advanced · 900–960 min
We need a two-day leadership programme where managers practise on their real situations and actually behave differently afterwards
The training itself goes well. People engage, the evaluations are good, and everyone leaves with a full notebook. Then the calendar takes over. The notebook stays closed, the difficult conversation stays unhad, and by the next quarterly review the training is a pleasant memory rather than a change in how anyone leads. The organisation concludes it needs more content, when what it needed was more practice and a structure that survives contact with the first busy Monday.
About this session
This programme is for a facilitator running leadership development for a group of 8 to 16 managers over two consecutive full days. Each participant walks in with one real leadership situation they will face within the next month, submitted before the programme starts. The two days produce rehearsed conversations, a tested personal playbook, and commitments with a named owner, a date, and a check-in already booked in calendars before the room empties. Use it when the group has real situations to work on and the sponsor accepts that practice, not content, fills most of the time. Do not use it for teams in acute conflict, for groups larger than 16, or when participants cannot commit to both full days. If the request is really for alignment or a decision, a shorter format serves better.
Why it works
Most leadership training fails at transfer. What is taught in the room rarely reaches the job, and organisations respond by adding more content, treating a behaviour problem as a knowledge problem. Managers do not lack models of good feedback. They lack rehearsal of the specific conversation they are avoiding, in conditions close enough to reality that the rehearsal carries over. This programme fixes the material problem first: every practice block runs on a situation a participant actually faces next month, so nothing has to be translated from a case study back to real life. It then respects how learning settles. A night of sleep strengthens what was practised on day one, but it does not reset the capacity to absorb new material, so day two retrieves and converts rather than adds. Only one short input block appears on day two, and it appears late. Finally, the programme treats the two weeks after as part of the design. Commitments get an owner, a date and a booked check-in before anyone leaves. The usual failure is not a weak day two. It is silence afterwards, and silence is prevented by calendar entries, not intentions.
What you’ll walk away with
- Each participant has rehearsed their real upcoming conversation at least twice and received structured feedback on it
- Each participant leaves with a one-page conversation plan they wrote, tested and revised during the programme
- A group pattern board naming the 5 to 8 leadership behaviours this group most needs to change
- A maximum of 2 commitments per participant, each with one named owner, a date, and an observable behaviour
- Every check-in conversation scheduled in calendars before the end of day two, within 14 days of the programme
Who it’s for
Leadership development facilitators, Learning and development leads, Team coaches running management programmes, HR partners who own leadership tracks
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