L7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship / MBA

[pistachioicecream]

Has anyone else been through a L7 apprenticeship recently?

I've finished all my academic modules and am now meant to be working on my Evidence Portfolio but am really struggling.

I can't seem to think of anything to write. This bit is so much harder than the academic bit was. Just looking for someone to wallow with :-(

It's been a good long while since I was doing my portfolio. I'm afraid I remember that blank page of paper feeling very very well.

How do you like ideas to come to you? I get my best ideas when talking to people, so I arranged a bit of a 'tour' to catch up with people, a good mix of directors who had 'sponsored' my projects, who could remind me of the wider context and peers who were in the same position.

I also did an update of my CV in things which might 'sound good' and used any ideas that cropped up then. That started just with a chronological list of what I had done. I had forgotten loads which the other people reminded me of.

I asked for 15mins over coffee mtgs, to listen to their ideas on <something nebulous> like their ideas on current status and where the industry is going, rather than the actual help I needed. I thought people would be happy to talk about that more general topic and took it from there. All the mtgs ran over by ages (people like to be listened to) and one, the most helpful turned into a series of coffee catch ups and have persisted.

I also got a new role out of it. Don't forget that next steps. Good luck.

Soz. I don't have any actual help, hope a bit of solidarity might help.

Sorry, should have said congratulations on finishing the academicals. 😀

@FinallyHere Thank you for the solidarity. We're a really small business so I think part of my problem is that I don't think anything I do is really "good enough" in some way. Probably need a bit of a mindset shift about it all.

Thank you for sharing how you tackled it

Me! Well, I finished in April last year and had my EPA in June. Absolutely agree with you that this is the worst bit, so painful.

For the knowledge areas, I mapped my assignments and a couple of work based products. Then the skills areas were almost entirely work based products.

For behaviours, I circulated an evaluation survey out to about 30 colleagues (mix of immediate colleagues, reportees, senior staff) and this was the bulk of my evidence for that section.

Happy to chat if you want to pm me :) - but keep going, now I am on the other side I look back and am slightly astounded at what I managed to achieve during a pandemic with small children! 😀

About to go through EPA myself , I feel your pain! What subject / field are you in ?

@Poodlemam Mine is the L7 Senior Leader Apprenticeship. At the end of that bit I get a PGDip in Business Administration, then can pay to top it up to an Exec MBA.

I managed to get my portfolio done in the end so currently working on a Strategic Business Proposal which has to be in on 17th August. Then have my LAD early in September.

What is yours in? How are you getting on? The portfolio was SO stressful. Worse than any of the academic bits I had to do :-( Good luck. Hope you're getting through it.

@geminiflanagan Thank you for your reply too.. Sorry I missed it at the time. Totally agree when I look back at what I've had to do, have no idea how I did it! No sleep most of the time ;-) Hugely impressed you managed it with small children. Mine are older and more self-sufficient, but I have friends juggling it all with young children and I have no idea how they manage it!

Early September is here and my LAD is tomorrow :-(

Not looking forward to it one bit. Feedback from others in my cohort who’ve had theirs already has not filled me with confidence.

Will be so frustrated if I fail this bit after getting a Distinction for the academics.

roll on 12:30 tomorrow when it will all be over (unless I have to retake!). Now if only I could get to sleep…….

Good luck today, I hope it all goes well (I'm sure it will - you're clearly very capable).