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Transforming
knowledge
into action
PERSONAL
TRANSFORMATION
FOR LEADERS
REFLECTIONS FROM A GUEST TUTOR ON
THE PRAXIS PTFL PROGRAMME
by Hugh Lloyd-Jukes
Dr Ido van der Heijden
PTFL Programme Director
B
efore you read any
further, google “personal
transformation”. If you have
an extra minute, try “transformational
change” and “transformational
leadership”.
“Transformation” has too often been
hijacked by self-help gurus and
business consultants to hype up
their services. The classic formulas
include: “my personal transformation
from alcoholic to inspirational
speaker/top franchise seller of
X/Y/Z in the Midwest…” or “Industry
shift? Merger? Cost reduction
programmes? We help clients
implement transformational change
programmes that take the business
from good to great.”
I suspect, therefore, you may
well have a gut reaction against a
development programme called
“Personal Transformation for Leaders
[PTFL]”.
So do I.
As an analytically trained
strategy consultant, I spent years
disappointed by development
programmes: I’d had my fill of groups
offering stilted interventions using
grossly simplified models and clunky
honesty exercises. Research clearly
shows that management quality and
authentic leadership are powerful
superchargers for a business but
it seemed that developing them
usually required an idiosyncratic, and
often serendipitous, approach: there
didn’t seem to be a reliable, universal
method that would deliver great
results on a repeatable basis.
I recommend you suspend judgment
for five minutes because there is an
institution hidden within Cranfield
School of Management’s Praxis
Centre whose track record has forced
me to reconsider.
The Personal Transformation for
Leaders Programme has been
running continuously for 34 years.
Continuous records exist for the
last 20 years in which 1,158 senior
leaders from 40 countries have
graduated from the programme.
Very serious global brands including
PricewaterhouseCoopers, BBC and
Nissan have sent multiple senior
executives and directors on it.
Fathers have sent sons; bosses have
sent subordinates (often one or two
decades after they attended Cranfield
themselves). A PhD thesis has been
written on it. It runs three times a year
over five days with a two day follow
up.
The attendance track record and
consistent feedback suggest that
Programme Director Dr Ido van der
Heijden has developed a repeatable,
reproducible process that helps
almost any individual achieve a
significant and sustained shift in
personal performance.
What does “transformation”
mean?
Take this representative feedback
from the two most recently
completed PTFL programmes at the
time of writing:
•
“It does what it says on the
tin: it does lead to personal
transformation!”
•
“Life changing, challenging yet
supportive and safe.”
•
“It has completely changed how I
relate to people at work and in my
life generally. I feel I have tackled
issues now that free me up to
develop in the rest of my life.”
•
“Unlocked a complete repressed
side of me. Gave me the
momentum to push myself
in new and exciting
directions.”