Results-Based Leadership Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Department Managers, Programme 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-101

Before you join: Participants should have experience supervising staff, coordinating projects or holding responsibility for a service, process or operational target.

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

Results-based leadership addresses a common execution problem: teams remain busy, yet priorities, measures and accountability are unclear. Leaders may set ambitious targets without defining the outcomes that matter, the evidence of progress, decision rights or corrective actions. This produces delayed delivery, weak cross-functional coordination and performance discussions centred on activity rather than value. The course helps managers turn strategic intent into measurable commitments and maintain disciplined follow-through.

Participants learn to define outcome statements, build logic models, select leading and lagging indicators, and connect team priorities to organisational goals. They use OKRs, Balanced Scorecard measures, RACI decision roles and milestone plans to clarify what must be delivered, by whom and by when. The course also addresses the leadership behaviours needed when results are off track: setting expectations, conducting evidence-based reviews, giving direct feedback, coaching for ownership and escalating risks early.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with cases from public services, banking, NGOs and corporate operations. Participants work through performance data, target-setting decisions, accountability gaps and delivery risks in group exercises and simulations. Each participant develops a results-based leadership action plan for a current team or programme, supported by practical templates for outcome definition, measure selection, review meetings and corrective action.

The course is suited to managers who lead teams, projects, functions or service units and need stronger control of execution without resorting to micromanagement. It is particularly useful where several teams contribute to shared outcomes, performance measures are disputed, or leaders need to improve delivery discipline while retaining staff ownership.

What you will be able to do

  • Define outcome statements and results chains for team, project or service priorities
  • Design OKRs with measurable key results, owners, milestones and review dates
  • Construct performance measures using leading indicators, lagging indicators and metric definitions
  • Assign decision rights and delivery accountabilities using a RACI matrix
  • Run performance review meetings using evidence, variance analysis and corrective actions
  • Apply GROW coaching conversations to strengthen ownership and remove delivery barriers
  • Deliver SBI feedback that addresses missed commitments and required behavioural change
  • Produce a 90-day results-based leadership action plan for a current responsibility

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Convert broad management expectations into clear outcomes, measures and accountabilities
  • Lead performance conversations with evidence rather than anecdote or personal opinion
  • Identify delivery risks early through milestones, indicators and variance reviews
  • Coach staff towards ownership without taking over their responsibilities
  • Leave with a 90-day plan for improving results in a current role

For your organisation

  • Clearer links between strategic priorities, team plans and measurable results
  • Earlier identification of delayed milestones, weak performance signals and unresolved risks
  • More consistent accountability across projects, functions and service delivery teams
  • Better quality performance reviews focused on decisions, actions and follow-up
  • Reduced dependence on senior managers to resolve routine delivery issues

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can distinguish meaningful outcomes from activity statements and define a clear results chain.

  • Results chains linking inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and strategic impact
  • Outcome statements distinguished from activity lists and vague performance claims
  • Logic models tested for assumptions, risks and controllable contribution
  • Balanced Scorecard perspectives connected to departmental objectives and measures
  • Leading and lagging indicators separated using causal performance relationships
  • Metric definitions specify formulas, sources, owners, frequency and thresholds

Participants can convert strategic priorities into focused team objectives and delivery commitments.

  • Strategic priorities translated into team-level outcomes within managerial control
  • OKRs drafted with ambitious objectives and measurable key results
  • SMART criteria used to test targets, dates and evidence requirements
  • Priority filters distinguish essential commitments from useful but noncritical work
  • Outcome maps show dependencies between functions, suppliers and decision makers
  • Cascading objectives avoid duplicated targets and conflicting local measures

Participants can create practical performance measures that inform timely management decisions.

  • KPI selection tests relevance, controllability, timeliness and data reliability
  • Metric trees connect service outcomes to process and input measures
  • Baselines established before target ranges and improvement commitments are set
  • Thresholds define normal variation, warning conditions and intervention points
  • Data-quality checks identify incomplete records, delays and inconsistent definitions
  • Dashboards present exceptions, trends, forecasts and required management decisions

Participants can assign delivery roles and decision rights without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.

  • RACI matrices allocate responsible, accountable, consulted and informed roles
  • Single-point accountability assigned for each outcome, milestone and decision
  • Decision rights clarify approvals, spending authority and escalation boundaries
  • Handover points specify acceptance criteria, timing and evidence requirements
  • Cross-functional dependencies recorded with owners, due dates and risk responses
  • Accountability conversations distinguish authority gaps from capability gaps

Participants can build outcome-focused delivery plans with visible milestones, risks and contingencies.

  • Milestone plans sequence deliverables, decision gates and measurable acceptance criteria
  • Critical-path analysis identifies tasks that determine the completion date
  • RAID logs record risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies systematically
  • Contingency triggers specify actions before delays become delivery failures
  • Capacity plans compare workload demand, available skills and resource constraints
  • Weekly commitments convert longer plans into near-term accountable actions

Participants can lead review meetings that produce decisions, actions and accountable follow-up.

  • Performance review agendas focus on outcomes, exceptions, decisions and actions
  • Variance analysis compares actual results against target, forecast and baseline
  • Five Whys separates underlying causes from visible symptoms and excuses
  • Corrective actions specify owners, deadlines, expected effects and review points
  • Decision logs capture commitments, rationale, unresolved issues and escalation needs
  • Meeting close-outs confirm accountability, communication requirements and next checkpoints

Participants can use coaching to build ownership, judgement and problem-solving capability.

  • GROW conversations clarify goals, current reality, options and commitments
  • Coaching questions move staff from complaint narratives towards controllable actions
  • Delegation levels match authority, capability, risk and required support
  • Barriers diagnosed through skills, resources, motivation and role clarity
  • Commitment statements name the action, evidence, deadline and support required
  • Follow-up conversations test learning, progress and adjustments without micromanagement

Participants can address missed commitments directly while preserving clarity, fairness and working relationships.

  • SBI feedback describes the situation, observed behaviour and resulting impact
  • Evidence gathered before performance discussions using records, examples and agreed standards
  • Missed commitments addressed through facts, consequences and future expectations
  • Feedforward requests focus attention on specific actions for the next cycle
  • Difficult conversations separate personal intent from observable delivery behaviour
  • Escalation decisions consider risk, authority, urgency and prior corrective action

Participants can establish team routines that sustain performance visibility, learning and accountability.

  • Daily huddles surface immediate constraints, commitments and operational exceptions
  • Weekly reviews track milestones, KPI trends, risks and corrective actions
  • Monthly performance cycles examine outcomes, capacity and improvement priorities
  • PDCA cycles structure testing, review and standardisation of improvements
  • After-action reviews identify expected results, actual results and lessons
  • Recognition practices reinforce behaviours that support shared delivery commitments

Participants can prepare a practical 90-day plan to improve results in a current leadership responsibility.

  • Current delivery challenge framed as an outcome, baseline and target
  • Stakeholder analysis identifies sponsors, contributors, blockers and affected groups
  • Personal leadership gaps assessed against accountability, coaching and review practices
  • Ninety-day action plans sequence priorities, measures, routines and milestones
  • Implementation risks anticipated with triggers, owners and contingency responses
  • Peer commitments establish follow-up dates and evidence of changed practice

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

What you take back to work

  1. Results chain and logic model template
  2. OKR and KPI definition worksheet
  3. RACI accountability matrix
  4. Performance review meeting agenda
  5. Corrective action and escalation log
  6. 90-day leadership action plan

Who should attend

  • Department Managers — translate strategic priorities into measurable team commitments
  • Programme Managers — coordinate delivery across interdependent workstreams and stakeholders
  • Project Managers — maintain accountability for milestones, risks and benefits
  • Operations Managers — improve service performance through visible measures and review routines
  • Team Leaders — set clear expectations and address performance gaps constructively
  • Newly Appointed Managers — establish disciplined leadership habits from the outset

Skills and tools covered

Outcome definitionPerformance measurementAccountability designExecution reviewsCoaching for ownershipCorrective action planning

Tools and standards

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), Balanced Scorecard, RACI matrix, GROW model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce results-based leadership methods, followed by applied case work, group exercises and delivery simulations. Participants analyse outcome statements, weak KPIs, unclear accountabilities and missed milestones drawn from realistic operational settings. Facilitated discussions test the judgement required when evidence is incomplete or targets conflict. Role-play is used for feedback, coaching and review conversations. Individual application planning connects each method to a live team, programme or project responsibility.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience supervising staff, coordinating projects or holding responsibility for a service, process or operational target. They should be able to describe their team’s current priorities, common delivery barriers and available performance information. Familiarity with organisational planning, KPIs or appraisal processes is useful but not essential. No formal leadership qualification, finance background, advanced spreadsheet skills or prior knowledge of OKRs, Balanced Scorecard or RACI is required. Participants gain most value when they bring one current team, project or programme challenge to use during application planning.

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 some responsibility for people, projects, services or operational targets. Prior knowledge of formal performance-management frameworks is not required, as the course introduces the methods from first principles.

Bring details of one current team, project or programme where delivery, accountability or performance visibility needs improvement. Useful materials include existing KPIs, a team plan, a project schedule or examples of recurring delivery issues.

The course is designed for managers, project leaders, programme managers and operational leaders who must deliver measurable results through others. It also suits newly appointed managers taking on formal accountability for targets and team performance.

General leadership courses often focus broadly on leadership style, communication and motivation. This course concentrates on converting priorities into outcomes, measures, accountabilities, review routines and corrective action.

Participants leave with reusable templates and a 90-day action plan linked to a live responsibility. The methods can be applied in team planning, project governance, service reviews, performance discussions and management meetings.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group work, simulations, discussion and individual 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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