While it is not customary to give away all the goodies at the beginning, it is vital that we first understand how different CXL Group’s Personal Excellence and Attitude Kickstart or PEAK training is and why it is not another cookie-cutter module.
Erin Sequerah, CXL Group’s Head of Learning, Development & Consulting (LDC), joins me today. She is formerly the Head of our Contingent Workforce overseeing operations for the KL & Penang offices. She comes with 15 years of HR experience.
Very quickly, PEAK imparts the following:
- Self-realisation, about one’s purposeful existence;
- Improved self-esteem;
- Honest & regular communication with each other;
- Extending empathy in the office;
- Gratitude (more about this later);
- Energised;
- Cohesiveness; just to name a few.
On the first point alone, the attainment of such awareness is in and by itself an invaluable discovery not many get to experience, sometimes not even throughout one’s entire life. But at PEAK, we seek to distil this so every attendee shall possess the opportunity to inspect their hearts and minds as honestly as possible.
Stage by stage, they will come to the realisation about where they stand as a person, what they are equipped with and in what ways they are able to contribute, not so much to their company per se but more importantly to their life first. At the end of the process, we’ll arrive at a panoramic perspective of one’s personal life but encapsulated in a longer time horizon framed in a more holistic manner. To be able to capture this vision is important because when we get this right, everything will fall into place.
Achieving Personal Best
The essence of PEAK is that it focuses on shaping one’s existential attributes. It is the reason why it prioritises creating safe spaces within a group setting so that it is conducive for self-reflections. Unique problems faced by individuals may also be resolved right within the safe confines amidst the training’s open space.
But what about the changes they bring to the office post-PEAK?
The most controversial answer to this question is that in the pecking order of PEAK, the company comes after the individual because this is where the all-important “gratitude” will emerge from in the mental and emotional state of the attendees. Unlike other corporate training, the motivation for PEAK rests in the individual’s well-being instead of the company’s bottom line.
Now imagine if you were sent for such a training and the harvest is for you and you alone to reap, how would you feel about it?
Immensely grateful probably because the opportunity to attend such an invaluable personal development programme does not come by every day, more so when public programmes out there charge top dollar for it. As such, it should not surprise when a sub-par performer suddenly leaps forward to become one of the main driving forces in the office, motivated by nothing but the company’s willingness to invest in their staff’s personal development.
What sets PEAK apart is also in the way it is conducted. Attendees will be surprised by the absence of notes, slides or the usual repertoires of a training. In its place are personal soul-searching conversations looking to address the deepest thoughts, feelings, ambitions, fears, anxiety etc. This solo pursuit possesses the propensity to turn a person around, or for that matter, their world upside down.
When a person is “shaken” this way, all the baggage, assumptions, the invisible balls & chains as well as the glass ceilings will begin to crumble and shatter. This then yields a fertile ground for a rebirth and to the extent of identifying one’s life purposes including a self-defined professional posture, contributing to the overall career roadmap.
Things get more interesting after this because individual enlightenments will culminate into an energised office atmosphere that will be unmistakably obvious. Without stretching the truth, it has the power to lift the company to greater heights and fast track the enterprise to its goals.
As the CEO of CXL Group, I can attest to this because in 2023, everyone in the company was enlisted into the PEAK programme. This earth-shattering experiential training was conducted by none other than my old friend and PEAK creator herself Shafizal Shahidan, of whom we’ve entrusted as CXL Group’s PEAK Catalyst. She was assisted by Erin who later went on to moderate a separate session dedicated just for the leaders. This was when we asserted more impartial feedback so they are attuned to navigating their teams towards the corporate vision. The result is rather inspiring as I see better camaraderie and improved performance at both the individual and the corporate levels.
PEAK: Empowering Toolkit
“What happened at PEAK is that a set of tools designed to guide and assist the thinking process are introduced to every individual. They are like the guideposts used throughout the programme. Because of the shared knowledge harnessed over the few days of being together, we are then able to communicate in a separate language (based on PEAK),” explains Erin.
“This is where we’ve become more like one united team because we now speak the same lingo.”
From where I’m seated, there’s been nothing short of positive in the office. I’ve also heard the same from our clients whenever I share exciting details about CXL Group’s PEAK experience. For this, I must thank Fizal for unleashing all that she has for us. Thanks much Fizal and looking forward to more together!
To that end, CXL Group is now also recognised as the Institute of Training & Occupational Learning (ITOL) Accredited Centre and this accreditation affords our company the privilege to certify graduates as ITOL-certified. Aside from PEAK, other ITOL-certified programmes include the Service Mindset Excellence and Goal Design Method; all of which make up the renowned and highly sought-after ITOL training and occupational learning syllabus.
In another known as The Renaissance Leadership Programme, tailored more for the senior managers and above, it aims to elevate self-awareness to foster genuine leadership presence, expand one’s strategic vision as a way to proactively address emerging business landscapes, and cultivate a sense of stewardship and accountability in the corporate landscape.
The Renaissance Leadership Programme also strives to enhance collaborative competencies so the leader is accustomed to and becomes dynamic enough to lead diverse and cross-functional teams effectively. Graduates of this programme will be IoL-certified or Institute of Leadership-certified. This exclusive accreditation will in fact come directly from the principal office of IoL UK itself and it is synonymous in the professional development arena as the mecca for leadership excellence and development.
Henceforth, CXL Group’s training programmes are now both ITOL (The Institute of Training and Occupational Learning) and IoL (The Institute of Leadership) certified. These certifications validate the quality and standards of CXL Group’s training programmes in the respective fields of training and leadership.
To the uninitiated, the IoL is a professional membership body made up of active leaders (eg. managers, coaches and mentors) delivering world–class tools and award–winning e–learning derived from practical research aimed at unlocking leadership potential. It engages the members actively through a host of dynamic deliveries ranging from blog posts, podcasts, on-ground events (eg. International Leadership Week, The Leadership Awards), industry affiliations with leading organisations (eg. Barclays, Lovell, University of Birmingham), mentoring facilitation etc.
Based on past records, IoL’s programmes would benefit everyone from individuals to the medium and large businesses, the public sector, SMEs, charities, learning & development practitioners as well as the HR professionals. Through CXL Group as an ITOL, the programmes are also HRDC claimable, making them highly relevant from the Malaysian market.
Before we part ways, perhaps it might be good to leave you with some food for thought.
2024 marks the second year in the post-pandemic era and with challenges abound both domestically and globally, are you ready for the impending contraction? What are your strategies to overcome the pressures when they come knocking? Have you thought about introducing the same lingo in your company so together, you stand as a stronger force to weather through the storms?
If you have some pressing questions about how PEAK can propel your company’s performance forward,feel free to reach out to Erin Sequerah at [email protected]. Alternatively feel free to visit our website: www.cxlgroup.com
About the Institute of Leadership
The Institute of Leadership was founded in 1947 and in 2016 reclaimed its independent status as a professional body allowing it to better support leadership development and encourage great leadership everywhere.
A diverse collection of intelligent knowledge-based archives of leadership wisdom dating back more than 75 years are all made available through IoL’s portal. IoL hence acts like a thinking lab of innovative and intuitive programmes where they are developed for its time and further enhanced continuously to equip leaders of today for tomorrow.
If you have any CXL Group questions, we are happy to answer them via email : [email protected]
