What is the Shadow Board Programme®?

The Shadow Board Programme® is a highly successful programme which has, to date, supported hundreds of senior aspirant leaders in both the NHS and wider healthcare system. It offers them real life experience of operating as an Executive Director within an organisation or system in a safe and developmental space.

The programme is delivered within an organisation or system and offers the opportunity to establish a ‘shadow board’ which operates within the existing governance structures and provides participants with a unique insight and exploration of life as an Executive Board member, and in turn offers the organisation or system greater thought diversity into current and real life issues.

The programme enables participants to implement and embed their learning in a safe space to gain experience of what it is really like to be an Executive Director. However, this is not simply role-play! This is experiential learning at its finest to develop and engage future senior leaders, increase diversity of thought, create a safe space to ‘explore and be curious’ and create an engaging culture help support new ways of working . It brings to life not only the taught content, but also an understanding of the nuances, power, influence, dynamics, and responsibilities of being an Executive Director.

The current healthcare landscape requires new ways of working. If systems working to improve the health and wellbeing of citizens is going to successfully meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, we need to tap more effectively into the talent that is present within and around their organisations. We need new and authentic voices around our board rooms and at the forefront of decision making. We need the richness and diversity of our communities present within decision-making and we need leaders who can lead with courage and compassion.

Evaluation of the programme demonstrates the value for: organisational talent management; succession planning; increasing diversity at a senior level; and facilitating positive challenge of existing governance and decision making. In addition, many participants have directly attributed the learning and experience from the programme to their personal progression, career promotion, and in being successfully recruited into a board level position. Furthermore, Executives and senior leaders have directly linked the experiential aspects of the programme to positive challenge and decisions being made at board level. They also note the organisational benefits of having an opportunity for a group of senior leaders to critically appraise existing strategy, risk, and governance.

The Shadow Board Programme step by step overview:

1. An inclusive and diverse identification and recruitment process is conducted to select around 12 – 15 individuals to participate in the experience.
2. The selected individuals participate in four one-day modules (Strategy and Governance, Strategic Finance and Risk, People Leadership and Culture, and Systems Thinking).
3. Four observed shadow board meetings are held the day before the board proper, using live papers and chaired by a Non – Executive Director. This person may aspire to become a Chair and is responsible for facilitating the shadow board discussions to the board.
4. Individuals participate in four Action Learning Sets (ALS), to create a safe space to build relationships, support and challenge and to develop and grow.

For Participants, the programme:

• Engages leaders in a meaningful way.
• Increases understanding of the portfolios of their Executives and those Executives outside of their functional speciality.
• Provides experience of working as part of a Unitary Board, tackling ‘current and live’ issues.
• Extends thinking beyond functional activity which widens perspectives and supports the development of strategic thinking skills.
• Connects senior leaders and enables a safe space to connect and reflect.
• Improves understanding of effective corporate governance, regulation, and oversight of NHS bodies and Integrated Care Boards.

For the organisation or healthcare system, the programme:

• Results in good governance by supporting organisations and emerging systems to have informed decision-making through a diverse and inclusive Shadow Board.
• Supports sustainability, growth, and improvement.
• Provides a different perspective to senior decision-making.
• Facilitates a ‘whole systems’ approach.
• Facilitates the CQC Well – Led approach.
• Draws upon a wider and more diverse pool of talent and skills to challenge, govern, manage risk and finances, and innovate.
• Promotes a more inclusive culture at every level.
• Identifies an executive talent pool and future potential leaders.
• Enables growth for the future through expanding and developing the workforce.
• Creates a safe space for senior leaders to test out board level working and have better understanding of the role whilst feeling they contribute to board level decision making. This creates the right opportunities to enable greater succession planning and preparation for board roles.

‘The System Shadow Board programme has been such a positive and energising experience, I believe it was because the participants were all seriously engaged in the project at hand, they were able to put aside parochial, local and organisational “asks” to think about the greater good and, hugely importantly, they allowed difference to be in the room without needing to squash it, in fact they showed curiosity and respect to the differences that emerged. It has been a delight to be involved and I’m sure the participates will add enormous value to our shared endeavour.’

Thea Stein, CEO Leeds Community Healthcare

‘We have hardwired the Shadow Board into the main decision making. The Shadow Board takes all the papers the day before, its chaired by one of the Executives who feed back the next day at the board meeting , the view of the Shadow Board and the decisions they would have made on each area. This gives us, as a board, the diversity of thought on decision making of the same issue but through different people with different perspectives.’

Rob Webster, CEO of West Yorkshire Partnership

‘The Shadow Board programme was a pivotal catalyst which gave me the confidence to say out loud, I want to be a Director, I do want to be in a position where I can influence better decision making because we need greater diversity, the programme has enabled me to get into that strategic role where I can do that. It also helped me to connect strategic ambitions with the areas I lead and enabled me to feel confident in having a voice and opinion in an area that I’m not subject matter expert in, I use that skill a lot.’

Sayma Mirza, Associate Director for Children and Young Families at West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership

Read more about what our clients think about the Shadow Board programme on our testimonials page.