Good leadership doesn't happen by accident. It's built, one skill at a time.

A practical leadership course for managers and team leaders in the charity, social enterprise, and public sectors — built around the realities of your working life, not a corporate ideal.

6 modules

Online Group Sessions

Self-Paces

Approx. 9 hours

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See how it works

Most leadership training is designed for people in large companies with well-resourced HR departments and time to think.

It rarely maps onto the reality of managing a team in an organisation where budgets are tight, priorities shift constantly, and leadership responsibility arrived before leadership support did.

If that sounds familiar, this course was designed with you in mind.

You lead a team while remaining hands-on in the delivery. There is rarely a clean line between managing and doing.

You have probably attended leadership training before. Some of it was useful. Much of it felt built for someone with more resources, more authority, or a very different kind of job.

You know your team could work better together. You are just not always sure what to change — or when you would find the time

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Lead from where you are

You will have a clear, practical understanding of what leadership actually means in your role — and the confidence to take it on without waiting for a title change or formal permission.

Have the difficult conversations you have been avoiding

You will have a framework for honest, useful feedback and difficult conversations — and the skills to use it when the situation calls for it, not just when it feels comfortable.

Tell the difference between the wrong fix and the right one

You will be able to recognise when a problem needs a better system — and when it needs a change in behaviour. That distinction changes how you lead and what you choose to do first.

Build a team that does not rely on you for every decision

You will understand what it takes to design a team environment where people feel able to speak up, contribute, and take responsibility — rather than waiting for direction.

Close the gap between strategy and what actually happens

You will have practical tools for turning organisational intentions into day-to-day action — and for identifying why that gap exists in the first place.

How it works

The course is built in three parts. Each part combines self-paced online learning with a live, in-person session. You work through the online modules in your own time before attending each session.

Part One · Self — How you show up as a leader

Module 1: Leadership is an activity, not a position — what it means to lead, and why it is different from managing.
Module 2: Your leadership toolkit — the skills that matter most, and where you stand on each one.
Followed by: 1-hour in-person session — Leading from where you are

Part Two · Team — Getting people working together

Module 3: What makes a real team — and what it takes to build one that functions.
Module 4: Creating the conditions for people to speak up, contribute, and take responsibility.
Followed by: 1-hour in-person session — Building a team that works

Part Three · Delivery — Turning plans into action

Module 5: From strategy to action — why the gap between intent and practice exists, and how to close it.
Module 6: Leading change — what it takes to make a difference that lasts.
Followed by: 1-hour in-person session — Putting it all together

Total time

Approx. 3 hours of online modules
3 hours of in-person sessions

Pace

6–9 weeks, at roughly 45–60 minutes per week — the online modules are self-paced, so you complete them when it suits you

Alexa Young, CA

“Testimonials provide a sense of what it's like to work with you or use your products. Change the text and add your own."

Participating Organisations

About Ben

I spent twenty years working on leadership and change across the public and private sectors — in organisations as different as international NGOs and UK public bodies.

The more I saw, the less convinced I became that leadership works the way most training describes it. The people who made the biggest difference were rarely the most senior. They were the ones who noticed what needed to change and decided to do something about it. Quietly. Without waiting for permission.

That is what I mean by ordinary leadership. And it is what this course is built to develop.

ICF-accredited coach · MBA · Master's in Development Management · 20 years working in the public sector, NGOs, and social enterprise

Ready to take this on?