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Program Overview: Young Leaders Forum

A foundational leadership program designed to accelerate the development of emerging leaders

Emerging leaders are operating within an increasingly complex and ambiguous context. Leadership teams know that great leadership talent is scarce. We know that it is great leaders – more than rewards, job opportunities, and the company itself – that drive distinctive employee engagement. With a focus on strengths and stretch, this program develops unique, inspirational, and supportive leaders through the layers of your organisation.

The Young Leaders Forum provides participants with the necessary skills, ways of thinking, and insights to become a better leader in a world of accelerating disruptive change, by maintaining a radical focus on what is within their control.

Designed for high potential future leaders with typically 7-12 years of work experience who are ready to further their leadership skills, the program focuses on experiential learning with group discussions, and empowers participants to coach each other so they can reproduce the exercises in their teams.

The Experience:

Participants will join a large cross-industry cohort of ~250 rising leaders for a blended program. Participants will:

• Attend an in-person workshop over four days, to explore leading self by building on personal strengths and influencing others
• Explore concepts in small groups of participants and create an external support network for ongoing coaching and support
• Complete a digital course on the principles of leading teams; including building alignment and engagement, feedback models, and coaching techniques.

Course Details / Delivery:

The Young Leaders Forum spans several weeks and is predominantly completed remotely via e-Learning components and peer-coaching over the phone apart from the in-person workshop in September. Successful applicants should allow approx. 1-2 hours per week to complete the required work.

Program preparation

• Wednesday 7 – Wednesday 14 August 2019 – 360-degree leadership assessment nominations
• Monday 19 – Friday 30 August 2019 – 360-degree leadership assessments
• Monday 9 – Friday 13 September 2019 – pre-work

Not-for-profit networking session

• Tuesday 17 September 2019 – Scholarship recipients will be invited to join their peers for an informal lunch prior to the workshop. This will be a prime opportunity to meet the other not-for-profit participants before joining the wider program cohort.

In person event in Sydney CBD

• Tuesday 17 – Friday 20 September 2019 (4x full days) in Sydney CBD (more details will be provided to scholarship recipients). Please ensure you reserve these dates in your calendar.

Digital learning courses

• 23 September – 25 October 2019 – online ‘Team management’ course consisting of 6-8 hours of learning (scheduled so that it can be completed with a 1-2 hour per week commitment).

Peer coaching sessions

• Two sessions occurring between 1-4 October and 14-18 October 2019, approximately 90 minutes each via VC or phone.

Who Should Apply:

The Young Leaders Forum (YLF) is designed to benefit high potential future leaders with typically 7-12 years of work experience (please note, this is a general guide and does not exclude those with a little more or less experience). Participants are typically making the transition into people leader roles and ‘stepping up’ to take on greater degrees of responsibility for driving business unit strategy and execution.

Scholarship Inclusions:

There are multiple scholarships available to staff of charitable not-for-profit organisations Australia-wide thanks to McKinsey Academy. Each scholarship is valued at $4,000 and will grant recipients full access to the Young Leaders Forum workshop and program.

Employer Contribution

This scholarship requires an Employer Contribution of $800 + GST from each recipient’s supporting not-for-profit organisation. This amount is payable to ASF by 30 August 2019 (following written acceptance from the scholarship recipient and upon receipt of an invoice).

What is the Employer Contribution? Click here to find out more about the Employer Contribution and which NFPs are eligible to apply for a waiver.

Travel / Accommodation

Travel and/or accommodation (if necessary) are to be covered by the successful candidates or their supporting NFP organisation to attend the 4-day, in-person workshop in Sydney. We estimate this cost at $0-$2,000 depending on your location and travel needs.

Important Scholarship Dates:

Please reserve these important dates in your calendar. For more program dates, see “Course Details / Delivery” above.

Eligibility Requirements:

Applicants must:

• currently work for an Australian charitable not-for-profit organisation or *social enterprise
• have approximately 7 – 12 years** of work experience
• be an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident
• fulfil ASF’s general eligibility requirements available on our FAQs page

*Check our FAQs page for guidance on eligible social enterprises.

**Please note, this is a general guide and does not exclude those with a little more or less experience.

Scholar Surveys / Feedback:

All applicants (regardless of the outcome of their application) may be asked to complete a series of surveys about their expected and realised learnings (once before and on a few occasions after the course). Your survey responses will help us to quantify the impact of our scholarships and will help attract funding for education and training for the NFP sector in the future. Your feedback is extremely valuable to the work we do and by completing these surveys you’ll be making an important contribution to the future of ASF and the NFP sector overall.

Application Process:

To apply, simply click ‘APPLY NOW‘ and follow the prompts to create (or log into) your profile page, upload an endorsement letter and complete an online scholarship application.

For tips on what to include in your endorsement letter and who should write it, please see #12 of our FAQs.

Need help completing your online application? Download instructions for Creating a Profile Page and Making an Application.

More Information:

For more information about the program, please click here or download the program brochure here.

Have questions? Check our FAQs page for answers to the most common questions. If you need assistance with the scholarship application process, please contact ASF via applications@scholarships.org.au.

Applications for the 2019 McKinsey Academy Young Leaders Forum scholarships close Monday 1 July, 2019 at 5pm AEST.