Quest’s ELP is a cohort based, nine-month program delivered mostly virtually but with bookend in-person summits. It is designed to develop high-potential, mid-level leaders (technical and functional), to strengthen their leadership skills, grow their career, and progress to senior leadership. Each cohort consists of 15 – 20 participants from diverse companies and industries nationwide for an engaging learning experience.

The goals of The ELP are to:

• Develop stronger leadership skills, business acumen, and digital fluency in leaders.
• Create a more robust, more valuable brand for the participant’s department/function, attracting and retaining top talent.
• Provide a comprehensive and interactive learning experience custom built by customer members of the Quest Oracle Community.

Here are five key components:

• Self-Awareness: A participant begins The ELP by evaluating themselves against research-based leadership competencies and having their direct manager evaluate them as well. Through the assessment, a participant and their direct manager will develop a full picture of the participant’s strengths/areas of opportunity and a data-driven career discussion, receiving targeted feedback and identifying areas of focus. Then, before graduating from the program, the participant will re-assess themselves to discover where they have grown and where they still have opportunity for growth.
• Leadership Development: In October, participants will attend a two-day in-person Summit: Laying the Leadership Foundation. From there, participants will engage virtually every other month on key leadership capabilities: The Strategy, Delivering Results, and People and Projects, Each week of these virtual engagement months, the instructor will introduce topics related to the area of focus (a blog, a video, or maybe a recorded interview) that the participants can engage with asynchronously. Participants will be expected to engage with the content and provide reactions/thoughts with the group each week. At the end of the month, the instructor wrap the virtual engagement content up with a 60 minute video conference workshop.
• Peer Connections: In addition to informal networking opportunities, The ELP will take a very intentional approach to facilitating networking, the exchange of ideas, and building trusted relationships with peers from various companies and industries nationwide, with Oracle executives, with relevant solution providers and other community leaders. Every other month (the months in which there isn’t Leadership Development content being delivered) The ELP will facilitate an introduction to a relevant connection. Also, The ELP will dedicate time and energy helping cohort participants build their relationships through facilitated group exercises. Finally, each participate will receive a mentor.
• 1:1 Mentoring: Based on the results of the participant’s assessment, The ELP will assign a senior leader outside of the participant’s organization as their mentor. The mentee is expected to schedule the meetings, drive the relationship, and bring value to their mentor. This relationship benefits both individuals by providing an opportunity to build networks, learn outside perspectives, and receive feedback and advice.
• Capstone Project: Participants will be put into small groups to work together throughout the program on a joint Capstone Project. The Capstone Project is designed to help ELP participants apply concepts learned through the program into practice through a project. The groups will present the project for review and feedback to the Quest Board of Directors at the final in-person ELP gathering at BLUEPRINT 4D.

Our most recent post-program survey of participants highlighted the following outcomes:

• Program Net Promoter Score (NPS) = 100 (highest possible score) = “Will Recommend the Program to Others”
• 100% said the Emerging Leaders Program “Significantly Enhanced” their leadership skills.
• 100% of participants said the program experience exceeded their expectations, with 75% saying it “significantly exceeded expectations”.
• 100% of participants said they are more prepared and confident as a leader after completing the program, with 83% saying that they are “significantly more prepared and confident as a leader”.

• 100% of participants said they are more confident in their ability to do the following because of the program:

  • Lead a team effectively.
  • Make strategic decisions.
  • Influence across departments.
  • Communicate business value.

The program has been designed for high-potential technology or functional leaders with technology responsibilities. We recommend participants with titles from manager-level to director-level, but this can also vary based on the size of the organization and the responsibilities of the participant. The program is for emerging leaders as well as seasoned veterans (looking to enhance their leadership competencies). While the program is open to participants regardless of Quest membership status or the ERP their company uses, Quest members will receive a significant price discount and Oracle users will benefit the most from some of the Oracle focused networking activities the program will facilitate.

There are three primary ways you can utilize this program:

• Enroll up to five of your up-and-coming team members to join a cohort.
• Become a mentor for one or two participants from another company.
• Serve as an industry expert for some of our focused content areas.

• Average of 2 hours per week of asynchronous learning for weeks 1 and 2.
• Approximately 2 hours in weeks 3 and 4 (asynchronous learning time + online workshop).
• Approximately 4 hours of capstone project meetings and work
• Monthly Total: ~12 hours per month

Senior executives from within the Quest community serve as mentors for the Quest Emerging Leaders Program. Mentors are vetted by Quest’s Emerging Leaders Program Committee (which is also made up of senior executives in the community).

Being a mentor requires meeting with your mentee(s) a minimum of 6 one-hour meetings during the duration of the program. You are always welcome to meet more often if that works for you and your mentee and it doesn’t’ conflict with other ELP programming.

We will provide a profile of each mentee you will be assigned that includes their current role, career goals, personal interests and the mentoring topics that they are hoping to cover. We will also provide you with their leadership self-assessment as well as their manager’s assessment of the participant’s leadership.

We will also provide you with a mentor guide that contains best practices for engaging with your mentee(s). We will connect you and your mentee via email. From there it will be the mentee’s responsibility to schedule the meetings.

Participants will be put into small groups to work together throughout the program on a joint Capstone Project. The Capstone Project is designed to help ELP participants apply concepts learned through the program into practice through a project. The groups will present the project for review and feedback to the Quest Board of Directors at the final in-person ELP gathering at BLUEPRINT 4D.

Participants are required to complete the following to graduate:

• A self-assessment, reviewing the results with their direct manager, at the beginning and the end of the program.
• Attend and actively engage in the orientation, the two in-person workshops (Lexington Leadership Workshop and BP4D Completion Ceremony), actively engage in the virtual activities (peer networking and book club) and attend the virtual workshops at the end of the month.
• Participate in four or more mentoring conversations.
• Complete and present the Capstone Project with your small group.

Quest’s Emerging Leaders Program will utilize an online portal to house the program materials, activities and assignments.