E ffective leadership is a key ingredient of our success; developing our people means continuously cultivating our leaders and breathing new life into long-established management structures. Our leadership workshop ‘Make a Difference’ does exactly this: Team Leaders and Customer Service Managers in all seven Service Centres attended this tailor-made workshop conducted by Birgit Karl, Director Product & Processes at Lufthansa InTouch. Birgit is a certified Business Coach for leadership, teamwork and conflict management, and her passion for coaching is immediately evident. “I guide people through their development path at Lufthansa InTouch, and support them in living their roles optimally”, says Birgit.
Leadership roles in the spotlight
The workshop takes a closer look at the leadership roles at Lufthansa InTouch. “I want to emphasise the value our leaders contribute to the business”, says Birgit. “They really do make a huge difference”. Participants translate strategic competencies to effective practices, and explore ways to enhance a positive leadership culture, empowerment and motivation. “It is an inspiring workshop that encourages you to reflect on your role and the positive impact each individual has on their team, colleagues, customers, and company success”, says Nadine Haag, Strategic Training Manager, who designed the workshop together with Birgit.
The leadership workshop offers a platform for fruitful interaction among participants, who share challenges and solutions and learn how to make the best use of their leadership network. Working in small groups enables a constructive exchange and offers participants a chance to share effective communication skills and learn how to incorporate self-reflection into their daily work. “I really liked having the opportunity to engage with the other Customer Service Managers and share our ideas and experience”, says Desislava Sliwka, Customer Service Manager based in Brno.
Coaching through empowerment
The workshop equips Team Leaders and Customer Service Managers with skills and techniques that empower them to successfully lead their teams to achieve optimal results. As Birgit emphasises, leadership coaching does not provide the ultimate solution: “My aim is to empower people to overcome challenges using their own capacities; I just provide the framework, a toolkit so to speak, which guides participants to find their own path.” Birgit listens, gives hints, and helps people see things from a different perspective.
The feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive. “We gained valuable tools and insights that will support us on our Team Leader career path, in an open and welcoming atmosphere where we could learn, listen, absorb and reflect”, says Ilse de Waal, Team Leader based in Cape Town.
2 months, 7 sites, 14 workshops and over 90 participants. That’s the impressive reach the leadership workshop ‘Make a Difference’ had since it was kicked-off in the last quarter of 2018.
During January and February, follow-up workshops were conducted via web sessions, to offer space for exchange on experiences and best practices. Team Leaders who manage Consultants working from home (Home Based Agents) were treated to a special add-on to the standard workshop, focusing on the skills-set required for effective leadership via virtual channels.
