Emerging Leaders Development Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends New Managers, Team Leaders and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-110

Before you join: Participants should have at least two years of professional work experience and regular responsibility for coordinating work, influencing colleagues or supporting others' development.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Emerging leaders are often promoted because they deliver strong individual results, then face a different set of demands: setting direction through others, gaining credibility with former peers, handling competing stakeholder expectations and making decisions with incomplete information. Without a clear leadership approach, new managers can over-control work, avoid difficult conversations, delegate poorly or become the bottleneck for team decisions.

This course develops the practical skills required for a first or early people-leadership role. Participants examine the transition from individual contributor to leader, build self-awareness, communicate expectations, delegate with appropriate control, coach performance and address poor performance directly. They also learn to run accountable teams, resolve conflict, make sound decisions, lead local change and manage relationships with managers, peers, team members and internal partners.

The five-day instructor-led course combines focused briefings with realistic cases, facilitated group work, leadership simulations and structured reflection. Participants apply methods such as SCARF, SBI feedback, GROW coaching and RACI responsibility mapping to situations resembling those faced in public agencies, banks, NGOs, operational teams and corporate functions. Each participant leaves with a personal leadership charter, a 90-day action plan, stakeholder engagement priorities and reusable conversation tools. Delivery is available in classroom settings in 50+ cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course is suited to professionals moving into their first formal leadership role, recently appointed managers and experienced specialists expected to lead work through others without relying solely on technical authority.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose the transition risks from individual contributor to accountable team leader
  • Apply the SCARF model to strengthen trust, motivation and working relationships
  • Structure clear expectations, task briefs and delegation agreements using decision rights
  • Conduct feedback conversations using the SBI model and evidence-based language
  • Use GROW coaching conversations to develop performance, confidence and ownership
  • Resolve conflict through assertive communication, interest-based negotiation and documented agreements
  • Map team responsibilities and decision ownership using a RACI matrix
  • Produce a 90-day leadership action plan with stakeholder and development priorities

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence when setting expectations with former peers and direct reports
  • A repeatable structure for feedback, coaching and difficult conversations
  • Clearer judgement about when to direct, delegate, coach or escalate
  • A personal leadership charter grounded in observable behaviours and boundaries
  • A 90-day development plan linked to current workplace responsibilities

For your organisation

  • Faster transition of new managers into accountable people leadership
  • More consistent performance expectations, follow-up and development conversations
  • Reduced management bottlenecks through clearer delegation and decision ownership
  • Earlier resolution of conflict, performance concerns and stakeholder misunderstandings
  • Stronger internal succession pipeline for supervisory and management positions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define their leadership role, decision boundaries and early priorities.

  • Role transition from individual contributor to accountable team leader
  • Leadership identity shaped by authority, credibility and stated team expectations
  • First-90-day priorities using stakeholder, performance and relationship information
  • Managerial discretion, escalation boundaries and decision rights clarified early
  • Personal values translated into observable leadership behaviours under pressure
  • Weekly reflection routine linking intentions, actions and team responses

Participants can manage their reactions and communicate with credible leadership presence.

  • SCARF model diagnoses social threats affecting trust, motivation and collaboration
  • Emotional triggers identified through antecedent-behaviour-consequence mapping before difficult conversations
  • Pause-label-choose technique interrupts reactive responses during conflict
  • Structured feedback requests expose blind spots and communication habits
  • Stress signals managed through recovery routines and workload boundaries
  • Leadership presence aligned with voice, pace, posture and listening

Participants can communicate priorities, decisions and expectations with clarity.

  • SBI feedback structures observations, effects and requested future behaviour
  • Active listening uses paraphrasing, summarising, probing and purposeful silence
  • Message maps organise headline, evidence and audience-specific implications
  • Direct communication separates facts, interpretations, emotions and requests
  • Meeting contracts establish purpose, roles, decisions and follow-through
  • Written updates use context, decision, owner and deadline

Participants can assign work with clear ownership, support and follow-up.

  • Performance expectations converted into observable standards, measures and deadlines
  • Delegation levels matched to capability, risk, authority and support needs
  • Task briefs specify outcome, constraints, decision rights and check-in points
  • RACI matrices distinguish accountable ownership from consultation and information
  • Coaching questions diagnose skill gaps, confidence gaps and resource barriers
  • Follow-up cadence tracks commitments without micromanaging capable staff

Participants can use coaching conversations to improve capability and ownership.

  • GROW conversations move from goals to options and committed actions
  • Open questions uncover assumptions, priorities and employee-generated solutions
  • Coaching versus directing selected by competence, risk and time pressure
  • Development goals linked to current assignments and future role requirements
  • Feedforward requests focus future performance rather than past error
  • Career conversations balance aspiration, evidence, opportunities and organisational needs

Participants can address performance and relationship issues directly and constructively.

  • Conversation preparation separates facts, impact, desired outcome and alternatives
  • SBI feedback addresses missed standards without labelling personal character
  • Assertive requests state boundaries, consequences and support available
  • De-escalation techniques acknowledge emotion while returning to agreed facts
  • Interest-based negotiation identifies underlying needs before trading options
  • Documentation records commitments, review dates, evidence and escalation triggers

Participants can establish team norms, decision routines and shared accountability.

  • Team purpose translated into shared priorities, interfaces and service standards
  • Psychological safety built through inquiry, admission of errors and response norms
  • Decision protocols distinguish consult, recommend, decide and inform responsibilities
  • Conflict styles assessed through competing, avoiding, accommodating, compromising and collaborating
  • Cross-functional handoffs mapped using inputs, outputs, owners and acceptance criteria
  • Team rituals reinforce accountability, recognition, learning and issue escalation

Participants can analyse problems, select decisions and record accountable rationale.

  • Problem statements distinguish symptoms, causes, constraints and affected stakeholders
  • Five Whys analysis tests causal assumptions before selecting interventions
  • Decision criteria weight impact, feasibility, risk, cost and timing
  • Pre-mortem reviews surface failure modes, mitigations and contingency owners
  • Escalation decisions separate reversible choices from high-consequence commitments
  • Decision logs record rationale, owner, date and review triggers

Participants can communicate change, address resistance and sustain local adoption.

  • Stakeholder maps identify influence, concerns, readiness and engagement approaches
  • Change messages explain rationale, local impact, support and next actions
  • Resistance conversations test concerns without defending predetermined solutions
  • Transition plans sequence communication, training, adoption checks and reinforcement
  • Local champions provide feedback channels and peer support during implementation
  • Progress measures track adoption, performance effects and unresolved barriers

Participants can convert course learning into a focused 90-day leadership plan.

  • Leadership diagnostic consolidates feedback, strengths, risks and development priorities
  • Personal leadership charter defines values, behaviours, boundaries and commitments
  • 90-day action plan schedules conversations, delegation steps and feedback checkpoints
  • Stakeholder engagement plan targets manager, peers, team members and partners
  • Development experiments specify behaviour, context, evidence and review date
  • Accountability partnerships establish progress reviews and challenge questions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Personal leadership charter
  2. 90-day leadership action plan
  3. SBI feedback conversation template
  4. GROW coaching question guide
  5. RACI responsibility matrix
  6. Stakeholder engagement plan

Who should attend

  • New Managers — need practical methods for leading former peers and direct reports
  • Team Leaders — need clearer routines for delegation, accountability and performance conversations
  • Supervisors — need to manage daily delivery while building staff capability
  • High-Potential Specialists — need leadership skills before or shortly after promotion
  • Project Managers — need influence methods for coordinating contributors without full line authority
  • Technical Leads — need to translate expertise into direction, coaching and team decisions

Skills and tools covered

Team leadershipPerformance coachingFeedback conversationsDelegation managementConflict resolutionStakeholder engagement

Tools and standards

SCARF model, SBI feedback model, GROW coaching model, RACI matrix

How the course runs

Training methodology

Instruction is built around short faculty briefings, facilitated discussion, realistic leadership cases, paired practice, small-group analysis and decision simulations. Participants prepare feedback, coaching, delegation and conflict conversations using structured models, then receive facilitator and peer input. Cases can be adapted to the cohort's operating context, such as service delivery, regulated operations, project teams or public programmes. Daily reflection connects course methods to current leadership responsibilities. The final module converts learning into an individual 90-day action plan.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least two years of professional work experience and regular responsibility for coordinating work, influencing colleagues or supporting others' development. The course is most useful for those newly appointed to a supervisory or management role, or preparing for one within the next year. Participants should be ready to discuss workplace situations and receive feedback on their leadership approach. No prior formal management training is required. No academic qualification, psychometric assessment or specialist industry knowledge is required.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have professional experience and some responsibility for coordinating work, influencing colleagues or supporting others. The course does not require previous management training, a formal qualification or a current line-management title.

Bring examples of current leadership situations, such as a delegation challenge, a difficult conversation, a team issue or an upcoming change. Participants should also bring a laptop or device if attending online and any workplace notes they can share appropriately.

It is designed for new managers, supervisors, team leaders, technical leads and high-potential specialists preparing for people leadership. It also suits project managers who need to gain commitment from contributors outside their reporting line.

This course focuses on the behavioural and operational demands of early leadership: credibility, delegation, feedback, coaching, conflict and team accountability. General management courses usually place more emphasis on business planning, finance, strategy or functional management.

Participants leave with conversation structures, delegation tools, responsibility mapping and a personal 90-day action plan. These materials can be used immediately in one-to-ones, team meetings, performance reviews, project handoffs and stakeholder discussions.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between faculty input, case analysis, group work, simulations, practice conversations and action planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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