Meridian

A flexible and personalised leadership programme that offers modular learning and development for established leaders in larger regions.

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What is Meridian?

A leadership programme for established leaders from all sectors and backgrounds based in and around metropolitan areas. Meridian is currently offered in Dublin and in six other countries. Participants often choose to do some of their modules in other locations and countries.

Meridian offers a flexible modular format that means leaders can tailor it to meet their individual needs and to match their diaries. Participants have up to six months to complete their hours.

The full group - drawn from all walks of life in the area - attends three full days together at the start, midpoint and end of the programme. In between, each leader chooses from over 50 events to explore a huge range of real-life challenges - based in anything from a prison to a casualty unit; a trading floor to a production plant; a rehab centre to a radio station - in small groups, learning constantly from each other, the contributors and the experience of operating in very unfamiliar situations.

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"For me, the Meridian programme really brought out the idea of Bravery as an aspect of leadership.  In order to affect change, you have to be willing to stand up.  In tough times, when you have to get people on board with unpopular decisions such as cutbacks, being brave enough to say "Look, this is happening and we're not going to like it but let's all figure out how we're going to deal with it" is a skill that leaders have to have.  Meridian helped me develop that skill.

It showed me the bigger picture of the mosaic that makes up this city."

Georgina Byrne, County Librarian for South Dublin County

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Who is Meridian for?

Meridian is for established leaders who are already experienced at delivering objectives and managing people and priorities. It is ideal for leaders who are responsible for developing partnerships, engaging with internal or external stakeholders, working across several locations, divisions or countries or who simply need to broaden their horizons.

As with all our open programmes, the participant group on Meridian will be diverse in terms of background, experience, sector, outlook and approach. Participants share and challenge each other and discover that this diversity - far from being a weakness - provides a key strength of the course.

Participants can expect to:

  • become more accustomed to going outside their familiar environment and better able to adapt to new situations.
  • develop lasting working relationships with people they would almost certainly never have met otherwise.
  • learn how to lead in situations where they have no authority and how to become the kind of person who can build and lead collaborations when required.
  • become responsible leaders who understand their local surroundings - in the national and international context - and the impact of their decisions.
  • discover how their own language, behaviour and preconceptions can get in their way as leaders.
  • find out when and how they can make their own contribution in society.

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What is the programme format?

Meridian participants complete between 60 - 90 hours of learning. For each activity, participants meet at a different venue within the area to give them a range of perspectives.On the three core days - at the start, mid-point and end - participants look at why, where and how they lead and at how their biases influence their leadership. Between the core days, participants select from a series of modules.

Participants can choose to do some of their hours on a Meridian programme elsewhere in another country where it is offered.

Meridian modules are:

  • Understanding place - behind-the-scene insights about how the metropolitan area really works.
  • Understanding change - real-life leadership scenarios based in hospitals, schools, businesses and council chambers, meeting and quizzing the leaders who make the decisions there.
  • Leadership insights - key leaders share their first hand knowledge - from their successes and failures - of leading beyond their immediate area of authority to create positive change.
  • Learning groups - tackling the challenges brought by participants to the group sessions.
  • Practices - participants are set a series of leadership 'practices', small challenges to complete in their own time that will broaden their thinking.
  • Quests - a day immersed in the economic, political and social context of another city, either in Dublin or internationally.

Where are Meridian courses held?

In Ireland the Meridian programme is held in Dublin and also run internationally in:

  • Budapest, Hungary
  • Hong Kong
  • India (Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai)
  • Istanbul, Turkey
  • Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Varying regions and cities in the UK

Upcoming programmes

Dublin Meridian Programme starts November 2011

"Each of my team have taken away something different from Meridian -gaining confidence, learning to better engage staff, getting new business, networking and becoming part of the community outside of the Premier Inn bubble.

I feel the courses help my General Managers prepare for changes that may not be absolutely clear right now. What is clear is that we will need to do things differently to stay leaders in our field."

Peter Gardiner, Operations Director, Premier Inn

What is the cost to attend Meridian?

The programme fee is €5,500

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Financial Assistance

Applicants who cannot pay the full fee should not be deterred from applying. There are a number of almost full (every participant must make some contribution) and part bursary places provided on every Common Purpose programme for participants who are genuinely unable - as opposed to unwilling - to meet the full fee.

If you would like to apply for a bursary, please fill in the section of the form for bursary candidates. If you need to discuss this further, please contact your local Common Purpose office.

Common Purpose Plus
Everyone who has completed a Common Purpose programme will be offered a 20% reduction on the fee of any future courses they attend. Please notify us in your programme application if you wish to apply for this reduction.

How can I apply to attend Meridian?

Download the Meridian Application Form and send via email, post or fax to the Common Purpose Dublin office.

Application forms for Meridian 2012/13 can be downloaded here


For more about the overall application process, please visit the application page.

 

"Taking part in Common Purpose allows you to think outside the box and to consider issues and ideas that are not part of the normal work you do, whilst having the opportunity to hear from speakers and participants who may hold very different views to your own.  This is refreshing and stimulating.  I was, for instance, able to use ideas from the Learning Set that I took part in to tackle what had seemed an insurmountable problem and resolve it."

Jo Gordon, Head of Strategy, Governance and Communications - Judiciary of England and Wales

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“Leadership today is about understanding people, events and circumstances – the more you understand them, the greater your ability to impact upon them, and Common Purpose gives you this understanding.”

Kuben Naidoo
Head of Secretariat, National Planning Commission, South Africa