohorts.

To see what previous participants are saying about the program, click here: insights from previous participants.

Previous cohorts have ranged from 20 – 30 participants; with 4-6 clusters of 5 people.

We can accommodate a cohort of between 5 and 50. Cohorts greater than this size could also be accommodated after discussion with the client.

Yes – this has been done before and is a great way to start. A good group size is 5 for this.

Leading People participants should meet a defined selection criteria:

• The Discovery in Action® (Leading People) program is ideally for those with people leadership responsibility. This can be for those leaders with direct reports, or those who lead others on work assignments such as projects.
• The design of the program includes a testing (feedback) process, so it is important that participants have people in their network who can provide them with this feedback.
• If there are some ‘emerging’ people leaders with no current people leadership responsibility, one option is for them to be scattered within the cluster groups. For example, 4 cluster members with people responsibility and 1 cluster member who is an ‘emerging’ people leader. Another option may be to have a small sub-cohort of emerging leaders. Your context should be discussed with a facilitator so we can advise the best approach.

The Discovery in Action® programs are stand alone programs, but experience has shown they work very well as part of a broader, overarching leadership program.

For example, at the core of the Leading People program is the concept of participants developing their own people leadership theory. We do not deliberately introduce specific theories and models, however from time to time, we may mention a relevant model / theory in a session, or suggest some further research / articles on certain topics for review after the session.

Customised training on topics such as feedback, delegation, coaching, motivation etc would work well along side this program. In addition, access to 360 degree instruments, and individual coaching sessions, have also worked well.