Grow yourself and engage businesses that care
Our flagship creative training programme —
now in its ninth year — is building a global learning community to
shine a light on responsible innovation.
Photo: Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, by Felicia Jackson
Our award-winning creative training programme — now in its ninth year — presents a new online module , opening up to participants around the world who want to develop leadership and a powerful story to engage responsible employers.
Stories are powerful ways for businesses to engage customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders because they work at an emotional level. Using a coaching, conversational style to engage leaders, we can explore how they regard the broader challenges of society (eg addressing climate change, poverty, equality). This helps them understand where they sit in the bigger picture and the more powerful story they can tell.
This programme gives you tools to explore your own position in your wider market and the story you need to tell about how you are pursuing a purpose beyond purely making money. It offers businesses new perspectives and skills up members of a team to promote that story internally and externally.
The following headings offer more detail:
- About the ONTENTE programme
- What you’ll do & learn through ONTENTE
- The Brief: how are businesses tackling the challenges that matter?
- Module 1 – Using story to tackle challenges at work
- Module 2 – Creating pro content with your digital device
- Module 3 – Action Learning and agile project management
- Developing coaches and facilitators
- Key programme elements and dates
- Request a place on ONTENTE 2020
About the ONTENTE programme
ONTENTE 2020 is delivered by Contented Ltd in partnership with universities and private companies, including Santander bank. Grants from the UK’s National Lottery Community Fund allow us to widen participation to people on low incomes.
Underpinned by theory and practice from the Institute of Leadership and Management, The Hero Within is an innovative story framework for engaging and transforming people and organisations.
Delegates participate in trade expos and missions and use smart phones and tablets to capture and promote insights throughout their journeys.
Together, we’re building a global learning community to highlight how businesses are responding to the challenges of their communities. Shining a light on responsible innovation.
What you’ll do & learn through ONTENTE
Participants on this project work together to create a creative portfolio of work, network with employers and learn new skills and techniques in multi-platform digital storytelling, coaching and leadership. Endorsed by the ILM (formerly the Institute of Leadership and Management), participants can choose webinars, online peer learning and face-to-face workshops to help them deliver on a project brief. So, even if you are unable to attend the physical workshops, you can still participate.
There are three interwoven modules:
- Tackling challenges through story
- Creating pro content with your digital device
- Agile project management and action learning
You’ll keep a weekly journal to demonstrate action learning and use digital media to tell the story of your journey.
On satisfactory completion, you can receive a certificate endorsed by the ILM (previously, Institute of Leadership and Management).
The Brief: how are businesses tackling the challenges that matter?
ONTENTE is delivered by professionals in media and learning & development, through physical interactive workshops, webinars and online peer-coaching sessions.
At the start of the programme, participants will receive a project brief. You will work individually or with other participants to respond to this and exploring the part you’d like to play.
This year, we explore how businesses are responding to the UN’s sustainable development goals and learning how employers are addressing the challenges that matter for their communities.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent tremendous investment opportunities, in the order of trillions of dollars.
Module 1 – Using story to tackle challenges at work
This module is designed to give you an in-depth knowledge of storytelling. We analyse the Hero’s Journey, from the seminal work of Joseph Campbell, rooted in the work of psychologist Carl Jung. Learners will:
- Reflect upon experiences at and outside work, to uncover lessons and further insight into personal and organisational ventures.
- Understand how to tell a story that engages audiences at a personal level.
- Develop a blue print for a small digital production centred around transformation.
By the end of this module candidates are expected to be able to:
- identify common archetypes and how they affect people.
- increase awareness of how they and others make decisions.
- understand the process of change and conditions for enabling it.
- construct a realistic story of how a group of characters achieved change.
Module 2 – Creating pro content with your digital device
In this module you will plan, produce and prepare for publication a digital project to tell the story of your learning. We will help you improve the results you get from your own smart device, SLR camera or audio-only recorder. You will
- plan to interview a leader from an industry of your choice in positive and productive discussion.
- produce digital content to help you market yourself to potential employers.
The module will take the form of two physical workshops and online support in:
- media production, storytelling and publishing and publication
- networking and interviewing techniques
- managing legal and reputation risk.
Module 3 – Action Learning and agile project management
Through this module, you will learn experientially how to develop projects using an approach that blends action learning and agile methodologies.
Agile is a method of managing projects that emerged from the software industry in the latter half of the 20th century. In 2001, 17 software developers published a list of values and principles to guide an iterative and people-centred approach, known as the Agile Manfesto.
It uses short development cycles called “sprints” to continually improve a product or service.
In action learning, teams work in small sub-groups known as ‘learning sets’. Here, each person acts as a catalyst for growth and as an advisor — both devil’s advocate and supportive colleague. You hold each other to account for commitments you make to yourselves, challenge each other to grow, brainstorm ideas, meet goals, and support each other with honesty, respect and compassion.
During each ‘sprint’ when you meet together, the agenda belongs to the group, and each person’s participation is key. You can:
- Discover solutions and ideas through brainstorming with the group
- Tap into the experience and skills of others, including a facilitator
- Gain confidence that you are making the right decisions and taking the right actions to achieve your goals
- Create accountability and real progress
- Access easily a valuable support network and sense of shared endeavour
- Design things to be the way you want them to be, not as you’ve been told they should be
- Boost your everyday positive state of mind
Developing coaches and facilitators
We have a number of places for people developing their practice as a coach or facilitator, including six months access to resources and assessment by the Institute of Leadership and Management. Please tick the checkbox on the form below if you are interested.
Key programme features and dates
The programme runs part-time over six weeks. Participants can complete activities in their own before a concluding conference in September.
You’ll be able to choose physical and/or online activities to suit your own timetable and learning preferences. Additional dates and locations will be scheduled according to demand.
The programme comprises the following elements:
- Preparation activities: weblinks to films, readings and self-assessment activities
- Opening workshop (dates and locations to be confirmed)
- Five-part webinar series: The Hero Hidden Within
- Digital production workshops
- Online peer-coaching sessions
- Closing conference (details published nearer to the date)
- Membership of Institute of Leadership and Management with access to extensive learning resources, skills assessment and digital badges
- Certificate endorsed by ILM
Introductory price: £750 + VAT
Request a place on ONTENTE 2020