Building leadership capability in a rapidly growing organisation

Abstract

A major challenge for Arrow Energy has been balancing rapid growth while continuing to operate as an effective business. To meet this challenge, this extended abstract looks at one of the strategies: a leadership program designed in co-operation with Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The leadership program aims to establish a leadership culture that drives company performance and facilitates change, develops leadership networks to support Arrow's business objectives, and strengthens the talent pool to help in succession planning through commitment to individual development. Two programs were custom designed by QUT and launched in 2012: one for senior leadership and the other for emerging leaders at Arrow. Careful participant selection was vital to the program's success. Both programs were designed to provide participants with a highly experiential learning approach, far removed from traditional training programs they had previously attended. Participants were immersed in exploring real issues and challenges facing the company, as well as looking at how well their leadership approach fitted the needs of a rapidly growing organisation. The course design and use of innovative learning experiences have made the program successful. An important measure of this success has been the leadership development of each individual and the establishment of strong informal networks that are part of a mature organisation. Transfer of learning to the workplace was achieved by immersion in team-based leadership project initiatives, which reinforced the major theme of the program: leadership is a journey that requires sustained focus and development.