High Performance Leadership 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-103

Before you join: Participants should have some experience coordinating work, supervising colleagues, leading projects or contributing to team performance discussions.

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

High performance leadership is the practical work of turning strategy, targets and service commitments into reliable team results. Managers must set clear expectations, allocate work intelligently, coach varied levels of capability, address weak performance early and sustain morale during pressure or change. When these disciplines are inconsistent, teams become dependent on the manager, decisions stall, accountability blurs and capable people disengage.

This course develops the skills expected of managers leading high-performing people and teams. Participants learn to translate priorities into measurable objectives, establish role clarity through RACI, use coaching and feedback models, delegate with appropriate control, conduct difficult conversations and build accountability without micromanagement. They also practise methods for creating psychological safety, resolving conflict, leading change and influencing stakeholders whose cooperation is needed for delivery.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic cases, group analysis, leadership simulations, peer feedback and individual application planning. Cases can be adapted for public services, banking, NGOs, infrastructure, technology, manufacturing and corporate functions. Participants leave with a personal leadership performance plan, team scorecard, delegation map, feedback scripts, coaching questions and a 90-day action plan. A certificate of completion is issued to participants who complete the course.

The course is suited to managers who already supervise staff or lead project teams and now need a more deliberate approach to performance, people development and delivery. It is particularly useful for managers moving from technical specialist responsibilities into roles where results depend on the contribution, judgement and commitment of others.

What you will be able to do

  • Set SMARTER objectives and performance measures that connect team work to organisational priorities
  • Create RACI matrices and performance contracts that clarify ownership, authority and escalation routes
  • Use the SBI model to deliver timely feedback on observable behaviour and business impact
  • Conduct GROW coaching conversations that improve capability, judgement and accountability
  • Apply Situational Leadership II to match direction and support to individual readiness
  • Plan difficult performance conversations using facts, interests, standards and agreed actions
  • Build team charters and operating rhythms that strengthen trust, coordination and follow-through
  • Produce a 90-day leadership action plan with measurable commitments and review points

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence conducting direct, evidence-based performance conversations
  • A repeatable structure for coaching staff without solving every problem personally
  • Clearer judgement about what to delegate, monitor and retain
  • Practical methods for handling conflict before relationships and delivery deteriorate
  • A documented 90-day plan for improving personal leadership effectiveness

For your organisation

  • Clearer goals, roles and decision rights across teams
  • Earlier correction of missed standards, behaviours and delivery risks
  • More consistent feedback and coaching from frontline and middle managers
  • Stronger retention of capable staff through purposeful development conversations
  • Better execution of change initiatives through accountable local leadership

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can convert priorities into clear performance expectations, measures and ownership arrangements.

  • Performance leadership versus activity management: outputs, standards, behaviours and ownership
  • Line-of-sight goals linking team priorities to organisational strategy
  • SMARTER objectives written with evidence, deadlines and decision rights
  • RACI matrices clarifying accountable, responsible, consulted and informed roles
  • Performance contracts defining outcomes, measures, constraints and escalation routes
  • Leading and lagging indicators selected for controllable team performance

Participants can identify leadership behaviours that build credibility and adjust their impact on others.

  • Johari Window used to identify visible and hidden leadership behaviours
  • Values-in-action analysis connecting stated principles with daily management choices
  • Emotional triggers mapped before high-stakes conversations and decisions
  • Ladder of Inference tested against evidence before reaching conclusions
  • Credibility built through consistency, competence, candour and reliable follow-through
  • Personal leadership reputation assessed through stakeholder expectations and observed conduct

Participants can create conditions in which team members raise risks, contribute ideas and take responsibility.

  • Psychological safety distinguished from comfort, agreement and low standards
  • SCARF model applied to status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness
  • Leader responses that reward early escalation, dissent and constructive challenge
  • Inclusive meeting practices preventing louder voices from dominating decisions
  • Mistake reviews separating learning, accountability and repeated negligence
  • Trust deposits built through commitments kept, information shared and credit given

Participants can deliver feedback that reinforces effective behaviour and corrects performance gaps promptly.

  • SBI feedback model: situation, behaviour and measurable impact
  • Feedforward requests focused on future choices and practical support
  • Fact-pattern preparation separating observations, assumptions and interpretations
  • Recognition linked to specific contribution, standards and organisational values
  • Feedback frequency matched to risk, capability and task criticality
  • Receiving defensive reactions without abandoning the performance message

Participants can use structured coaching conversations to develop judgement, confidence and independent action.

  • GROW coaching model applied to real performance and development goals
  • Powerful questions that widen options without supplying premature answers
  • Active listening using paraphrase, summarising, silence and focused probing
  • Coaching versus directing, mentoring, advising and performance management
  • Commitment statements converted into actions, dates, support and evidence
  • Follow-up reviews testing learning transfer and agreed behavioural change

Participants can delegate work with appropriate authority, support, controls and review arrangements.

  • Situational Leadership II matched to competence and commitment levels
  • Delegation briefing covering outcome, authority, boundaries, resources and deadlines
  • Decision rights defined through recommendations, approvals and escalation thresholds
  • Control points selected without turning delegation into covert micromanagement
  • Reverse delegation recognised when staff return ownership without analysis
  • Delegation portfolios balancing development opportunities, risk and workload

Participants can address underperformance, conflict and resistance using a fair, structured conversation process.

  • Interest-based negotiation separates positions from underlying needs and concerns
  • Difficult conversation preparation identifies facts, standards, impacts and requests
  • DESC script structures descriptions, effects, specifications and consequences
  • Conflict styles assessed using competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating
  • De-escalation techniques manage emotion, pace, language and conversational boundaries
  • Agreed actions documented with owners, evidence, deadlines and review dates

Participants can establish team practices that improve coordination, mutual accountability and delivery quality.

  • Tuckman stages used to diagnose forming, storming, norming and performing
  • Team charters defining purpose, roles, standards, interfaces and meeting rules
  • Working agreements covering response times, handovers, challenge and decision-making
  • Daily huddles focused on priorities, risks, dependencies and commitments
  • After-action reviews examining intended results, actual results and lessons
  • Peer accountability strengthened through visible commitments and routine follow-up

Participants can lead teams through changing priorities while protecting clarity, energy and service standards.

  • ADKAR model identifies awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement
  • Change messages explain rationale, local impact, choices and immediate actions
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies supporters, blockers, influencers and affected groups
  • Workload triage distinguishes urgent delivery, strategic work and recoverable delay
  • Resilience practices include boundaries, recovery, prioritisation and peer support
  • Change resistance explored through concerns, losses, risks and practical requests

Participants can influence key stakeholders and convert course learning into measurable leadership commitments.

  • Stakeholder influence maps assess power, interest, position and engagement needs
  • Cialdini principles used ethically to frame credible requests and proposals
  • Mutual-gains framing connects stakeholder interests with delivery requirements
  • Escalation messages present issue, impact, options, recommendation and decision needed
  • Ninety-day leadership plans define priorities, behaviours, measures and review dates
  • Accountability partners schedule progress checks against stated leadership commitments

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

What you take back to work

  1. SMARTER objective and performance contract template
  2. RACI decision-rights matrix
  3. SBI feedback conversation planner
  4. GROW coaching question bank
  5. Delegation briefing and control-point checklist
  6. 90-day leadership action plan

Who should attend

  • New Managers — establish disciplined leadership habits while taking responsibility for others
  • Team Leaders — improve accountability, communication and daily delivery within operational teams
  • Project Managers — gain commitment and manage performance without direct line authority
  • Functional Supervisors — address variable performance and develop technical specialists effectively
  • Middle Managers — translate strategic priorities into coordinated team execution
  • Aspiring Managers — prepare for first-line people leadership responsibilities

Skills and tools covered

Performance managementCoaching conversationsConstructive feedbackDelegation planningConflict resolutionTeam accountability

Tools and standards

GROW model, SBI feedback model, SCARF model, Situational Leadership II

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each method, followed by case work, group exercises, simulations and structured reflection. Participants analyse realistic situations such as declining service levels, missed project milestones, resistant specialists and conflict between functions. They practise feedback, coaching, delegation and difficult conversations using prepared scenarios, then receive peer and instructor observations against defined criteria. Individual application planning connects course methods to current team priorities, relationships and performance issues.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have some experience coordinating work, supervising colleagues, leading projects or contributing to team performance discussions. Familiarity with their organisation’s objectives, reporting measures and people-management procedures will help them apply the methods quickly. The course assumes participants can reflect on their own management style and discuss workplace situations professionally. No formal leadership qualification, HR certification, psychometric assessment or prior study of coaching models is required. It is not designed as an introduction to employment law, disciplinary procedure or specialist HR case management.

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 some exposure to supervising colleagues, coordinating work or leading project activity. No formal management qualification or previous coaching training is required.

Bring a current team, project or performance challenge that can be used for application planning. Participants may also bring non-confidential examples of objectives, measures or role descriptions they want to improve.

It is designed for new and experienced managers, supervisors, team leaders and project managers. It is most useful for people whose results depend on the performance and commitment of others.

This course concentrates on observable leadership practices that improve individual and team performance. It gives particular attention to objectives, feedback, coaching, delegation, accountability and difficult conversations.

Participants leave with templates and conversation structures for current responsibilities. The final module converts selected workplace priorities into a 90-day action plan with measures and review points.

The five-day programme contains ten modules, each lasting about three contact hours, within 08:30-16:30 training days. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, simulations, peer feedback and application 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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