Executive Leadership and Decision Making Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Executives and Directors, Senior Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-160

Before you join: Participants should have at least five years of management experience and current responsibility for teams, budgets, programmes, services or significant operational decisions.

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

Senior leaders are expected to make consequential decisions with incomplete information, competing stakeholder interests, operational constraints and public scrutiny. Delayed or poorly governed choices can stall investment, weaken service delivery, create control failures and reduce confidence among boards, employees, regulators and partners. This course addresses the practical discipline of setting decision rights, framing difficult choices, testing assumptions and communicating decisions that others can execute.

Participants examine executive decision making from strategic, commercial, operational and governance perspectives. They use RAPID decision roles, Cynefin sense-making, OODA loops, scenario planning, premortems and decision journals to address uncertainty, bias and competing priorities. The course develops the ability to distinguish reversible from irreversible decisions, structure board-level recommendations, manage dissent, lead through crises and create clear accountability after a decision has been made.

Instruction combines short faculty briefings with cases drawn from banking, government, infrastructure, healthcare, NGOs and multinational business. Participants work through leadership simulations, decision reviews, stakeholder negotiations and peer challenge sessions. Each participant leaves with an executive decision-making toolkit containing a decision-rights map, decision brief template, stakeholder analysis, escalation protocol, bias-control checklist and 90-day leadership application plan. The course is delivered over five instructor-led days, from 08:30 to 16:30, in classrooms across 50+ cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits experienced managers and executives moving into broader enterprise leadership roles, as well as leaders responsible for high-value programmes, regulated decisions, crisis response or cross-functional transformation.

What you will be able to do

  • Design decision-rights structures using RAPID roles, delegation limits and escalation thresholds
  • Frame strategic decisions through problem statements, assumptions, options and decision criteria
  • Apply Cynefin and OODA methods to decisions under uncertainty and time pressure
  • Evaluate alternatives using weighted decision matrices, scenarios and sensitivity testing
  • Detect cognitive bias through premortems, red-team challenge and decision journals
  • Lead executive discussions that surface dissent, resolve trade-offs and secure commitment
  • Produce board-ready decision briefs with recommendations, risks, controls and implementation ownership
  • Create a 90-day leadership application plan for improving decision quality and accountability

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence making high-stakes choices with incomplete or contested evidence
  • A repeatable structure for presenting recommendations to executives and boards
  • Clearer authority boundaries for delegating decisions and escalating exceptions
  • Practical methods for challenging assumptions without creating avoidable conflict
  • A documented plan for improving personal decision habits over 90 days

For your organisation

  • Faster decisions through defined rights, forums and escalation routes
  • Better investment choices through explicit criteria, scenarios and risk assumptions
  • Reduced rework caused by unclear ownership and undocumented decisions
  • Stronger governance evidence for boards, auditors, regulators and oversight bodies
  • More consistent crisis responses across business units and leadership teams

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can establish decision rights, accountabilities and escalation routes for executive decisions.

  • Executive mandate translated into decision rights, accountabilities and escalation thresholds
  • Stakeholder power-interest mapping identifies sponsors, blockers and affected decision owners
  • RAPID decision roles distinguish Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input and Decide
  • Decision inventory separates strategic choices from operational approvals and routine exceptions
  • Authority boundaries tested against governance charters, delegations and regulatory obligations
  • Meeting architecture assigns forums, cadence, quorum and documented decision records

Participants can frame strategic choices before selecting options or seeking approval.

  • Problem statements distinguish symptoms, root causes, constraints and desired outcomes
  • Issue trees separate mutually exclusive causes and collectively exhaustive analysis
  • Decision criteria balance value, risk, feasibility, timing and stakeholder impact
  • Assumption logs record confidence levels, evidence sources and validation actions
  • Reversible and irreversible decisions receive different approval speed and scrutiny
  • Strategic questions converted into clear choice statements and decision deadlines

Participants can select suitable decision approaches when conditions are uncertain or changing.

  • Cynefin domains distinguish clear, complicated, complex, chaotic and disorder situations
  • OODA loops structure observation, orientation, decision and rapid action
  • Signal-to-noise assessment separates material indicators from distracting operational detail
  • Scenario planning tests choices against plausible economic, political and operational futures
  • Threshold decisions define trigger points for action, pause, reversal or escalation
  • Information sufficiency determines when further analysis delays necessary executive action

Participants can compare strategic alternatives using explicit criteria, evidence and risk assumptions.

  • Weighted decision matrices compare options against agreed strategic and operational criteria
  • Sensitivity analysis tests whether rankings change when critical assumptions move
  • Expected-value calculations combine probability estimates with financial and service consequences
  • Opportunity-cost analysis identifies benefits forgone through delayed or competing investments
  • Risk appetite statements distinguish acceptable exposure from escalation-level exposure
  • Trade-off narratives explain what each option gains, loses and defers

Participants can identify judgement traps and introduce disciplined challenge into executive decisions.

  • Confirmation bias countered through disconfirming evidence and alternative hypothesis testing
  • Anchoring effects exposed by independent estimates before group discussion begins
  • Premortems identify failure modes, early warnings and preventive control actions
  • Red-team reviews challenge evidence quality, assumptions, incentives and blind spots
  • Decision journals capture forecasts, rationale, confidence and subsequent outcomes
  • Psychological safety enables dissent without weakening executive accountability or pace

Participants can build commitment for difficult decisions while handling competing stakeholder interests.

  • Stakeholder salience assesses power, legitimacy, urgency and likely response
  • Interest-based negotiation separates stated positions from underlying needs and concerns
  • Coalition mapping identifies allies, neutral parties, opponents and engagement priorities
  • Cialdini influence principles applied ethically to executive communication and sponsorship
  • Difficult conversations use facts, impacts, requests and agreed next actions
  • Commitment tests distinguish genuine agreement from passive compliance or unresolved resistance

Participants can lead time-critical decisions while maintaining control, communication and accountability.

  • Crisis command structures clarify incident leadership, authority and reporting lines
  • First-hour priorities protect people, critical services, information and legal obligations
  • Time-boxed decisions balance urgency, available evidence and reversible action options
  • Common operating pictures align leaders around verified facts and uncertainty statements
  • Escalation protocols define triggers for boards, regulators, customers and emergency services
  • After-action reviews convert crisis decisions into documented organisational learning

Participants can present decisions in a concise format suited to executive and board scrutiny.

  • Decision briefs state recommendation, rationale, alternatives, risks and requested approval
  • One-page executive summaries foreground material choices, consequences and decision deadlines
  • Board papers distinguish assurance information from matters requiring formal decision
  • Risk narratives connect controls, residual exposure, owners and contingency actions
  • Data visualisation selects charts that show trends, comparisons and decision implications
  • Executive questioning handled through concise answers, evidence references and acknowledged uncertainty

Participants can convert approved decisions into owned actions, controls and review points.

  • Decision records document authority, rationale, conditions, owners and review dates
  • RACI matrices assign delivery responsibilities after executive approval has been granted
  • Implementation milestones link actions, dependencies, resources and accountable sponsors
  • Benefits-realisation plans define measures, baselines, targets and reporting frequency
  • Exception reporting identifies deviations requiring intervention, reconsideration or formal escalation
  • Decision reviews compare anticipated outcomes with actual results and lessons

Participants can establish personal routines that improve decision quality, speed and accountability.

  • Personal decision audit identifies recurring delays, biases and authority ambiguities
  • Leadership principles translated into explicit criteria for difficult people decisions
  • Weekly decision review cadence prioritises unresolved choices, risks and commitments
  • Delegation levels define retained authority, consultation needs and reporting expectations
  • Peer advisory networks provide structured challenge for significant upcoming decisions
  • Ninety-day application plan assigns actions, measures, sponsors and review dates

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

What you take back to work

  1. RAPID decision-rights map
  2. Executive decision brief template
  3. Weighted decision matrix
  4. Premortem and red-team checklist
  5. Crisis escalation protocol
  6. 90-day executive decision plan

Who should attend

  • Executives and Directors — need disciplined methods for enterprise decisions and board accountability
  • Senior Managers — lead cross-functional choices with competing priorities and limited authority
  • Programme Directors — govern major investments, dependencies, risks and escalation decisions
  • Business Unit Heads — translate strategy into accountable commercial and operational choices
  • Public Sector Leaders — make defensible decisions under policy, budget and public-interest constraints
  • Risk and Compliance Leaders — strengthen decision controls without slowing critical action

Skills and tools covered

Executive decision governanceStrategic option analysisBias-aware judgementStakeholder influenceCrisis decision leadershipBoard communication

Tools and standards

RAPID, Cynefin Framework, OODA Loop, RACI Matrix

How the course runs

Training methodology

The programme uses short faculty briefings to introduce decision frameworks, followed by sector-based case work, group analysis and executive simulations. Participants assess ambiguous investment, crisis, people and governance decisions using structured decision briefs and stakeholder maps. Facilitated peer challenge tests assumptions, evidence, risks and implementation ownership. Individual reflection through decision journals identifies recurring judgement patterns. The final sessions convert learning into a practical 90-day application plan linked to current leadership responsibilities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least five years of management experience and current responsibility for teams, budgets, programmes, services or significant operational decisions. Familiarity with basic business planning, financial trade-offs and organisational governance is helpful. Participants should be prepared to discuss a real leadership decision, without disclosing confidential information. No formal qualification in leadership, finance, strategy or psychology is required. The course does not require prior knowledge of RAPID, Cynefin, OODA loops or quantitative decision models; these methods are introduced and applied during the programme.

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

The course is intended for experienced managers, senior specialists and executives who already make or influence significant decisions. You do not need prior formal training in leadership theory, decision science or the named frameworks used during the programme.

Bring a current leadership decision or recurring decision problem that you can discuss without sharing confidential information. A laptop or tablet is useful for working on templates, although course materials are provided.

It is best suited to leaders responsible for strategic choices, major programmes, investment decisions, risk decisions, service delivery or crisis response. It is also relevant to leaders preparing for director-level or enterprise-wide responsibilities.

General leadership courses often focus on leadership style, team motivation and communication. This programme concentrates on the mechanics of executive judgement: decision rights, evidence, uncertainty, bias, trade-offs, escalation and board-ready recommendations.

Participants can use the decision brief, RAPID map, stakeholder analysis and escalation protocol on current decisions. The 90-day application plan identifies specific meetings, decisions and leadership habits to change after the course.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between faculty input, case analysis, group work, simulations, peer challenge and individual application planning across the ten modules.

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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