Agenda
The Strategic Leadership Programme consists of 5 core elements delivered over 5 continuous days:
- Personality and Individual Drivers in Leadership
- People Strategy
- Analytical and Creative Strategy
- Implementing and Managing Strategic Change
- Evaluation, Presenting your Strategy, and Peer Review
*The agenda is for a guide only and is subject to change
** The delivery of this programme via the virtual classroom may differ to ensure the optimum learning experience within this environment. However, the learning outcomes will remain the same.
The virtual course would be 4 x 90 minute sessions per day, with breakouts and tasks leading to the next session.
Please prepare for your virtual classroom course by reading our virtual classroom information guide.
Developing a Strategic Mindset
Participants will be coached through a detailed analysis of themselves, exploring their personality preferences, values, motivations and goals. How these factors influence how you develop and lead strategy will be discussed, and the individual strengths and development areas of each individual’s profile will be explored. Participants will gain a deep psychological insight into their own nature and personality, and will understand how this impacts their work.
Emotional Intelligence and Strategic Leadership
We will introduce the Emotional Intelligence concept and examine its relevance to successful organisational leadership and management. Methods to evaluate existing levels of emotional intelligence will be introduced, and we will examine and apply strategies to enhance this in relationship to the management of oneself and one’s colleagues.
Professional Development Objective Setting
Based on the in-depth self-reflection of the day, participants will develop tailored objectives for the programme. The following sessions will be tailored to meet the objectives of every student.
Analyse Your Organisational Climate
Participants will complete a short cultural analysis of their own organisation, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the culture, consider how the current reality impacts how strategy is developed, and confirm which forces support and resist the successful execution of strategy.
Strategic Performance Management
Several models of performance management will be evaluated, and cultural implications of each discussed. Participants will critically assess the models within the context of their own organisation, and ideas relating to how performance management might be improved, whilst enhancing the culture, will be generated and discussed.
Situational Leadership
An introduction to Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership model via a highly interactive exercise examining how it relates to leadership in the participant’s organisation. The benefits of Situational Leadership, in regard to performance, professional development, and succession planning will be explored.
Coaching and Mentoring Culture
Participants will be introduced to key concepts in coaching and mentoring, and will then discuss the relevance and benefit of introducing these leadership behaviours into the organisation. Methods to grow coaching, mentoring and facilitation skills in leaders across the organisation will be identified.
Individual and Team Influence on Strategy
An overview of how personality types, and cognitive preferences, in teams will influence how strategy is developed and delivered. More creative personalities will have a preference for innovation, but this carries risk. Structured personalities may have a preference for predictable, linear strategy, but this will limit opportunity to create new value. How the balance is stuck will be considered. We will identify how poor team relationships, a lack of cognitive diversity, and an absence of trust can negatively affect organisational performance.
Analytical Strategy
Participants will engage with strategic models that have the purpose of systematically examining the macro environment, breaking it down, and enabling the strategist to engage with it in an organised and structured way.
Creative Strategy
We will examine the need for innovation within the participant’s organisation, and how this is currently managed. Participants will engage with a process designed to ‘spark’ creative and original thought. We will examine how engaging with complex problems can help access creative neurological systems, and how this can support the development of original ‘blue ocean’ strategy.
The process will be applied to the delegate’s real-world context, and we will conclude with a consideration of managing the risks associated with innovation, in the learners’ specific context.
Communicating the Plan
Participants will examine the challenges associated with building consensus, stakeholder management, and forming a guiding coalition that will be necessary for a strategy to be accepted by the organisation. Influence techniques to support this challenge will be taught, and we will also discuss how using metaphor and storytelling can significantly enhance the impact and acceptance of the message.
The Challenge of Change
Implementing new plans will inevitably require change management. This session will introduce classical and emerging theory in relation to the psychological impact of change, and how to effectively manage it within organisations. Participants will engage with previously taught theory, including emotional intelligence, coaching and mentoring, and facilitation, and examine how to apply this within the context of change.
Agile Strategy Implementation
This session will introduce the underpinning principles of Agile, and identify how they relate to the implementation of strategy. Rather than try to develop a perfect blueprint (which may or may not work), organisations should put together a workable plan, fast, and then test it with clients or end users who will be willing to experiment, and give fast, honest feedback. Agile teams examine this feedback at the first opportunity, adapt their plan, and iterate forwards. How Agile principles may apply to the participants organisations will be explored.
Change Management Planning Session
Utilising an updated version of Kotter’s famous 8 step change process, participants will develop a change management plan to support their own organisational strategy.
Measurement and Evaluation
An introduction to the rationale for measuring strategic progress towards goals, and the evaluation of strategy. The session will examine different evaluation models and methodology, and participants will identify which will be most appropriate for their organisation, and their own plan.
Presenting the Strategy
In a safe and supportive environment, participants will be asked to present a strategy for their organisation, supported by the theoretical frameworks they have applied to develop it, and the implications for leadership. Participants will take questions and considerations that will help to refine the strategy and enable it to be examined from different perspectives.
This session will ask participants to talk through the ‘real world’ application of training, and be able to reference the relevant conceptual models and theory that will make this an evidence based approach. This exercise will also ensure learners have a framework for their written assignments, and ensure they are clear on how they will evidence the application of theory to their professional practice.
Qualification and Action Plan
The final session with be a confirmatory check that all participants are clear on the next steps required for the completion of the PG Cert. All participants will complete an action plan that will confirm their professional development objectives, and clear measurable actions that will ensure they have a personal strategy to work with, following the programme.
Tutors
James Willerton -
With over 10 years of business consulting and professional service experience, James has developed a well-rounded and practical perspective on strategic development and human capital development at all levels and cross-industries both nationally and internationally. With a focus on innovation in strategy development, James is a certified Exceptional Trainer. With a diverse background in business management, innovation, strategy development, organisational development, recruitment and operations.
During his role in recruitment, James applied advanced psychometric techniques and personally assessed over 1000 candidates for his own and his client’s businesses. Combined with coaching, this has given him an advanced experience of dealing with the human psych and obtaining optimal results for human capital and organisational development.
James has a very approachable manner, with valuable real-world experience as an employer and a senior consultant to a wide-range of industries and organisations
Sean Riley -
Sean is a Work and Organisational Psychologist, specialising in psychological diagnostics of the workplace. Experienced in the design and implementation of training, development and change programs in a multitude of cross-cultural, global environments. Sean brings a diverse and highly developed skillset from his background in the British army and corporate training industry.
Steve Barry -
Steve’s twenty five year career has spanned a number of sectors including Utilities, IT, Business & Professional Services including ten years as HR Director within Financial Services.
Throughout this time, he has managed several large organisational and cultural change programmes, ensuring the businesses he works with are fit for purpose and have a highly skilled and engaged workforce. Steve’s pragmatic approach to People Leadership has delivered benchmark performance and successfully achieved the Investors in People, Gold Award and being asked to act as one of IIPs Champions. In addition to his roles within Human Resources, Steve has a successful track record as the Customer Operations Director for an insurance business where he successfully demonstrated his leadership through non-HR lenses.
Now working as a full time Executive Coach and Leadership Development specialist, Steve has established himself as a trusted advisor working with Executive teams to develop people strategies and build organisational talent and professional capabilities. His client portfolio comprises national and international businesses across multiple sectors including Manufacturing, Retail, Professional Services, Local Government, Education and Tech firms. Steve also writes for professional journals and is a speaker at events regarding leadership development, employee engagement and change.
David Smith-Collins -
David is an inspirational Executive Coach and Leadership Mentor with two decades of experience in people development. He is a Law Graduate (LLB), a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and he holds an M.A. in Coaching and Mentoring a Post Graduate Diploma in Criminology and an M.A in Organisational Management and Economics.
David has worked with colleagues at all levels in organisations including the sectors of; Petrochemical Industry, Telecoms, IT, Banking and Finance, Construction, Aviation, Higher Education, Ministry, Transportation, Security Sector, Military and Customer Service. He has a challenging yet supportive coaching style and being positivist in his approach he can be very motivational.
With over 30 years in Policing, his career has involved Strategic Planning, Performance Delivery, Security Management, Risk Management and Disaster Recovery. He is an accomplished strategist. David has extensive experience of operating at a strategic level in public, private and third sector organisations, both in the UK and internationally, bringing a broad spectrum of knowledge, awareness and expertise across a wide range of subjects and disciplines.
Benefits of learning with in>pd
The challenges faced by today’s leaders have never been greater. As well as maximising the human capital across your organisation, recent events have shown that the need to blend agility with decisiveness has never been greater. One of the main requirements of a leader is to navigate your organisation through ever shifting landscapes whilst both taking your people with you and ensuring that they are equipped to handle ever increasing uncertainty.
Through attendance on the Strategic Leadership Programme you will experience the following benefits:
- Significantly enhance your impact as a Strategist, Manager and Leader, by implementing and using cutting edge, evidence based, leadership tools and strategic models with your team and across the organisation.
- Develop enhanced self-awareness, and a detailed insight into your personality. Understand how your personality type directly influences how you design strategy and how you lead strategy.
- Be able to evaluate and apply a range of leadership and management tools, including situational leadership, and theories of emotional intelligence, to enable high performance in teams.
- Confidently coach and mentor individuals and teams in order realise potential and align the goals of individuals with the goals of the organisation.
- Demonstrate a strategic mindset; comfortably move between operation and strategic work, and be able to adapt your focus accordingly.
- Apply both analytical and creative strategy tools and concepts in order to examine problems and solutions through different lenses.
- Use creative and analytical frameworks to confidently facilitate team strategy sessions and develop high quality plans.
- Engage with established psychological theory to implement new strategy, taking into account of the human factors associated with change.
- Apply Agile principles to enhance your own and organisation resilience, and enable strategy to be improved, iteratively, through action and measurement.
With interactive presentations, open discussion and group work, the facilitators will deliver thought provoking sessions in an engaging and memorable environment.
- To ensure rich discussion there is a suggested maximum of 20 attendees per session.
- The programme will be interactive and delegate led – facilitators will adapt to meet delegate need
- Each session will explore topics pertinent to leadership and management as well as provide practical skills to equip delegates with tools to apply in their everyday practice
The key objectives for the Strategic Leadership programme are:
- Delegates have the opportunity to reflect on their performance and to develop strategies to increase their levels of insight into their behaviours and actions
- Delegates develop their understanding of the expectations placed on strategic leaders and how these differ from operational management
- All delegates understand the key behaviours, attributes and skills of successful leaders to enable them to lead in their strategic roles
- Delegates apply the knowledge and skills they develop on the programme to develop strategic plans and a vision for their area of service
Accreditation
You can attend the Strategic Leadership Programme on an accredited and non-accredited basis.
If you decide to undertake the Strategic Leadership Programme on an accredited basis, you will receive a PGCert in Strategy and Leadership* from the University of East London, upon completion.
- Learners will complete 2 assignments in order to achieve this qualification
- Conduct top level organisational analysis, resulting in a research proposal for an empirical study into a leadership and management issue within the delegate’s professional environment
- A robust data driven enquiry within the delegate’s professional environment that adds value through active participation in a learning community, and an evaluation of how this enquiry has added value to self and the organisation
Student Support
You will be provided with:
- One-to-one telephone tutorial opportunities (as many as the student requires; typically, this would involve 3 one-hour tutorials)
- Group tutorials through conference calls
- Monthly webinar events
We encourage learners to engage with as many tutorials and learning opportunities as possible.
The blended learning method has been shown to provide flexible, student centred delivery and a high pass rate.
You can read move about the available qualification on our qualifications page.
* Subject to validation
