Self-Leadership and Leading Others 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-125

Before you join: Participants should have at least six months of workplace experience and regular responsibility for coordinating work, influencing colleagues or supervising others.

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

Managers are often given responsibility for people before they have established reliable ways to manage priorities, pressure, conversations and boundaries. The result is familiar: urgent work crowds out leadership time, expectations remain unclear, feedback arrives late, capable staff wait for decisions, and small disagreements become personal. Self-leadership means directing attention, behaviour and judgement; leading others turns that discipline into clear agreements, development and accountable delivery.

This five-day course develops the habits and methods needed to manage yourself while leading individuals and teams. Participants examine values, strengths, triggers and energy patterns; set priorities and boundaries; communicate with clarity; give feedback; coach performance; delegate work; address conflict; and lead through change. Named methods include the Johari Window, Eisenhower Matrix, SBI feedback, GROW coaching, SCARF and Thomas-Kilmann conflict modes. Participants learn to select the right approach according to the person, task, risk and organisational context.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic management cases, group analysis, conversation simulations and individual application planning. Cases reflect situations such as missed delivery milestones, competing stakeholder demands, underperformance, team tension and change resistance. Each participant leaves with a personal leadership operating system, a 30-day action plan and reusable templates for feedback, delegation, coaching and stakeholder management. A certificate of completion is issued to participants who complete the course.

The course suits current and newly appointed managers, team leaders, supervisors and technical specialists whose role now includes influencing, developing or coordinating others. It is delivered instructor-led in classrooms across 50+ cities or live online over five days.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose personal leadership patterns using values, strengths, triggers and feedback
  • Set SMARTER goals and weekly priorities using the Eisenhower Matrix
  • Apply resilience techniques to maintain judgement and constructive behaviour under pressure
  • Structure clear messages, meetings and written recommendations for different stakeholders
  • Conduct feedback and difficult conversations using SBI, DESC and feedforward methods
  • Coach and delegate work using GROW, delegation levels and situational leadership
  • Resolve workplace conflict using interest-based negotiation and Thomas-Kilmann modes
  • Produce a 30-day leadership action plan with measurable workplace commitments

Benefits of attending

For you

  • A clearer personal system for managing priorities, energy and commitments
  • Greater confidence handling feedback, disagreement and underperformance conversations
  • Stronger delegation habits that reduce unnecessary operational overload
  • More purposeful one-to-one meetings and staff development discussions
  • A documented 30-day plan for changing specific leadership behaviours

For your organisation

  • Managers who clarify expectations, ownership and decision rights earlier
  • More consistent feedback and coaching across teams and functions
  • Reduced escalation caused by unresolved conflict and unclear communication
  • Better use of staff capability through appropriate delegation and development
  • Action plans linked to current delivery, stakeholder and people-management priorities

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can identify the personal patterns that affect their leadership choices and working relationships.

  • Values clarification distinguishes non-negotiables, preferences and workplace expectations
  • Johari Window identifies blind spots through structured colleague feedback
  • Strengths, risks and triggers mapped using a personal leadership inventory
  • Emotional intelligence domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management
  • Energy audit tracks activities that restore, drain or fragment attention
  • Personal leadership purpose statement links values, strengths and contribution

Participants can convert role demands into focused priorities, protected time and credible commitments.

  • SMARTER goals translate role expectations into measurable weekly commitments
  • Eisenhower Matrix distinguishes urgent demands from important leadership work
  • Weekly review converts strategic priorities into calendar blocks and next actions
  • Implementation intentions specify cue, action and contingency for critical habits
  • Boundary scripts decline low-value requests while preserving working relationships
  • Delegation audit separates retained accountability from work others should own

Participants can manage pressure without allowing stress reactions to damage decisions or relationships.

  • Circle of Control separates influenceable issues from external constraints
  • ABC model tests beliefs driving unhelpful emotional and behavioural responses
  • STOP technique creates pause before responding under pressure
  • Recovery routines protect sleep, focus and decision quality during demanding periods
  • Stress signals and escalation thresholds documented in a personal resilience plan
  • Psychological safety begins with leaders naming uncertainty and inviting challenge

Participants can communicate decisions, expectations and recommendations clearly to different stakeholders.

  • Audience analysis adapts message, evidence and channel to stakeholder needs
  • Pyramid Principle structures recommendations with answer-first executive communication
  • Active listening uses paraphrasing, probing questions and accurate summarising
  • Communication contracts clarify purpose, decision rights, timing and follow-up
  • Written briefing template separates facts, interpretation, recommendation and requested decision
  • Meeting agendas assign outcomes, owners, timings and preparation requirements

Participants can address performance, behaviour and disagreement with clarity, respect and follow-through.

  • SBI feedback describes situation, behaviour and impact without judgement
  • Feedforward requests focus on future choices rather than past blame
  • DESC script structures assertive requests, consequences and agreed next steps
  • Difficult conversation preparation identifies facts, assumptions, emotions and desired outcomes
  • Listening ladders test understanding before rebutting a colleague's position
  • Follow-up agreements record commitments, evidence and review dates

Participants can develop others through coaching questions, appropriate delegation and clear task briefings.

  • GROW coaching frames goal, reality, options and way forward
  • Open questions move responsibility for thinking back to the employee
  • Task briefing specifies outcome, constraints, authority, resources and deadlines
  • Delegation levels match autonomy to competence, risk and decision reversibility
  • Situational Leadership adapts direction and support to development needs
  • Coaching notes distinguish observed evidence from interpretation and advice

Participants can create conditions that strengthen motivation, trust and shared responsibility within teams.

  • SCARF model diagnoses status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness concerns
  • Expectancy theory links effort, performance, rewards and perceived value
  • Team charter defines purpose, roles, norms, decisions and escalation
  • Recognition practices connect specific contribution to team priorities
  • Psychological safety behaviours include curiosity, fallibility and constructive dissent
  • One-to-one meetings balance delivery, development, wellbeing and obstacles

Participants can recognise conflict patterns and intervene before disagreements damage working relationships.

  • Thomas-Kilmann modes diagnose competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating responses
  • Interest-based negotiation separates positions from underlying needs and concerns
  • Conflict mapping identifies parties, issues, dependencies and escalation routes
  • Neutral language describes observable facts without attributing intent
  • Repair conversations acknowledge impact, agree restitution and rebuild trust
  • Escalation decisions distinguish coaching matters from formal conduct concerns

Participants can clarify decisions, engage stakeholders and communicate change with credible follow-through.

  • RAPID decision roles clarify recommend, agree, perform, input and decide
  • RACI matrix assigns accountable ownership and consulted stakeholders for delivery
  • Pre-mortem analysis exposes assumptions, failure modes and early warning signals
  • Stakeholder mapping prioritises influence, interest, concerns and engagement actions
  • ADKAR framework sequences awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement
  • Change messages explain rationale, local impact, support and next actions

Participants can establish a repeatable leadership routine and a focused plan for workplace application.

  • Leadership operating system combines priorities, routines, conversations and review points
  • Thirty-day action plan converts assessment findings into observable commitments
  • Personal stakeholder map identifies relationships requiring deliberate attention
  • Weekly reflection prompts assess decisions, energy, behaviour and learning
  • Accountability partner agreement sets check-ins, evidence and constructive challenge
  • Manager briefing prepares workplace application, support requests and success measures

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

What you take back to work

  1. Personal leadership inventory
  2. Weekly priority and boundary plan
  3. SBI feedback conversation template
  4. GROW coaching question guide
  5. Delegation level decision checklist
  6. Thirty-day leadership action plan

Who should attend

  • New Managers — need a structured approach to directing themselves and their teams
  • Team Leaders — need clearer priorities, conversations and delegation practices
  • Supervisors — need methods for managing performance and daily delivery pressures
  • Project Managers — need to influence contributors without relying on formal authority
  • Technical Specialists — need to transition from individual expertise to people leadership
  • Middle Managers — need consistent routines for developing staff and managing stakeholders

Skills and tools covered

Personal leadership disciplinePriority managementFeedback conversationsCoaching and delegationConflict resolutionStakeholder communication

Tools and standards

Eisenhower Matrix, SBI Feedback Model, GROW Model, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by case analysis, group exercises, facilitated discussion and conversation simulations. Participants apply tools to realistic situations involving competing priorities, difficult feedback, delegation, conflict and change. Individual reflection connects each method to current responsibilities, while peer discussion tests alternative responses and assumptions. The final sessions focus on application planning, enabling participants to define specific behaviours, workplace conversations and review points for the following 30 days.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least six months of workplace experience and regular responsibility for coordinating work, influencing colleagues or supervising others. Some participants may already manage direct reports; others may be preparing for their first formal leadership role. Familiarity with normal workplace meetings, email communication and performance expectations is assumed. No prior leadership qualification, psychometric assessment, coaching certification or formal management training is required. Participants should be willing to examine their own behaviour and discuss realistic management situations.

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 need normal workplace experience and some responsibility for coordinating, influencing or supervising others. No prior leadership qualification or formal coaching training is required.

Bring examples of current management challenges, such as a difficult conversation, competing priorities or a delegation issue. Participants also need access to their calendar or planning system for application planning.

It is suited to new and current managers, team leaders, supervisors, project managers and technical specialists moving into people leadership. It is also useful for managers who need more consistent habits around feedback, delegation and stakeholder communication.

This course begins with how managers direct their own attention, behaviour and decisions before examining how they lead others. It concentrates on daily leadership routines, conversations and team conditions rather than organisational strategy or HR policy.

Participants build a personal leadership operating system and a 30-day action plan linked to real work responsibilities. They leave with templates for feedback, coaching, delegation and stakeholder conversations that can be used immediately.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides approximately 6.5 contact hours, excluding breaks. The five days progress from self-awareness and priorities through communication, people leadership, conflict, change 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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