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Leading the way in developing global talent

Spotlight takes a closer look at the DS University’s Global Leadership Development Program (GLDP), part of DS University’s College of Leadership Excellence.

Helping employees gain the necessary skills to grow professionally is crucial to maintaining a workforce ready to take on tomorrow’s challenges. Dentsply Sirona is prepared and offers a variety of leadership training and development programs as part of its DS University.

In particular, the University’s College of Leadership Excellence includes leadership development programming for all levels in the organization, including Essentials, geared to new people managers, Advanced, for managers with substantial experience in leading teams, and Strategic, for senior leaders of organizational functions. In addition, there is the well-regarded Women Inspired Network (WIN) supporting the acceleration of career growth for female talent through networking, mentoring, training, individual goal planning and on-the-job application.

Among these programs, the Global Leadership Development Program, offers those nominated a unique opportunity to partner and network with peers from across the organization and gain exposure to members of the Executive and Senior Leadership teams. The GLDP has had several classes of graduates who have gone through the intensive 18-month program. The program is highly selective as it aims to prepare its graduates for positions of leadership with significant responsibility when such positions become available. After being accepted into the program, each GLDP participant receives 360° feedback, and goes through a one-on-one development workshop in which individual development plans are drafted. The first year kicks off with an exciting event held at the Global Institute for Leadership Development (GILD).

Overall, the training program was very impactful. The four days at the capstone event were time very well spent. It was a time to reflect, be introspective and think about our values and passion. What stuck out was the focus on purpose ... The purposeful leadership model resonated well with me. This model challenged me to think about my own leadership style.

Bill Smalley, Sales Director, Implants

Bill Smalley, Sales Director, Implants

Members of the class then attend a variety of training both in the classroom and online and complete a practical, results-oriented project over a 3-month period. “As the final step in this program we are now working in teams on critical projects sponsored by Executive Leadership. I work with so many cross-functional DS leaders that I would otherwise never have had the opportunity to meet,” said Eliane Schaefer, Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Compliance Consumables. “I´m surprised how dedicated this team is, even if all of us have so many things on our desk. This shows how we all see that we can grow through this journey. As we are getting ready to finalize our presentations, we are also receiving coaching from presentation experts, so it is really exciting.”

The program culminates in a multi-day event in the US at the Charlotte location where the participants present their team’s research project outcomes to Leadership. The participants’ experiences in the program also benefit their teams. Participant Norbert Rabenstein, Director of Operations, Implants said, “I learned to delegate more, trust my team and even let them make mistakes...[I] let them build the project team and design the path for how to get there.”

Above all, the Company’s development programs are about bringing out the best in the talented workforce that makes Dentsply Sirona the leader in dentistry.

The Spotlight Editorial Team interviewed several members of the current class of GLDP participants. Readers can view the full interviews in the following section.

Norbert Rabenstein, Director of Operations, Implants, Hanau, Germany

Was there a particular lecture or model, or any unexpected content that stuck out at the Global Institute for Leadership Development kick-off event?

There were a lot of very interesting lectures, workshops and discussions during our first session in October, 2018 in Palm Desert. The most exciting part in many of these lectures and workshops were the discussions about purpose. What is the purpose of what I´m doing in my job but also in my private life? Do I act according to this purpose? And what can I do to become a more purposeful leader? These insights about purpose made me change my perspective on goals, especially on how local goals and global company goals are related.

Another highlight was of course the lecture and discussion with Nando Parrado. In addition to the unbelievable survival story after the plane crash in Uruguay in 1972, it´s so amazing what this man was able to achieve! It made me aware of what a person can achieve if he/she has a strong will.

What have you done up to the present, what kind of meetings have taken place?

One part of the follow-up was an individual coaching. To get a baseline, there was an assessment where I got feedback from my manager but also from direct reports and peers on my leadership style. The result of the assessment as well as the feedback from the coach was extremely helpful to find out areas where I can develop myself. For example, one major finding for me was that it´s very important that my manager, my reports and peers should be aware of my purpose. Otherwise they don´t understand why and how I´m acting as manager.

What kind of things / information / ideas did you bring back to your teams? How did your perspective change? What experiences or views did you gain?

There was not one “big thing” which I brought back to my team. But I changed my behavior in many aspects. These included becoming clearer about expectations, setting clear rules, and sharing my purpose with my team. On the other side, I learned to delegate more, trust my team and even let them make mistakes. I now hand over entire projects to them. I use Project Management tools and set expectations about the outcome and timeline, but only act as the project sponsor. I let them build the project team and design the path for how to get there. I only intervene when I see the outcome is at risk. This change in leadership behavior was very well received in the team.

What are you expecting from the closing week of the program? What are you looking forward to?

First of all, we are working on a very exiting topic for our teamwork project. It´s all about customer experience. I look forward to presenting our team’s outcome to the leadership team. Of course, I´m excited to exchange with the other participants about their experience and the things they’ve learned from our last workshop. Finally, it´s my first visit to our site in Charlotte. I´m excited to see our new customer training center there for example.

Bill Smalley, Sales Director, Implants, Houston, Texas, USA

Was there a particular lecture or model, or any unexpected content that stuck out at the Global Institute for Leadership Development kick-off event?

Overall, the training program was very impactful. The four days at the capstone event were time very well spent. It was a time to reflect, be introspective and think about our values and passion. What stuck out was the focus on purpose. What is our personal mission and how do we align this to the things we do? What is our own purpose and our organizational purpose? We talk a lot about strategic and tactical topics but talking about purpose brings an impactful dimension. The purposeful leadership model resonated well with me. This model challenged me to think about my own leadership style.

What have you done up to the present, what kind of meetings have taken place?

Another very impactful part of the learning journey up to now were the coaching sessions with a professional coach. These coaching conversations were enlightening for me. They opened my eyes to think about things I hadn´t thought about before. There were three sessions in total with a very concrete action plan after each session. One of the topics I worked on was accountability. How can I increase this for myself and with the others I work with?

There were webinars once a month to keep the group engaged.

We have now reengaged as a group in our action learning projects. It is fantastic to have a defined topic to work on. Gene Dorff and Bill Newell as our project sponsors are supporting us extremely well. It is a good way to stay engaged in the process and strengthen the relationships with our fellow participants.

What kind of things / information / ideas did you bring back to your teams? How did your perspective change? What experiences or views did you gain?

As I´m a manager of managers, I shared the materials I received to develop my coaching and leadership skills with my direct reports. In this way, the program not only has an impact on how I lead, but also on how they lead their teams.

We are in an extensive change process in the US sales organization at the moment. The GLDP has impacted my skills as a change leader. I start and end each communication explaining why we are making a particular decision using the overall vision and purpose as a lens.

What are you expecting from the closing week? What are you looking forward to?

I´m excited to continue working with our action learning team on the project. We will present our recommendation to the executive team during our closing week. I´m enthusiastic as I believe that our team can make a difference and that we are having an impact on the organization with our action learning projects.

I´m looking forward to the face-to-face interactions with all participants of the GLDP. This week will give us the opportunity to reengage, share experiences and learn from each other.

I do not want to stop with my learning journey after this closing week and I look forward to continuing to work with these people and build relationships. I also want to share my leadership skills with other people and identify people who else can benefit from this program.

Do you have any additional comments?

I feel a lot of appreciation toward the organization and the people who nominated me so that I could take part in this wonderful learning experience. To all others who may be on these kinds of programs in the future I would say, ‘Yes, it takes time and you do not know in advance how this time will be spent and whether the effort has an impact. But be engaged in the experience because it is worth it.

Eliane Schaefer, VP QA/RC Consumables, York, Pennsylvania, USA

Was there a particular lecture or model, or any unexpected content that stuck out at the Global Institute for Leadership Development kick-off event?

I´m generally very excited about the program. I´ve been a leader for 25 years and I was expecting to be challenged, but the lectures really inspired me. They made me reflect about how to become a more purposeful leader. There were several lectures that particularly inspired me:

Stephen Shapiro’s lecture “INNOVATE THE WAY YOU INNOVATE” focused on having the right mix of personalities when forming a team. Teams where all members have the same personality do not often fail however, they may not necessarily innovate either. Carla Harris’s lecture gave perspective on authenticity, trust, diversity and inclusiveness and was very inspiring. I now pay more attention as a leader to building an inclusive team.

The orchestra conductor activity was amazing and demonstrated the importance of strong leadership and team cohesiveness. This showed how much you can learn from an example. The program was generally eye opening in many areas.

What have you done up to the present, what kind of meetings have taken place?

Prior to attending the Global Institute for Leadership Development (GILD) week that took place last year in early October, we had several pre-seminar tasks, such as completing 360° Assessments, completing self-awareness questionnaires, etc. Besides the full week of exciting lectures and learning activities, we also met face-to-face with our individual executive coaches, and had daily wrap-up group meetings with our group coach. We also had a half-day group outing and I chose the San Andreas Fault jeep tour. Once we came back from the meeting, we continued with a few more sessions with our individual coaches and participated in several Linkage webinars.

As the final step in this program we are now working in teams on critical projects sponsored by Executive Leadership. I work with so many cross-functional DS leaders that I would otherwise never have had the opportunity to meet. My team meets at least once a week (mostly via Skype due to our different locations (US, Europe and Asia) to work on our project, which we will present to the Dentsply Sirona Leaders in Charlotte in November. We’ve exchanged ideas and built relationships. I´m surprised how dedicated this team is, even if all of us have so many things on our desk. This shows how we all see that we can grow through this journey. As we are getting ready to finalize our presentations, we are also receiving coaching from presentation experts, so it is really exciting.

What kind of things / information / ideas did you bring back to your teams? How did your perspective change? What experiences or views did you gain?

I am very grateful for being chosen to be part of the Global Leadership class of 2018 because this training is about discovering your purpose as a leader. Purposeful Leadership provided me with new views to inspire and engage my teams to foster innovation in our processes. I am striving to be a more inclusive leader by bringing individuals with different personalities into my teams whenever possible. I am focusing on empowering my teams and supporting their authenticity and ideas by providing an environment where every team member is comfortable exercising their voice.

It was also amazing to interact both during the lectures and afterwards with other Dentsply Sirona leaders from all over the world. This was an amazing opportunity to meet leaders with whom I don’t normally interact, and hear their perspectives. We formed strong connections through this program. I now encourage my team members to reach out to other people as well - to not send an email but rather make a Skype call to build relationships and learn from others.

What are you expecting from the closing week? What are you looking forward to?

I am very excited about the closing week. Obviously, we are excited to present our business project and look forward to the feedback we will receive and most importantly, we hope our project proposals will help the organization. I´m also looking forward to using the presentation tools we are learning for our presentation. That said, I am equally excited to see my “class colleagues” face-to-face once again and share our experiences over the last 12 months. We have built close relationships over these past months and it will be great seeing them again.

Do you have anything else you would like to add?

Overall it was a great experience. I´m using new skills every day. My recommendation for other participants of future programs is to take the opportunity to fully engage as you can always improve.