LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

WHO IS THIS PROGRAM FOR?

The program is designed for CEOs, directors, functional heads, middle managers, as well as employees who have recently moved into management roles or are preparing to take on a leadership position.

In my experience, one of the main challenges is that being a strong professional does not automatically make someone a strong manager. Managing a team requires a completely different set of skills.

A manager needs to understand their role, be able to formulate goals and set clear tasks, delegate, maintain control without micromanaging, provide honest feedback, motivate and develop employees, make difficult decisions, and lead a team through constant change.

At the same time, the content of the program can be adapted depending on the seniority and experience of the participants.

For more experienced leaders and CEOs, the focus will be more on strategic thinking, difficult decision-making, team development, and change management.

For new managers and middle management, more attention will be given to fundamental management skills – setting tasks, delegation, control, feedback, motivation, and employee development.

 

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS

I do not recommend running this program as one large training session.

In my experience, leadership programs are significantly more effective when learning is spread over time and participants have an opportunity to immediately test what they have learned in their day-to-day work.

The program therefore combines three interconnected formats:

A. Training

Participants receive specific knowledge, models, and practical tools that are essential for a modern leader.

B. Team Coaching

Between training sessions, we discuss what participants have tried to implement, what challenges they have faced, what situations have arisen in their teams, and what they could do differently.

C. Individual Coaching

When necessary, participants can work individually on specific management situations that cannot or should not be discussed in detail within the group.

The program is therefore not simply a training course, but a leadership development process that takes place over several months.

 

PROGRAM TOPICS

The program consists of three main blocks and twelve topics:

Block 1. Skills of the Modern Leader

1. Understanding the role of a leader and responsibility for the team

2. Strategic and structural thinking

3. The leader’s resourceful state and stress management

4. Making difficult decisions

Block 2. The Leader and the Team

5. Effective communication

6. Feedback

7. Working with the team and building trust

8. Employee motivation and recognition

9. Employee development

Block 3. Managing Performance and Change

10. Setting goals and tasks. Delegation

11. Control without micromanagement

12. Change management

BLOCK 1. SKILLS OF THE MODERN LEADER

 

1. Understanding the Role of a Leader

What does it really mean to be a leader?

Moving from the role of an individual contributor to the role of someone who is responsible not only for their own results, but also for the results of other people.

The leader’s responsibility for the team, quality of communication, team atmosphere, employee development, and final results.

Understanding the strengths and leadership qualities that a leader can rely on – including CliftonStrengths 34 assessment.

 

2. Strategic and Structural Thinking

How can a leader stop being constantly immersed in operational activities and learn to see the bigger picture?

We will explore:

• strategic and systems thinking;
• mechanisms of thinking and decision-making;
• decision-making with incomplete information;
• working with uncertainty;
• key strategic analysis tools;
• moving from a problem-focused mindset to a solution-focused mindset.

 

3. The Leader’s Resourceful State

Leaders constantly work in an environment of high responsibility, large amounts of information, tight deadlines, and the need to make decisions.

This is why the ability to manage one’s own state becomes a leadership competency in itself.

Within this topic, we explore:

• mechanisms of stress;
• the impact of stress on thinking and decision-making;
• managing emotional states;
• managing attention and energy;
• the four key elements of a resourceful state;
• prevention of professional burnout;
• practical stress-management tools.

 

4. Making Difficult Decisions

We work separately with difficult management decisions.

For example:

• how to make decisions under uncertainty;
• how to conduct difficult conversations;
• how to deal with conflicting interests;
• how to make unpopular decisions;
• how to talk to an employee about poor performance;
• how to make and communicate a decision to terminate employment.

BLOCK 2. THE LEADER AND THE TEAM

 

5. Effective Communication

One of the key responsibilities of a leader is to create clear and transparent communication within the team.

We explore:

• key principles of effective communication;
• active listening;
• understanding other people’s motives and behavior;
• developing the leader’s EQ – emotional intelligence;
• building rapport and trust;
• body language and intonation;
• communication during periods of change;
• cross-cultural and generational differences, including the Culture Map assessment;
• basic coaching tools for working with employees.

This becomes particularly important in international and multicultural teams, where the same communication style may be perceived very differently by different people.

 

6. Feedback

We look in detail at both giving and receiving feedback.

Key topics include:

• why managers need feedback in the first place;
• positive, constructive, and critical feedback;
• key feedback models;
• how to give difficult feedback;
• how to avoid making feedback personal;
• how to deal with negative reactions;
• how leaders themselves can receive feedback;
• regular 1:1 meetings;
• feedforward;
• creating a culture of open feedback within the team.

A particular focus is placed on making feedback honest, timely, and constructive rather than turning it into a tool for pressure.

 

7. Working with the Team and Building Trust

We look at the team not simply as a group of employees, but as a system.

Within this topic, we work with:

• trust;
• psychological safety;
• team values;
• communication rules;
• team agreements;
• distribution of responsibility;
• conflicts;
• basic team coaching tools.

During the program, participants can create or review their own team agreements and rules of interaction.

 

8. Employee Motivation

We explore why the same methods of motivation work very differently with different people.

Key topics include:

• individual motivation;
• understanding employee needs;
• recognition of achievements;
• engagement;
• the leader’s impact on team motivation;
• creating an environment in which people want to take responsibility.

 

9. Employee Development

One of the responsibilities of a modern leader is not simply to control how work is performed, but also to develop people.

We discuss:

• how to identify an employee’s development areas;
• how to conduct development conversations;
• how to use a coaching approach as a manager;
• how to give employees greater autonomy;
• how to develop strengths;
• how to gradually increase the level of responsibility.

BLOCK 3. MANAGING PERFORMANCE AND CHANGE

 

10. Setting Goals, Tasks and Delegation

We look at the full cycle of how a manager works with a task:

• setting a goal;
• setting a specific task;
• defining the expected result;
• choosing the appropriate level of delegation;
• transferring responsibility;
• agreeing on control points;
• evaluating the result.

We also use the Situational Leadership and 7 Levels of Delegation models.

The main objective is to learn how to delegate in a way that genuinely transfers responsibility rather than simply transferring work.

 

11. Control Without Micromanagement

One of the typical problems managers face is either insufficient control or excessive control.

We therefore look separately at:

• what exactly needs to be controlled;
• when control is necessary;
• how to define control points;
• how to control results rather than every action an employee takes;
• how to work with mistakes;
• how to gradually increase employee autonomy;
• how to maintain the employee’s responsibility for the result.

 

12. Change Management

Almost every modern company is in a constant process of change.

This may include business growth, a new strategy, changes in organizational structure, implementation of new technologies, restructuring, redundancies, mergers, or changes in corporate culture.

We explore:

• why people resist change;
• the leader’s role in the change process;
• how to communicate change effectively;
• how to work with resistance;
• how to maintain team engagement;
• five key global change management models.

FORMAT

The program is highly personalized and delivered through an open dialogue with the group, with a strong focus on practical work.

We begin with a diagnostic stage.

The purpose of the diagnostic is to understand the main challenges faced by the specific leaders and teams participating in the program.

Theory and tools are then continuously linked to real situations from the participants’ work.

Most examples and cases we discuss come directly from the group’s actual experience.

This is why the program is not a lecture or simply a collection of knowledge.

It is closer to a working laboratory in which participants try different tools, run experiments, analyze the results, and gradually change their own management practices.

Team Coaching

Team coaching sessions are held between the training modules.

Their purpose is to keep the knowledge and skills acquired during the program active and help participants implement them in their real work.

During these sessions, we discuss:

• what participants tried after the previous session;
• what worked;
• what did not work;
• where resistance appeared;
• what new management situations arose;
• what decisions were made;
• what could be done differently.

Participants also exchange experiences and best practices.

This is particularly important because the company gradually develops a common management language and a new leadership culture.

Managers begin to develop a shared understanding of concepts such as responsibility, delegation, feedback, control, trust, and employee development.

Individual Coaching

Some management issues require individual work.

For example:

• difficult relationships with a specific employee;
• conflict;
• the need to make a difficult decision;
• problems with delegation;
• difficulties in working with one’s own manager;
• managing one’s emotions;
• professional burnout;
• changes in role;
• the leader’s own further development.

In such cases, the program can be supplemented with individual 60-minute coaching sessions.

During an individual session, the leader works on a specific situation and develops their own action plan.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

In my experience, the optimal format for a leadership program is to work with the group over several months.

The first modules can be delivered closer together in order to create a strong foundation and build momentum.

After that, sessions can take place approximately once every two weeks.

This interval gives participants an opportunity to test new tools at work, gain real experience, and bring that experience back to the next session.

The optimal cycle is:

New knowledge – application at work – analysis of results – feedback – adjustment – next practical application.

This is why I prefer a longer-term format to a one-off training session.

The objective of the program is not for participants to remember the names of different models a month later.

The objective is for them to manage people and teams differently after several months.

PROGRAM OUTCOMES

As a result of the program, leaders will:

• better understand their role and responsibility;
• make management decisions in a more structured way;
• work more effectively under stress and uncertainty;
• set goals and tasks more effectively;
• delegate and transfer responsibility;
• maintain control without micromanaging;
• provide honest and constructive feedback;
• handle difficult conversations more effectively;
• better understand employee motivation;
• develop their people;
• build greater trust within their teams;
• manage change more effectively.

At the company level, the objective of the program is to build a more mature management culture and a common approach to leadership.

For me, the main measure of the program’s effectiveness is not how much knowledge participants acquire, but what managers actually start doing differently after our sessions.

If you are interested in running this program in your company, please contact me to discuss the most suitable format.