Intensive Leadership Skills Training Course for Senior Managers: Influence and Team Results

Programme Summary

Intensive leadership skills training for senior managers is the subject of this two-week training course, which ends with a personal leadership action plan for one live challenge. Directors and heads of function often rise on technical strength and then lead people, peers and change with little structured practice. The programme alternates short input with simulations, peer coaching and feedback, applied to cases from finance, health and public services. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on intensive leadership skills training for mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

Senior managers set the tone for decisions, conduct and pace across their units. When their leadership habits go untested, teams wait for direction, conflicts travel upwards and change initiatives lose momentum. A structured period of rehearsal, with feedback from peers and facilitators, helps leaders see their own patterns and replace them with deliberate choices.

• Team Engagement: Improves as leaders match direction and support to the readiness of each person.
• Decision Cycle Time: Shortens as decision rights and criteria are agreed before pressure builds.
• Change Adoption: Strengthens as change is planned around stakeholder readiness and early evidence of progress.

Principles and Evidence Base

• Situational Leadership by Hersey and Blanchard: It guides how direction and support are matched to readiness in Session 3.
• Goleman's emotional intelligence model: It structures the self-awareness and self-management work in Session 2.
• Tuckman's stages of team development: It frames the team diagnosis and charter work in Session 6.
• Kotter's eight-step change model: It organises the change plan built in Session 9.

Intended Participants

• Senior managers who lead other managers and carry accountability for unit results.
• Heads of function who must influence peers and executives without formal authority.
• Newly appointed directors who are moving from technical expertise to people leadership.
• Programme and operations leaders who steer teams through restructuring or change.

Typical functions include finance, operations, healthcare administration and public services.

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to diagnose their own leadership style and its effect on others.
2. Participants will be able to adapt direction and support to the readiness of individuals and teams.
3. Participants will be able to construct an influence plan for a stakeholder who holds opposing views.
4. Participants will be able to justify a decision using agreed criteria and a recorded rationale.
5. Participants will be able to resolve a workplace conflict through a structured conversation.
6. Participants will be able to design a change plan that addresses stakeholder readiness.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Leadership Foundations and Personal Style

What does leadership demand of a senior manager beyond managing work?

• Leader and Manager Role Comparison
• Kouzes and Posner Five Practices Self-Rating
• Personal Leadership Style Profile
• Values and Principles Statement
• Leadership Baseline Scorecard

Day 2: Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence

How do your own reactions shape the people you lead?

• Goleman Emotional Intelligence Model
• Trigger and Response Log
• Multi-Source Feedback Reading Guide
• Stress Response Map
• Personal Development Priorities List

Day 3: Reading People and Situations

How is the leadership approach matched to the readiness of each person?

• Situational Leadership Matrix
• Readiness Assessment Grid
• Direction and Support Planning Sheet
• Motivation Drivers Map
• Style Flex Practice Cards

Day 4: Influence and Persuasion

How is support won from people who do not report to you?

• Stakeholder Influence Map
• Power and Interest Grid
• Persuasive Message Structure
• Interest-Based Negotiation Worksheet
• Resistance Response Script

Day 5: Decision Making Under Pressure

How are sound decisions reached when time and information are short?

• Decision Rights Chart
• Options and Criteria Matrix
• Cognitive Bias Checklist
• Pre-Mortem Review
• Decision Record Template

Day 6: Building and Directing Teams

How does a group of capable individuals become one working team?

• Tuckman Stages of Team Development
• Team Charter Template
• Role Clarity Matrix
• Meeting Rhythm Design
• Team Health Pulse Check

Day 7: Performance Conversations and Coaching

How are expectations set and performance developed through conversation?

• Expectation Setting Brief
• Feedback Preparation Sheet
• Coaching Question Ladder
• Underperformance Conversation Script
• Delegation Agreement Form

Day 8: Conflict and Difficult Conversations

How is conflict turned into a working agreement?

• Conflict Source Diagnostic
• Interest-Based Dialogue Steps
• Mediation Role-Play Brief
• Escalation Decision Tree
• Relationship Repair Plan

Day 9: Leading Change

How is a team carried through change it did not choose?

• Kotter Eight-Step Change Model
• Change Case Statement
• Readiness Heat Map
• Communication Cascade Plan
• Early Win Selection Grid

Day 10: Applying the Skills and Completing the Action Plan

Do the skills hold together when applied to one real leadership challenge?

• Applying the Session 2 Priorities List to the Challenge
• Testing the Session 3 Matrix on a Live Team Case
• Rehearsing the Session 7 and Session 8 Conversations
• Reviewing the Session 9 Change Plan with Peers
• Completing the Leadership Action Plan with SMART Objectives

Methodology

The programme rests on simulation and peer review. Participants lead short scenarios with actors and fellow delegates, receive structured feedback against observable behaviours, and repeat the scenario with an adjusted approach. Input sessions stay brief, so that most of each day is spent practising, observing and reflecting on real leadership situations brought by the group.

• Suggested activity: Leading a simulated team meeting while an observer records the behaviours used.
• Suggested activity: Holding a difficult feedback conversation in a three-person rotation.
• Suggested activity: Presenting a change case to a panel of peers who challenge it.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a leadership action plan for one live challenge. It holds a style profile, a development priorities list, an influence plan, a decision record, a conversation script and a change plan with SMART objectives. The plan is taken back to the workplace to guide the first ninety days of applying the skills with the team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is intensive leadership skills training suitable for managers who already lead teams?

Yes. This course assumes current people management experience and builds on it through practice, feedback and reflection rather than basic management theory.

Which models does intensive leadership skills training rest on here?

It rests on Situational Leadership, Goleman's emotional intelligence model, Tuckman's stages of team development and Kotter's eight-step change model.

How is the action plan from intensive leadership skills training used at work?

You use it to guide your first ninety days back, brief your own manager and agree development priorities with your team.

How does intensive leadership skills training differ from a course on strategic management?

It centres on personal influence, team behaviour and conversations, while strategic management centres on market position, planning and resource allocation.