Leiden Leadership Programme
Leadership Labs
In the Leadership Lab (5 EC) you tackle a topical problem presented by one of our partner organisations and develop important leadership skills in practice.
Practical assignment
In the Leadership Lab (November-June), you will practice with leadership hands-on. In interdisciplinary teams, you tackle an issue of an organisation that wants your help. You will be supervised by experienced practical teachers.
The Leadership Lab is a professional, accessible setting to gain practical experience. You develop collaboration skills with people from diverse (study) backgrounds and discover your unique contribution to a team. This is how you learn what leadership means to you.
Challenges
The challenge you and your group members will tackle is linked to a societal theme. After all, leadership is not an end in itself: you can use it as a means to contribute to something you consider important.
You can find examples of questions grouped under several overarching societal themes below. Please note: these themes and questions are an impression. The assignments vary each year.
Impact
You will examine the impact of employees and the organisation on society or on the organisation itself.
Example questions are:
- What strategy can we employ to increase the number of stakeholders?
- How can we offer viable alternatives for our target groups who cannot readily use standard digital solutions, enabling them to use the system as independently as possible?
- How can we achieve the ambition to become more sustainable, both in terms of content and organisational aspects?
Diversity
You will examine the diversity and inclusivity amongst actors, such as employees, customers or other actors in society.
Example questions are:
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- What actions can we take as an organisation to decrease the gap between men and women in terms of salary and growth?
- How can we ensure that themes such as diversity and inclusion resonate more with members, thereby leading to higher attendance at diversity and inclusion sessions during training days and events?
- How can we facilitate, attract, and retain multidisciplinary and inclusive teams within the department, the business unit, and ultimately across the entire organization?
Working environment
You will examine the working environment at the partner organisation and what impact it has on the involved parties.
Example questions are:
- How can we, as an employer, ensure that employees feel they have enough growth opportunities?
- How can we improve leadership styles at all levels in the organisation and ensure that it is more focused on facilitating and coaching?
- Which interventions and activities are effective in (1) ensuring that the sense of urgency set out in the vision on services is embedded across the organisation, and (2) improving interaction with the target group?
Safety
You will examine issues relating to safety and urgency amongst the parties involved.
Example questions are:
- How can we, as an organisation, ensure a safe working environment? What are employees’ experiences regarding safety?
- What is currently being done to teach children, young people and young adults to take a critical look at social media, the information they receive through it, and the information collected and sold about them via social media apps?
- What risks might we face as custodians of large amounts of sensitive data? What measures can we take to mitigate these risks and raise awareness? How do we ensure that the data remains secure and protected?
What you'll be doing
During the practical assignment, you will work on the problem as part of a team. You will work towards a consultancy report and a creative deliverable. The type of creative deliverable your team produces will depend on the problem, the organisation’s requirements and the team itself. In previous years, for example, students have run a workshop, recorded a podcast, created a poster or built a website. Both components are assessed and combined to produce a single grade.
During the Leadership Lab, you will participate in three skills trainings. The Leadership Lab offers an excellent opportunity to put into practice what you have learnt in these and previous sessions: think of skills such as active listening, clear communication, collaboration and conflict resolution. Under the guidance of an experienced tutor, you will reflect on these skills and your impact throughout the Leadership Lab.
About the partners and student teams
The partner organisations vary in size, structure and culture – ranging from businesses to government bodies and NGOs. LLP ensures that these organisations are carefully matched with the student teams. Factors such as the organisations’ Challenge and the interests and diversity of the student teams are taken into account. The student teams are composed by the programme management of the LLP based on academic background, gender, and language. The LLP organisation strives to create teams that are as diverse as possible.