Cultivating the next generation of leaders through the Imprivata Leadership Development Program

“Inspire, equip, and develop leadership talent”

Imprivata’s fifth Leadership Development Program (LDP) kicked off earlier this year. The LDP is a customized program developed to foster growth and invest in Imprivata’s current and future leaders. Imprivata sees this program as both an investment in employees and in Imprivata. This program is designed to build the next generation of leaders and has been extremely impactful to date, with several participants being promoted to new roles, moving to new groups, or expanding into more senior positions. 

For this highly-sought after program, participants are nominated by their senior executive with the support of the senior leadership team. Program sessions take place monthly over the course of ten months. The themes emphasized throughout include strategic thinking, leading people and teams, influencing, driving change, and communication. Each session includes relevant material to spur discussion and provide practical approaches to accelerate the leadership development of the participants. 

Each month, an Imprivata executive joins the group to discuss their experiences with leadership and share insight into their own leadership journey. It’s a great way for the LDP team and executives to get to know each other better and connect in a more personal way. There’s also a mentorship component to the program - each participant is paired with an Imprivata mentor to discuss applying the concepts of the program and help guide them with personal development planning.

Another aspect of the program is the assigned reading. Though not a book club, each session brings a new book to discuss. Participants talk about parts of the book that inspired them, which parts they agreed with and could internalize, or perhaps what they didn’t understand or didn’t agree with. Recent books have included, “Presence” and “Emotional Intelligence”.

There are many opportunities for self-reflection throughout the program. In their own Program Journal, each month participants note the key insights or tools they’ve learned, and what commitments they are making to themselves to grow and improve. At the end of the program, each participant leaves with a ‘before’ and ‘after’ view of their leadership and where they are now going to focus to develop as a leader.

Group Project:

A key component to the program is the ‘group project.’ Early in the program participants identify processes at Imprivata that can be improved, challenges that need to be addressed, new ideas that could be implemented, etc. They then divide themselves into groups, based on their skill sets and interests, to dive deeper into those processes, problems, or ideas. The program culminates with each group presenting to the executive team – explaining why a particular process/challenge/idea is worth addressing, the resources involved, the impact to the company, and the plan to implement a solution.

One of last year’s LDP projects received whole-hearted support from the executive team and is now a very successful iAppreciates recognition program! Employees are nominated by their peers for doing a great job, going above and beyond, embracing Imprivata culture, etc. Pictures of the nominees and what’s been said about them are continually scrolling on a monitor in the community area of the Lexington and UK offices.  

In Their Own Words

Here are some reactions from a few participants upon completing the program:

“A wonderful team building experience with an exceptional facilitator. It brought to light the difference between managing and leading.”

“I have found the program extremely valuable, not only in the course material itself but the added benefit of building key relationships with the other participants is priceless!”

“One of the biggest takeaways for me was “What got you here, won’t necessarily get you there.” I focus on that as I work on being effective as a Director after being promoted from a Manager position. I realize I need to change some of the ways in which I operate day to day to be successful.”