The academy has been in formal operations for 1 year. With my retirement from the AHS in December 2020, I started by developing a website (https:\\journeysacademy.ca), and then connecting with a network of people. I had started accepting referrals in November 2020 and developed documents that could be used post retirement from AHS. In January 2021, post full retirement, I communicated with referrals and arranged to start coaching towards the end of that month. Through the 12 months I have generally had 2 to 3 clients for most months, and been involved in one strategic retreat. I am satisfied with the amount of activity and am working on some academic output focussed on mid career leaders. A manuscript or book is anticipated in 2022, and several clients have expressed interest in maintaining coaching.
- Activities:
- Pre-retirement:- Between March and December 2020 I held Leadership Development zoom seminars for Community Oncology groups in June and December, involving a total of 16 individuals. I followed through with individual coaching sessions involving two individuals. I delivered a zoom development session for Medical Physics graduate students and provided coaching to two of them. I coached three other individuals.
- Post-retirement:- There have been 8 individuals who have sought consultation and coaching, with a total of 26 sessions between January and end of October 2021. During the summer this trickled to almost nothing but activity picked up again in September. This amounted to 108 hours of work, with 27 hours of preparation, 51 hours of reading books/ documents and 30 hours in actual coaching or consultation.
- Strategic retreat in July 2021: – Another 22 hours were spent preparing for a strategic retreat for the academic department of Family Medicine, with a full day session with 12 participants. A report was finalized in September 2021.
Other activities included development of a website, which took approximately 40 hours to develop and get running. The monthly newsletters posted on the website have taken me another 11 hours to write.
- Financial: The academy has had an income of $3100 for the 12 months. This can be broken down between $1400 for the strategic planning retreat, and $1700 for the sessions delivered. Finances for the academy include $125 for the website administration, and $50 for book orders for the Kobo reader.
Overall impression and future plans
There is enough activity to feel that the academy is filling a niche. The academy was meant to provide a platform to provide coaching services and also occasionally be involved in strategic planning for groups. The intent was to open opportunities to help younger emerging leaders, and these are the people whom we have engaged with. It is intended to also provide stimulus for producing original thinking through manuscripts or books. The coaching opportunities have been great and have allowed me to help influence a few emerging leaders. A significant part of the coaching activity is focussed on helping develop self awareness and confidence; and enabling clients to develop resilience through hard times.
Strategic planning and leadership development elements have been sparse, and I believe this may need to be removed as a service within the academy. (To successfully run this kind of activity requires that you have regular experience with groups, which I am not getting). The future looks healthy, and I continue to receive referrals from the website/ AHS/ word of mouth/ Cumming school of Medicine.
Peter Craighead,
Honorary Clinical Professor and Consultant, Journeys Academy
Journeys Academy Homepage 