Live virtual, classroom or hybrid delivery
Effective leadership
Bespoke training programmes for managers
• Modular training drawing on the latest thinking and deep practical experience
• Flexible module choice and bespoke content to fit to the needs of your learners
• In-person, virtual or hybrid delivery, supported by a range of blended learning tools
• Highly experienced, knowledgeable and engaging trainers
About the training
For any manager or leader, the central challenge is to harness the skills and energy of others to the aims of their team and organisation.
And whether managing a single-site, remote or hybrid team, the best managers achieve this whilst maintaining happy working relationships, wellbeing and a sense of shared identity and purpose.
The Effective Leadership Programme equips learners with the skills and confidence they need to lead truly happy and productive teams.
Rooted in best practice and the latest thinking, its flexible content explores a wide range of topics, building into a comprehensive leadership programme that can be adapted to meet your needs head-on.
Typical programme outline
Topics and content fully customisable to suit your needs
Session 1:
The principles of flexible leadership
- Our current challenges
- Adaptability and the role of today’s leader / manager
- Using action-centred leadership to manage the task, build the team and support the individual
- Maintaining communication, collaboration, information parity and relationships across on-site, hybrid and remote teams
- Ensuring inclusion
Using short-term goals to motivate your team and monitor productivity - Building competence and confidence across your team
- Developing a flexible leadership style
- Delegating to develop rather than dumping through despair
- Skills to develop team members’ ability to make better decisions and use their initiative
Session 2:
Managing performance and engagement
- Understanding the business benefits of increasing employee engagement
- 12 practical ways to boost engagement and retention in your team
- Understanding the value of psychological safety and how to build it
- Ensuring trust, inclusion and a sense of belonging across the team
- Understanding the links between emotional intelligence, effective leadership and organisational performance
- Managing by outcomes
- Holding effective 1:1s that are ‘check-ins’ rather than ‘checking-up’
- Providing effective and performance-boosting feedback
- Increasing ownership and accountability across the team
Session 3:
Meetings, Collaboration & Social Capital
- Addressing digital exclusion and ensuring a level playing field for all team members, wherever they are based
- Ensuring clear purpose, structure, and roles during meetings
- Using meetings to drive things forward
- Achieving engagement and holding productive discussions during meetings (in-person, hybrid or virtual)
- Collaborating, disagreeing and brainstorming during meetings – tools and techniques
- Building relationships with other teams across the organisation
- Identifying problems by listening to what’s not being said
- Understanding the value and sources of social capital
- Maximising your social capital inside and outside of your organisation
Session 4:
Promoting adaptability and wellbeing
- Understanding and noticing wellbeing challenges
- Spotting warning signs of poor wellbeing / mental health in individual team members
- Feeling confident raising concerns with an employee about their wellbeing or mental health
- Building adaptability and agility across the team
- Coping with uncertainty
- Techniques to support emotional wellbeing and mental health in yourself and your team
- Managing thought patterns, perception and beliefs positively
- Helping your team’s sense of perspective and pragmatism
- Understanding the importance of control to wellbeing, and discovering ways to support your team’s sense of control at work and beyond
- Building effective, supportive team relationships
Session 5:
Communication and coaching skills
- Choosing the most appropriate way of communicating
- The difference between efficient and effective communication
- Harnessing the power of great questions to enable the team to make independent decisions
- Using the GROW model to coach and develop your team
- Empowering the team to build their problem-solving capacity
- Building competence and confidence across the team
- An extended skills practice session using the GROW model
Session 6:
Handling challenging conversations
- Identifying the key types of challenging conversation
- Setting expectations and providing evidence
- Managing tricky attitudes and behaviours
- Identifying what presses your buttons during challenging conversations and how it shows
- Understanding the amygdala hijack and why it is harder to think clearly under pressure
- Tips to manage your communication under pressure
- Preparing for your own difficult conversation
Session 7:
Managing change
- Using the change curve and other change models to understand the process of change
- Identifying what is required of a leader during change
- Understanding different people’s responses to change
- Supporting your team and employees going through change
- Avoiding common pitfalls
- Taking your team with you
- Applying a range of change management models to your own change situation
Session 8:
Strategic thinking and planning
- What do we mean by strategy
- Understanding the strategic management process
- Using PESTLE and SWOT to identify areas where change may be required
- Planning where you / your team would like to be in a defined period
- Involving your team in setting strategy
- Setting strategic goals, tactics and objectives to achieve your strategy
The above outline illustrates is just one possible programme design.
We will work with you to select the best topics, schedule and delivery format for your learners and organisation.
Blended learning
Options to suit your learners
Choose from a range of additional tools and resources to reinforce learning and ensure that it translates into practical action.
From habit-forming e-nudges to virtual coaching, any of our blended learning services can be integrated into your classroom, virtual or hybrid programme.
Recap video emails
After each training module, participants receive an email with a video recap of important takeaways from the session, plus extra resources to enable them to dig deeper into the topics they have covered .
Personal e-nudges
Throughout the programme, participants identify top action points, and receive follow-up emails that encourage them to implement their learning and provide useful practical tips and advice.
Virtual coaching
One-to-one executive coaching sessions provide a chance to focus on personal challenges and development needs. Often run before and/or after the main programme, they can also incorporate a Strengths assessment or 360-degree debrief.
Resources portal
An online portal provides access to useful videos, articles, interviews and book suggestions that build on the content of the training.
Our trainers
Our trainers are expert practitioners and consultants, with many years of experience delivering impactful training across a broad range of organisations and sectors. All are experienced in virtual as well as classroom delivery.
Sally Prescott
Sally has years of experience supporting organisations to deliver exceptional service, leadership and communications. She is a qualified coach and is licensed to deliver a wide range of training programmes. Whether through classroom or virtual training, Sally's energy, knowledge and experience have a lasting impact on those she teaches.
Kate Jennings
A highly experienced trainer, coach and consultant with a commercial background in product development, Kate has worked with clients in the UK, Europe and US to develop and deliver classroom and virtual professional skills programmes.
Jo White
Jo is an experienced business leader, trainer and coach with a proven track record of forming, growing and developing high-performing teams. With a focus on effective communication, collaboration and emotional intelligence Jo equips teams with the skills they need to be fulfilled and effective.
If you have a group of colleagues who could benefit from our Effective Leadership training we can work with you to adapt the content to your needs and can deliver the programme to a schedule that suits you.
Participants can join a virtual training session from the office or from home, and can take part in their own teams or departments, or with a mixture of colleagues from across your organisation. Classroom deliveries can be arranged at a venue of your choice.
Fees depend on the number of participants, the number of modules you want to include, blended learning options, and the extent of any design work required. Generally, group sizes can go up to 12 for highly interactive sessions, and up to 50 for a more trainer-led approach.
Please contact us to find out more and to obtain a quote.
About us
Cambridge Exec is a boutique learning consultancy made up of a select team of specialists in workplace wellbeing, communications and people-oriented leadership and management. We deliver training and coaching, and conduct research and analysis that supports your people-centred workplace culture.
For over twenty years we’ve been helping organisations ranging from small startups to international brands to build their people’s capacities, enhance wellbeing and boost engagement and productivity at work.
