British Heart Foundation

Brief 

The British Heart Foundation partnered with Mayvin to develop and deliver a unique and innovative leadership development programme.

The programme was born out of BHF’s desire to adapt to the changing world of work in a post-pandemic environment. The pandemic highlighted new leadership challenges including dispersed teams and increased ambiguity. Plus it had also highlighted key skills that they wanted to develop further such as greater agility and change resilience.

The BHF sought a bespoke programme that would meet their needs a unique, innovative approach that helped leaders develop the mindset and skills for working in complexity and supporting cultural change in the process.

Mayvin was selected as a partner because of our collaborative approach, our willingness to co-create a bespoke programme, our experience across a range of sectors and solid base of knowledge and research.

Solution

The programme's innovative design was responsive and emergent, adapting to the needs of the participants and the organisation as they arose. This also served to help the aim of building a leadership commnunity comfortable with ambiguity. 

The programme included over 120 senior leaders across the organisation and took place over approximately a year. Including:

• Whole cohort community days
• Small peer group learning sets
• Collective inquiry events
• 'Masterclasses' on capability building

One of the key features of the programme was an initial focus on identifying “wicked problems” facing the organisation. This involved bringing 120 senior leaders together to collaboratively brainstorm and surface the most pressing challenges. This exercise served several purposes:

• It reconnected a leadership community that had become fragmented during the pandemic.
• It created a shared sense of ownership and accountability for addressing these complex issues.
• It provided a real-world context for individual leadership development.

Participants were then organised into smaller “learning squads” to further explore these problems and develop potential solutions. These squads provided a safe space for vulnerable conversations, peer support, and the development of practical leadership skills. The participants were also encouraged to formulate “practice-based learning questions” that connected their personal development goals with the wider organisational challenges.

Outcome

The programme has had a lasting impact on the British Heart Foundation’s leadership culture. Key outcomes, from the results of a post-programme survey, include:

• A significant increase in leaders’ comfort with ambiguity.
• A heightened sense of self-awareness and a commitment to ongoing personal development.
• Stronger connections within the leadership community, including organically formed peer support networks.
• A more collaborative approach to problem-solving.
• A greater willingness to experiment, take risks, and learn from failures.
• A shift towards asking better questions rather than seeking definitive answers.
• The adoption of new tools and practices (such as the World Cafe and inquiry events).
• A deeper understanding of the concept of empowerment and its application in different contexts.