Humble Leadership Training Course: Listening, Feedback and Shared Accountability

Programme Summary

Humble leadership is the subject of this one-week training course for senior managers, which ends with a practice plan for one live team relationship. Leaders who rely on status or certainty often hear less from their people, and problems then reach them late. The programme builds self-awareness, listening, inquiry and feedback habits through role-play, reflection and peer observation, using examples from engineering, health and public services. Mars Training Centre UK delivers this programme on humble leadership for mixed-organisation cohorts.

The Business Case

Senior managers shape what their people are willing to say. When ego drives meetings, staff withhold bad news, repeat errors stay hidden and decisions rest on narrow information. Leaders who ask, listen and accept challenge receive earlier warnings and draw on wider expertise, while keeping the final decision where it belongs.

• Issue Escalation Speed: Improves as staff raise problems earlier to leaders who respond with questions.
• Employee Voice: Strengthens as challenge to the leader is invited and acted upon.
• Error Recurrence: Falls as mistakes are disclosed and discussed without blame.

Principles and Evidence Base

• Edgar Schein's humble leadership and humble inquiry: They shape the questioning practice in Session 3.
• Edmondson's psychological safety: It frames the team climate work in Session 4.
• Goleman's emotional intelligence model: It structures the self-awareness work in Session 2.
• The Johari window: It guides the blind spot exercise in Session 1.

Intended Participants

• Senior managers who chair decision meetings and want to draw out dissent.
• Heads of function who lead expert staff and must retain their trust.
• Directors preparing to lead other managers or cross-functional teams.
• Programme leaders who depend on candid reporting of risks and delays.

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

Learning Outcomes

1. Participants will be able to diagnose personal ego patterns that limit team input.
2. Participants will be able to construct a feedback seeking plan with named sources.
3. Participants will be able to apply inquiry questions in place of directive statements.
4. Participants will be able to evaluate the psychological safety of their own team.
5. Participants will be able to design a shared accountability charter for a live team.

Programme Structure

Day 1: Ego and the Foundations of Humble Leadership

How does ego help and hinder a leader in daily decisions?

• Ego Pattern Self-Assessment
• Schein Humble Leadership Model
• Johari Window Exercise
• Leader Humility Behaviour Checklist
• Humility Baseline Scorecard

Day 2: Self-Awareness and Reflection

How does a leader see their own blind spots and reactions?

• Goleman Emotional Intelligence Model
• Daily Reflection Journal
• Feedback Seeking Plan
• Blind Spot Discussion Guide
• Values Under Pressure Case

Day 3: Listening and Humble Inquiry

How are questions used in place of telling?

• Schein Humble Inquiry Question Types
• Active Listening Observation Sheet
• Asking Versus Telling Ratio Log
• Assumption Check Prompts
• Three-Role Listening Brief

Day 4: Feedback and Psychological Safety

How do leaders make it safe for others to challenge them?

• Edmondson Psychological Safety Model
• Feedback Receiving Protocol
• Request for Challenge Script
• Error Disclosure Practice
• Team Safety Pulse Survey

Day 5: Shared Accountability in Practice

Do the habits hold when applied to one real team relationship?

• Shared Accountability Charter
• Applying the Session 2 Feedback Plan to Your Own Team
• Testing the Session 3 Question Types in a Live Conversation
• Rehearsing the Session 4 Challenge Script with Peers
• Completing the Humble Leadership Practice Plan

Methodology

The programme rests on structured exercises and peer review. Participants practise short conversations in small groups, observe one another against agreed behaviours, and write reflections after each exercise. Facilitators give feedback on question quality, listening and response to challenge, so that each participant sees the gap between intention and effect before returning to the workplace.

• Suggested activity: Running a ten-minute meeting using only questions while an observer counts statements.
• Suggested activity: Asking a peer for challenge on a live decision and responding without defence.
• Suggested activity: Disclosing a past error to the group and inviting questions.

Capstone Output

Each participant completes a humble leadership practice plan for one live team relationship. It holds an ego pattern summary, a feedback seeking plan, a set of inquiry questions, a team safety check and a shared accountability charter. The plan is used at work to prepare the first team conversation after the programme and to review progress with a trusted colleague.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is humble leadership training suitable for managers who are new to reflective practice?

Yes. It assumes current experience of leading people, not prior study of psychology, and builds each habit through guided exercises.

Which models does humble leadership rest on in this training?

It rests on Schein's humble inquiry, Edmondson's psychological safety, Goleman's emotional intelligence model and the Johari window.

How is the practice plan from humble leadership training used at work?

You use it to prepare your first team conversation on return and to review progress with a trusted colleague.

How does humble leadership differ from a programme on assertive communication?

It centres on inquiry, listening and accepting challenge, while assertive communication centres on stating needs and boundaries clearly.