Leading Through Disruptive Change Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Senior Managers, Programme and Project Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-CM-085

Before you join: Participants should have experience managing a team, workstream, service area or change initiative, and should understand how decisions are made in their organisation.

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

Disruptive change places leaders under pressure to make decisions before all facts are known, maintain service and control while priorities shift, and help people work through uncertainty without losing accountability. Technology replacement, regulatory intervention, mergers, cyber incidents, operating-model redesign and funding changes can all disrupt established routines. Poorly led change produces delayed decisions, mixed messages, local workarounds, fatigue and loss of trust.

This course equips leaders to diagnose the type and scale of disruption, define a credible case for change and set a practical direction for teams. Participants use Cynefin, ADKAR, Kotter’s 8-Step Process, Bridges’ Transition Model, stakeholder analysis, impact assessment and resistance-management methods. They learn to lead themselves under pressure, communicate difficult messages, make decisions with incomplete information, align sponsors and managers, and measure adoption alongside delivery milestones.

Teaching combines focused briefings, realistic cases from public services, banking, infrastructure, NGOs and multinational operations, facilitated group work, leadership simulations and structured application to a current or planned change. From the first week, participants develop a change leadership pack for a real workplace initiative. They leave with a reviewed change case, stakeholder and impact analyses, communication plan, resistance plan, adoption measures and a 90-day leadership action plan.

The course suits managers and change leaders responsible for implementing major change rather than only designing policy or strategy. It is particularly relevant where leaders must sustain performance, protect customer or citizen outcomes and keep teams engaged during uncertain periods.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose disruptive change conditions using Cynefin and adaptive leadership principles
  • Construct an evidence-based change case with measurable benefits and risks
  • Map stakeholders, sponsors and informal influencers using power-interest analysis
  • Assess role, process and behavioural impacts through structured change impact assessment
  • Apply ADKAR and Bridges’ Transition Model to plan adoption actions
  • Lead difficult change conversations using message maps, listening and resistance techniques
  • Design governance, decision rights and adoption measures for a change initiative
  • Present a complete change leadership pack and 90-day action plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence making change decisions with incomplete information
  • A repeatable method for handling resistance without avoiding difficult conversations
  • Clearer sponsor and stakeholder management for high-stakes initiatives
  • Practical communication methods for explaining uncertainty and maintaining trust
  • A completed leadership pack ready for workplace use

For your organisation

  • Faster adoption of new processes, systems and operating arrangements
  • More consistent leadership messages across sponsors, managers and frontline teams
  • Earlier identification of workforce, service and control risks
  • Reduced disruption from unmanaged resistance and local workarounds
  • Clearer accountability for change decisions, actions and adoption measures

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can distinguish disruption types and select an appropriate leadership response.

  • Disruptive change patterns: technology shifts, crises, restructuring and new mandates
  • Distinguishing episodic projects from continuing uncertainty and volatility
  • Cynefin domains used to select ordered, complicated and complex responses
  • VUCA conditions translated into observable leadership and operating implications
  • Adaptive versus technical challenges diagnosed using Heifetz's framework
  • Personal leadership assumptions surfaced through disruption-response self-assessment results

Participants can frame a credible change case with clear outcomes, constraints and evidence.

  • Change case framed around outcomes, risks, constraints and urgency
  • Problem statements separated from proposed solutions and preferred activities
  • SMART outcome measures linked to service, cost, risk and people
  • Benefits map connecting capabilities, adoption behaviours and measurable results
  • Assumption log records evidence gaps, dependencies and decision owners
  • Compelling change narrative combines facts, consequences and credible direction

Participants can manage their own responses and model steady leadership during disruption.

  • SCARF model identifies common social threats during organisational change
  • Stress signals differentiated from productive urgency and focused effort
  • Circle of Control separates actionable issues from external uncertainty
  • Reflective practice identifies triggered behaviours and decision biases
  • Psychological safety behaviours encourage early reporting of concerns
  • Leadership routines protect attention, recovery, judgement and follow-through

Participants can analyse the organisational conditions that shape change readiness and risk.

  • Systems mapping identifies feedback loops, bottlenecks and unintended consequences
  • Force-field analysis separates driving forces from restraining forces
  • Readiness assessment examines sponsorship, capacity, capability and change history
  • Cultural signals reveal informal norms, status patterns and decision habits
  • Risk appetite considered when sequencing disruptive operational interventions
  • Baseline performance data establishes the starting point for adoption measurement

Participants can identify critical stakeholders and secure active sponsorship for change.

  • Power-interest grid prioritises stakeholder engagement and escalation effort
  • Stakeholder analysis captures interests, concerns, influence and likely responses
  • Sponsor coalition defines visible commitments, decisions and communication responsibilities
  • Informal influencers identified through network mapping and manager insight
  • RAPID decision model clarifies recommend, agree, perform, input and decide roles
  • Engagement plan sequences sponsor meetings, manager briefings and feedback channels

Participants can assess and prioritise the practical impacts of a proposed change.

  • Change impact assessment covers roles, processes, systems, controls and behaviours
  • Future-state process maps identify altered handoffs, decisions and accountabilities
  • Impact heat map ranks affected groups by scale and severity
  • Role clarity assessed through RACI responsibilities and escalation routes
  • Control impacts tested against approvals, segregation and audit requirements
  • Workforce transition needs identify learning, support and redeployment requirements

Participants can set direction and make defensible decisions when information is incomplete.

  • Decision criteria balance customer impact, safety, cost, speed and compliance
  • OODA loop structures observation, orientation, decision and action cycles
  • Scenario planning tests best-case, expected-case and adverse-case assumptions
  • Decision logs record rationale, evidence, dissent and review triggers
  • Escalation thresholds distinguish local decisions from executive-level decisions
  • Strategic intent gives teams boundaries for independent action

Participants can develop clear, credible and audience-specific change communications.

  • Message map structures core message, supporting evidence and anticipated questions
  • Audience segmentation separates sponsor, manager, employee, customer and union needs
  • Communication cadence matches decision points, milestones and emerging concerns
  • What-we-know messaging distinguishes confirmed facts from unresolved issues
  • Town halls designed around dialogue, challenge and accountable follow-up
  • Manager briefing packs convert strategy into local team conversations

Participants can gather frontline intelligence and adjust plans using credible feedback.

  • Sensemaking conversations surface operational realities, ambiguities and emerging risks
  • Active listening techniques separate stated positions from underlying interests
  • Pulse questions track confidence, understanding, workload and readiness
  • Feedback channels protect anonymity where speaking openly carries perceived risk
  • Rumour analysis identifies information gaps requiring rapid clarification
  • Closed-loop communication shows how feedback changed decisions or actions

Participants can diagnose resistance and select proportionate responses that preserve accountability.

  • Resistance diagnosis distinguishes capability gaps, loss concerns and value objections
  • ADKAR assessment identifies awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement gaps
  • Interest-based questioning explores concerns without premature rebuttal or reassurance
  • Resistance log records source, pattern, impact, owner and response
  • Manager coaching conversations address performance expectations and support needs
  • Escalation routes handle persistent non-compliance, misconduct and safety concerns

Participants can plan support for people moving from current practices to new ways of working.

  • Bridges' Transition Model distinguishes endings, neutral zones and new beginnings
  • Ending rituals acknowledge losses, achievements and discontinued working practices
  • Neutral-zone plans provide priorities, temporary controls and frequent clarification
  • Team norms reset around decision rights, meeting rhythms and shared commitments
  • Learning journeys sequence awareness, skill-building, practice and reinforcement
  • Peer support networks connect early adopters with colleagues needing assistance

Participants can use Kotter’s 8-Step Process to structure a major change initiative.

  • Kotter's urgency step grounded in evidence rather than alarmist messaging
  • Guiding coalition membership balances authority, expertise, credibility and representation
  • Strategic vision translated into observable outcomes and behavioural expectations
  • Volunteer army participation organised through defined contribution opportunities
  • Short-term wins selected for relevance, visibility and measurable value
  • Acceleration prevents premature closure after initial implementation milestones

Participants can lead teams through altered structures, processes and accountabilities.

  • Target operating model links services, processes, roles, governance and technology
  • Process redesign identifies value-adding steps, failure points and control requirements
  • Service blueprint maps customer interactions, backstage work and supporting systems
  • Span-of-control changes assessed for manager capacity and decision quality
  • Handover protocols protect continuity during team, supplier or system transitions
  • Standard operating procedures updated with ownership, controls and review dates

Participants can address adoption risks associated with digital systems and data-driven work.

  • Technology adoption barriers include usability, trust, workload and perceived surveillance
  • User journey mapping identifies friction points before and after system rollout
  • Digital champions provide local support, feedback and credible peer demonstration
  • Data literacy needs assessed against new reporting and decision requirements
  • Privacy and information-security concerns addressed through specific behavioural guidance
  • Pilot criteria define user groups, success measures and rollback conditions

Participants can establish governance that supports timely decisions and managed risk.

  • Change governance defines forums, membership, authority, cadence and escalation paths
  • Terms of reference specify decisions, inputs, records and accountability
  • Integrated plan connects delivery milestones, adoption actions and operational readiness
  • RAID log tracks risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies and assigned owners
  • Stage gates test readiness before pilots, rollout and business-as-usual transfer
  • Change-control process evaluates scope requests against benefits, capacity and risk

Participants can define measures that show whether change is being adopted and sustained.

  • Adoption measures combine usage data, competency evidence and observed behaviours
  • Leading indicators reveal readiness problems before service or financial impacts
  • Lagging indicators test benefits, quality, compliance and customer outcomes
  • Balanced scorecard aligns change measures with strategic and operational priorities
  • Benefits-realisation register assigns measures, baselines, targets and accountable owners
  • Review cycles trigger corrective action when adoption evidence falls below thresholds

Participants can protect critical services, controls and team capacity during implementation.

  • Business continuity priorities identify minimum service levels and recovery requirements
  • Capacity planning balances change activity with routine operational workload
  • Critical controls retained when temporary processes replace established procedures
  • Daily management routines surface blockers, incidents and resource conflicts
  • Workload triage stops low-value activity during high-demand transition periods
  • Escalation dashboards highlight service deterioration, control failures and unresolved decisions

Participants can conduct direct, respectful conversations about uncertainty, performance and loss.

  • SBI feedback model structures situation, behaviour and impact discussions
  • Conversation preparation identifies purpose, facts, emotions and desired agreements
  • Non-defensive responses acknowledge concerns without making unsupported promises
  • Interest-based negotiation separates people, issues, options and objective criteria
  • Performance conversations distinguish temporary adjustment problems from persistent expectations gaps
  • Meeting close confirms decisions, actions, owners, dates and unresolved matters

Participants can reinforce new practices and prevent return to previous ways of working.

  • Reinforcement plan combines leadership attention, recognition, measures and consequence management
  • After-action reviews capture lessons, decisions, outcomes and improvement actions
  • Communities of practice maintain peer learning after formal implementation closes
  • Policy, process and performance systems aligned with intended new behaviours
  • New starter induction incorporates changed procedures, standards and role expectations
  • Sustainment reviews test ownership after programme teams hand over responsibility

Participants can build, review and present a complete change leadership pack for a workplace initiative.

  • Change case consolidates urgency, outcomes, benefits, constraints and critical assumptions
  • Stakeholder map prioritises sponsors, managers, affected groups and informal influencers
  • Impact assessment identifies role, process, technology, control and capability changes
  • Communication and engagement plan sequences messages, channels, owners and feedback
  • Resistance and transition plan addresses ADKAR gaps, losses and support actions
  • Governance, measures and 90-day actions presented for review and challenge

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

What you take back to work

  1. Evidence-based change case template
  2. Stakeholder and sponsor engagement map
  3. Change impact assessment and heat map
  4. Change communication and engagement plan
  5. Resistance and transition management plan
  6. 90-day change leadership action plan

Who should attend

  • Senior Managers — accountable for results while major priorities and operating arrangements shift
  • Programme and Project Managers — responsible for adoption alongside technical delivery milestones
  • Change Managers — coordinating sponsors, managers, communications and workforce transition activities
  • Department Heads — leading teams through restructures, service redesign or technology implementation
  • HR and People Leaders — supporting workforce impacts, manager capability and employee transition
  • Operational Managers — maintaining service, controls and team performance during local change

Skills and tools covered

Change leadershipStakeholder analysisChange communicationsResistance managementAdoption measurementTransition planning

Tools and standards

ADKAR Model, Kotter’s 8-Step Process, Cynefin Framework, Bridges’ Transition Model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce models, followed by case analysis, group exercises, leadership simulations and application planning. Cases examine technology implementation, public-service reform, restructuring, regulatory change and incident recovery. Participants test stakeholder messages, decision approaches and resistance responses against realistic scenarios. Each participant applies the tools to a live or planned workplace initiative, receives structured peer and instructor feedback, and refines a change leadership pack throughout the programme. Classroom and live-online delivery use the same learning sequence and materials.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience managing a team, workstream, service area or change initiative, and should understand how decisions are made in their organisation. Familiarity with a current or planned workplace change will help participants apply the methods directly. No formal change-management qualification is required, and prior knowledge of ADKAR, Kotter or other named models is not assumed. This is not an entry-level supervision course; participants should be ready to discuss stakeholder tensions, operational constraints and leadership decisions from their own work.

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

You should have experience managing people, operations, projects or a change workstream. No formal change-management qualification or prior knowledge of named models is required.

Bring details of a current or planned change initiative, such as a system rollout, restructuring, process redesign or service improvement. Non-confidential information is sufficient; course templates can be applied without sharing sensitive material.

It is designed for managers, programme leaders, change practitioners, HR leaders and operational heads who must lead people through material change. It is most useful for those accountable for implementation and adoption.

Project management focuses on scope, schedule, cost and delivery controls. This course focuses on leadership behaviour, stakeholder commitment, workforce transition, communication, resistance and sustained adoption.

You will build a change leadership pack for a workplace initiative throughout the programme. The pack includes practical plans, analyses and measures that can be reviewed with your sponsor or management team after the course.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The first week builds diagnosis, stakeholder, communication and transition plans; the second week develops governance, measurement, difficult-conversation and sustainment methods before the capstone presentation.

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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