Strategic Leadership and Organisational Influence Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Senior Managers, Directors and Heads of Function and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-280

Before you join: Participants should have substantial management experience and current responsibility for a team, function, programme, major project or stakeholder relationship.

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 secure commitment for decisions that cut across functions, budgets, reporting lines and competing priorities. Formal authority alone rarely resolves these situations. Leaders must read the strategic context, identify who can shape an outcome, build credible coalitions, communicate difficult choices and manage resistance without damaging trust. This course addresses the practical work of influencing executive peers, sponsors, delivery teams, regulators, partners and other stakeholders when priorities or interests conflict.

Participants examine strategic leadership as a set of decisions and relationships rather than a job title. They use PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces, scenario planning, stakeholder salience, influence mapping, Cialdini's influence principles, SCARF, BATNA and RACI. The course develops the ability to frame a compelling case, structure executive messages, negotiate agreements, lead difficult conversations, sponsor change and establish decision processes that produce clear accountability. Attention is given to ethical influence, political awareness, organisational culture and the difference between persuasion, manipulation and legitimate authority.

Teaching combines concise faculty briefings with sector-based cases, facilitated group analysis, leadership simulations, negotiation practice and structured peer feedback. Participants apply each method to a current strategic priority, such as a transformation programme, policy reform, operating-model change, risk initiative or major investment decision. They leave with a documented stakeholder and influence plan, executive communication materials, a coalition map and a 90-day leadership action plan. The five-day programme is available in classroom locations in more than 50 cities or live online, runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, and provides approximately 32.5 contact hours. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course is best suited to experienced managers and leaders whose results depend on influencing people they do not directly manage, particularly in complex, regulated or matrixed organisations.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose strategic context using PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces and scenario planning
  • Map stakeholder power, legitimacy, interests and influence routes using stakeholder salience analysis
  • Build an ethical influence strategy using coalition maps, value propositions and persuasion principles
  • Frame executive recommendations through message houses, evidence narratives and decision-focused briefings
  • Conduct difficult conversations using SBI feedback, interest-based dialogue and boundary statements
  • Negotiate strategic agreements using BATNA, ZOPA, objective criteria and conditional concessions
  • Lead change sponsorship through ADKAR analysis, resistance diagnosis and communication cadence planning
  • Produce a 90-day organisational influence plan with measures, owners and review points

Benefits of attending

For you

  • A clearer basis for influencing senior stakeholders outside direct reporting lines
  • Stronger executive briefings that make decisions, trade-offs and requests explicit
  • Practical methods for handling resistance without avoiding necessary conflict
  • Greater confidence negotiating resources, scope, timing and accountability
  • A documented 90-day plan for increasing personal leadership impact

For your organisation

  • Faster alignment on strategic decisions involving multiple functions and interests
  • Better sponsorship and stakeholder engagement for transformation and investment programmes
  • Reduced delay caused by unclear decision rights, unaddressed resistance and weak escalation
  • More consistent executive communication on priorities, risks and recommended actions
  • Stronger leadership bench for complex matrix, partnership and regulatory relationships

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define their strategic leadership mandate and clarify decision rights for priority issues.

  • Strategic leadership mandate: purpose, value creation, authority and accountability
  • Distinguishing leadership work from management control and technical expertise
  • Mintzberg managerial roles interpreted at enterprise, business-unit and functional levels
  • Setting decision rights using RAPID for cross-functional strategic choices
  • Leadership identity assessed through values, strengths, triggers and reputation
  • Personal leadership brand aligned with organisational strategy and stakeholder expectations

Participants can analyse strategic conditions and frame choices that require leadership attention.

  • Enterprise purpose translated into strategic outcomes, priorities and measurable commitments
  • PESTLE signals distinguished from assumptions, noise and short-term operational issues
  • Porter's Five Forces used to test industry power and profit pools
  • Scenario planning frames uncertainties, plausible futures, indicators and contingent responses
  • Strategic choices tested through feasibility, acceptability and suitability criteria
  • Strategy maps connect objectives, capabilities, processes and stakeholder value

Participants can identify stakeholder interests, informal power and political conditions affecting strategic outcomes.

  • Stakeholder salience mapped through power, legitimacy and urgency attributes
  • Interest-influence matrices prioritise sponsors, blockers, allies and affected groups
  • Political landscapes diagnosed through formal authority, informal networks and resource dependencies
  • Stakeholder value propositions tailored to interests, risks and desired outcomes
  • Coalition maps identify reciprocal commitments, influence routes and likely resistance
  • Ethical boundaries applied to lobbying, sponsorship and internal political activity

Participants can select ethical influence approaches suited to stakeholder motivations and decision contexts.

  • Cialdini's influence principles selected without coercion, deception or manufactured scarcity
  • Reciprocity, social proof and authority matched to stakeholder decision contexts
  • Framing choices around losses, gains, risk and shared purpose
  • Evidence narratives combine data, examples, consequences and a clear ask
  • Principled persuasion separates interests, positions, standards and options
  • Influence strategies account for culture, hierarchy and decision-making norms

Participants can communicate strategic recommendations clearly to senior and diverse stakeholder audiences.

  • Audience analysis identifies knowledge, concerns, language, power and desired action
  • SCARF model anticipates status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness reactions
  • Message houses organise headline, supporting points, evidence and objections
  • Executive briefings structure recommendations, trade-offs, decisions and next steps
  • Strategic storytelling links organisational purpose, evidence, choices and consequences
  • Challenging questions handled through acknowledgement, clarification and concise response

Participants can address conflict directly while protecting trust, accountability and working relationships.

  • Psychological safety assessed through speaking-up norms, error response and inclusion
  • Trust repaired using acknowledgement, accountability, restitution and consistent follow-through
  • Thomas-Kilmann modes chosen according to stakes, relationships and time pressure
  • Conflict diagnoses separate facts, interpretations, interests, emotions and identity
  • Difficult conversations prepared with SBI feedback, requests and boundary statements
  • Team agreements define escalation routes, meeting norms and decision protocols

Participants can negotiate agreements that protect strategic priorities and sustain implementation commitment.

  • BATNA, reservation value and target outcomes prepared before strategic negotiation
  • ZOPA analysis tests whether agreement can create value for parties
  • Integrative negotiation trades across interests, risk, timing and implementation burden
  • Objective criteria anchor proposals in standards, precedent and verifiable data
  • Concessions planned as conditional exchanges rather than unilateral movement
  • Multiparty negotiations managed through agenda design, caucuses and coalition discipline

Participants can build sponsorship and engagement for strategic change using structured change methods.

  • Change case links strategic intent, operational impacts and stakeholder consequences
  • ADKAR diagnoses awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement gaps
  • Change sponsor roles distinguish visible advocacy, resource decisions and obstacle removal
  • Resistance analysed as information about loss, risk, workload and trust
  • Communication cadence matches stakeholder needs, decision gates and implementation milestones
  • Change readiness indicators track adoption, capability, sentiment and operational performance

Participants can establish leadership routines that improve accountability, decisions and execution.

  • RACI clarifies accountable ownership, decision input, consultation and information flow
  • Strategic meetings designed around purpose, pre-reads, decisions and commitments
  • Decision quality improved through red teams, premortems and dissent protocols
  • Delegation contracts specify outcomes, authority limits, checkpoints and escalation criteria
  • Performance conversations connect priorities, evidence, consequences and development actions
  • Operating rhythms align portfolio reviews, risk forums and executive decisions

Participants can produce a measured action plan for a live strategic influence priority.

  • Influence objectives prioritised against strategic value, urgency and political feasibility
  • Stakeholder engagement plans assign messages, channels, owners and response measures
  • Personal power bases evaluated across expertise, credibility, networks and formal role
  • 90-day action plans sequence decisions, conversations, allies and review points
  • Peer accountability arrangements establish commitments, evidence and progress check-ins
  • Leadership impact measures track stakeholder movement, decision velocity and execution outcomes

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

What you take back to work

  1. Stakeholder salience and interest-influence analysis template
  2. Coalition map and ethical influence strategy
  3. Executive message house and decision briefing template
  4. Difficult conversation preparation checklist
  5. Strategic negotiation planning sheet
  6. 90-day organisational influence action plan

Who should attend

  • Senior Managers — secure alignment for cross-functional priorities without relying solely on hierarchy
  • Directors and Heads of Function — influence executive peers on strategy, resources and operating decisions
  • Programme Directors — build sponsorship and resolve stakeholder conflict during major change
  • Transformation Leaders — convert resistance and uncertainty into informed commitment for change
  • Policy and Public Affairs Leaders — build legitimate support among officials, partners and affected groups
  • Risk, Compliance and Governance Leaders — gain timely decisions on issues with significant organisational exposure

Skills and tools covered

Strategic influenceStakeholder analysisExecutive communicationCoalition buildingStrategic negotiationChange sponsorship

Tools and standards

PESTLE analysis, Porter's Five Forces, RAPID decision framework, ADKAR change model

How the course runs

Training methodology

Faculty-led briefings introduce each framework before participants apply it to realistic leadership cases and their own strategic priorities. Group work examines stakeholder conflicts, competing interests, communication failures and decision bottlenecks. Simulations provide practice in executive influence, difficult conversations and multiparty negotiation, followed by focused feedback against stated criteria. Participants use structured templates throughout the programme to build an influence plan, executive message, coalition map and change sponsorship approach. The final sessions convert learning into a practical 90-day action plan with measures and review points.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have substantial management experience and current responsibility for a team, function, programme, major project or stakeholder relationship. They should be familiar with their organisation's strategy, governance arrangements and decision-making process, and be prepared to work on a live leadership challenge during the course. Previous formal leadership training is useful but not required. No prior study of psychology, negotiation theory, strategy frameworks or change-management models is required. This is not an entry-level people-management course; participants need experience of influencing colleagues, sponsors or external stakeholders.

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 substantial management experience and responsibility for a team, function, programme or significant stakeholder relationship. Prior formal study of strategy, negotiation or change management is not required.

Bring a current strategic issue that depends on support from colleagues, sponsors, partners or external stakeholders. Suitable examples include a transformation initiative, investment proposal, policy change, risk decision or operating-model redesign.

It is designed for senior managers, functional heads, programme directors and leaders working across reporting lines. It is particularly relevant where delivery depends on executive alignment, stakeholder commitment or collaboration between functions.

The course concentrates on strategic influence where formal authority is limited or insufficient. It gives particular attention to stakeholder politics, executive communication, negotiation, coalition building, change sponsorship and decision rights.

Participants develop materials for a live priority throughout the programme, including a stakeholder analysis, influence strategy, executive message and action plan. The methods can be used in leadership meetings, sponsor discussions, negotiations and change communications.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours, for approximately 32.5 hours in total. Time is divided between faculty input, case analysis, group work, simulations, 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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