UHN's Emerging Leaders Program is designed to help employees examine new ways of enhancing their current on-the-job performance and prepare for possible future leadership opportunities.
It's a 10-month program that began last September. Through various workshops, learning labs and a stretch project to help them apply their skills, participants had an opportunity to learn about leadership styles, critical thinking, influencing skills, manage their career and how to network effectively.
Graduates, who celebrated the completion of the program at an event with Dr. Kevin Smith, UHN's President & CEO, and Emma Pavlov, Executive Vice President Human Resources and Organizational Development, come from across UHN in both clinical and non-clinical roles.
Among those who completed the 2018-19 program and celebrated at the recent graduation ceremony are Silva Karagoz and Margot Catizzone. Each shared with
UHN News what the experience taught them.
"My greatest lesson of the Action Learning project was that authentic style of leadership requires honest introspection and a commitment to professional performance and personal growth.
My project was inspired by TeamUHN's inclusive and diverse organizational culture, which lead to co-founding the Women in Leadership – gender diversity program. The pilot project was a networking TED-Talk style event on International Women's Day including a panel discussion of female leaders across UHN.
The program charter required multi-stakeholder engagement to determine feasibility and corporate alignment. This was my biggest challenge, it required me to assess my strengths and weaknesses as a leader; and extend my grasp of UHN operations from strategy, finance to marketing.
This challenge was overcome with my collaboration with Ingrid Yu, Senior Communications Advisor, Office of the CEO, and Marianne D'Souza, Senior Corporate Planner.
We exercised democratic leadership which effectively leveraged our diversity of skills and mutual passion for the vision. The skills I acquired during this process was the courage of innovation, team communication, and interpersonal skills of networking and inspiring others towards a common vision.
The Emerging Leaders Program empowers future leaders to overcome the complex opportunities and challenges that emerge as one takes on greater leadership roles."
"The Emerging Leaders Program fostered a new type of learning for me.
My focus for the past decade had been on building my clinical skills and clinical network. This course afforded me the opportunity to step back from my daily responsibilities, to examine the potential of my role and my team, and to develop a vision for how my role could evolve in order for me to have the most impact.
The program also made regular reflection into a habit. This has strengthened my self-awareness and while I will continue to develop my weaknesses, I can more confidently lead with my strengths.
Equally valuable, I was provided with tools and strategies that encouraged me to look at challenges from different perspectives. Doing so added clarity to the difficulties that arose as I tackled my action learning project. This clarity allowed me to be innovative and successful in advancing my project.
Most of all, I valued meeting determined individuals from across UHN working in diverse roles I had never even heard of. Every person I met offered unique and helpful ideas to move me along my way.
I look forward to seeing what amazing things this group accomplishes."
Congratulations to the 2018-19 UHN Emerging Leaders Program graduates:
David Banner, Sabrina Bartlett, Gina Bastaldo, Alessa Carter, Margot Catizzone, Lesley Chalklin, Angela L. Chan, Amanda Xuemin Chan, Kenny Chieu, Lamia Hasnat Chowdhury, Joan Comendador, Patrice De Peiza, Lyndsey Marie De Souza, Helen Dewar, Kendal Jane Dickinson, Branka Dmitrovic, Kathryn Agnes English, Yuliya Gavrylyuk, Emma Gaylord, Shirley Gindi, Joshua Hawley, Lindy Hudson, Emma Ito, Silva Karagoz, Miran Kenk, Natalia Lavrencic, Ilysa Lax, Jennifer Levine, Lindsay Love, Anda Lukic, Sima Makan, Mahvish Malik, Tegan Mannisto, Jisla Mathews, Leah McDonell, Susannah Moore, Stephanie Nardella, Mojgan Nemati, Vanathy Niranjan, Naa Kwarley Quartey, Jane Ren, Sarah Rotstein, Alice Silva, Joyce Tsang, Melanie Vicente, Laavanyah Vigneswaran, Holly Kathryn Wykes, Joanna Yeung, Wynne Yiu, Kenneth Yue, Wendy Zhang
