Transformational Leadership and Governance Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Board Members, Chief Executives 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-CG-037

Before you join: Participants should have experience working in a management, governance, risk, compliance, audit, legal or board-support role.

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

Boards and senior leaders are expected to set direction, challenge management, protect stakeholder interests and oversee material risks without becoming involved in day-to-day operations. Failures in governance often arise from unclear decision rights, weak board information, unmanaged conflicts of interest, poor risk escalation or leadership behaviours that discourage challenge. These weaknesses can damage performance, regulatory standing, investor confidence and public trust.

This course examines how transformational leadership works alongside sound corporate governance. Participants learn to distinguish board and executive accountabilities, structure effective board and committee work, assess governance arrangements, strengthen ethical decision-making and oversee strategy, risk, controls and organisational culture. The course uses the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, the Three Lines Model, COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework and ISO 37001 anti-bribery concepts as practical reference points.

Participants work through realistic boardroom cases involving strategic change, financial control concerns, misconduct allegations, risk appetite breaches and stakeholder scrutiny. Short instructor briefings are combined with case analysis, governance simulations, group discussions and application planning. Each participant leaves with a governance assessment checklist, board paper review model, risk oversight framework and personal leadership action plan that can be adapted to their organisation.

The course is suited to board members, executives, senior managers, governance professionals and high-potential leaders who contribute to governance decisions or prepare information for boards and committees. It is particularly relevant for regulated businesses, public bodies, financial institutions, NGOs and multinational organisations managing complex stakeholder expectations.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess governance arrangements against the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance
  • Define board, committee and executive decision rights using a governance operating model
  • Prepare decision-ready board papers using materiality, evidence and recommendation criteria
  • Apply the Three Lines Model to clarify risk, control and assurance accountabilities
  • Evaluate organisational culture using conduct indicators, speak-up data and control evidence
  • Conduct ethical decision analysis using stakeholder mapping and conflict-of-interest controls
  • Design board oversight questions for strategy, risk appetite and organisational performance
  • Produce a 90-day transformational leadership and governance action plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Improves confidence when presenting recommendations to boards and executive committees
  • Builds a practical method for challenging decisions without undermining accountability
  • Strengthens readiness for board, committee and senior leadership responsibilities
  • Provides structured approaches for handling conflicts of interest and ethical dilemmas
  • Enables clearer communication of risk, culture and control concerns to senior stakeholders

For your organisation

  • Clarifies decision rights between boards, committees, executives and control functions
  • Improves the quality, relevance and timeliness of board decision papers
  • Strengthens oversight of strategic risk, conduct risk and control weaknesses
  • Supports earlier escalation of misconduct, compliance concerns and cultural warning signs
  • Creates consistent governance actions following restructures, growth or major transformation

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain how governance and transformational leadership reinforce organisational purpose and accountability.

  • Corporate governance purpose, legitimacy and sustainable value creation
  • G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and core board duties
  • Transformational leadership behaviours: vision, challenge, trust and accountability
  • Stakeholder expectations mapped through power-interest analysis
  • Agency theory, stewardship theory and implications for board conduct
  • Governance failures traced to incentives, information gaps and weak challenge

Participants can define decision rights and accountability boundaries between governing bodies and management.

  • Board reserved matters distinguished from executive delegated authority
  • RACI matrices for strategic decisions, controls and major investments
  • Terms of reference drafted for boards and standing committees
  • Chair, chief executive and company secretary roles compared
  • Delegations of authority linked to financial and operational thresholds
  • Escalation protocols for urgent decisions, breaches and material incidents

Participants can assess the conditions required for effective, independent and constructive board performance.

  • Skills matrices aligned with strategy, risk and succession needs
  • Independence criteria tested against relationships, tenure and conflicts
  • Board evaluation methods: questionnaires, interviews and observation
  • Psychological safety balanced with rigorous constructive challenge
  • Meeting agendas structured around decisions, oversight and strategic discussion
  • Director induction plans covering duties, information and organisational context

Participants can structure board oversight of strategy, transformation and major organisational change.

  • Strategy maps connect purpose, priorities, capabilities and performance measures
  • Balanced Scorecard measures tested for strategic relevance and accountability
  • Transformation cases assessed through benefits, dependencies and delivery risks
  • Scenario planning challenges assumptions behind strategic investment decisions
  • Board questions distinguish strategic oversight from management intervention
  • Change sponsorship roles assigned across board and executive leadership

Participants can apply recognised models to oversee risk appetite, internal controls and assurance.

  • Risk appetite statements translate strategic objectives into measurable boundaries
  • COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework applied to control design
  • Three Lines Model clarifies management, oversight and assurance responsibilities
  • Risk registers prioritised using likelihood, impact, velocity and control effectiveness
  • Key risk indicators set escalation triggers for board attention
  • Assurance maps identify duplicated reviews and untested control areas

Participants can evaluate ethical issues and establish governance controls for responsible conduct.

  • Ethical decision model tests legality, fairness, consequences and values
  • Conflicts of interest declared, assessed and recorded systematically
  • ISO 37001 controls address bribery risks and third-party exposure
  • Whistleblowing arrangements protect reporters and preserve investigation independence
  • Conduct risk indicators reveal incentive, sales practice and culture concerns
  • Stakeholder impact assessments inform difficult strategic and operational decisions

Participants can use evidence to oversee organisational culture and leadership accountability.

  • Culture dashboards combine survey, turnover, conduct and speak-up data
  • Tone from the top tested against management actions
  • Incentive schemes reviewed for unintended risk-taking behaviours
  • Succession plans assess leadership continuity and capability gaps
  • Performance management links values, behaviours and business results
  • Employee listening channels provide evidence for board culture discussions

Participants can improve committee structures and produce information that supports sound board decisions.

  • Audit, risk, remuneration and nomination committee mandates compared
  • Annual committee workplans aligned with reporting and decision cycles
  • Board papers follow purpose, recommendation, evidence and risk structure
  • Materiality tests separate decision-critical information from operational detail
  • Management dashboards integrate financial, risk, conduct and people indicators
  • Minutes record decisions, dissent, actions and accountability owners

Participants can organise governance responses to crises, investigations and heightened stakeholder scrutiny.

  • Crisis governance protocols establish authority, information flow and escalation
  • Incident reporting thresholds distinguish routine issues from board matters
  • Independent investigation terms protect scope, evidence and confidentiality
  • Stakeholder communication plans address regulators, investors, employees and communities
  • Decision logs preserve rationale during rapidly changing events
  • Post-incident reviews convert findings into control and governance improvements

Participants can create a focused plan to strengthen governance leadership in their role.

  • Governance maturity assessment identifies priority gaps and quick improvements
  • Personal stakeholder map identifies sponsors, challengers and information sources
  • Ninety-day action plans define outcomes, milestones and accountability
  • Leadership commitments specify challenge, listening and escalation behaviours
  • Board reporting improvements prioritised by materiality and feasibility
  • Progress measures track governance actions, evidence and follow-up decisions

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

What you take back to work

  1. Governance maturity assessment checklist
  2. Board and executive decision-rights matrix
  3. Board paper quality review template
  4. Risk appetite and assurance mapping model
  5. Culture and conduct oversight dashboard
  6. Ninety-day governance leadership action plan

Who should attend

  • Board Members — strengthen oversight, challenge and fiduciary decision-making
  • Chief Executives — align strategic leadership with board accountability
  • Senior Managers — prepare decisions, evidence and reports for governing bodies
  • Company Secretaries — improve board processes, committee discipline and governance records
  • Risk and Compliance Leaders — connect assurance findings to board risk oversight
  • High-Potential Leaders — build readiness for executive and board-facing responsibilities

Skills and tools covered

Board effectivenessGovernance designRisk oversightEthical leadershipCommittee reportingCulture assurance

Tools and standards

G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, COSO Internal Control—Integrated Framework, Three Lines Model, ISO 37001 Anti-bribery Management Systems

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course combines focused instructor briefings with boardroom cases drawn from regulated, commercial and public-interest settings. Participants analyse governance failures, review board papers, map accountabilities and test decisions through committee-style simulations. Group work examines leadership behaviours, risk escalation and ethical dilemmas from multiple stakeholder perspectives. Facilitated discussions connect recognised governance frameworks to participants’ own reporting lines and decision processes. Individual application planning converts course learning into actions for the first 90 days after the programme.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience working in a management, governance, risk, compliance, audit, legal or board-support role. They should understand their organisation’s basic structure, reporting lines and main strategic priorities. Familiarity with board papers, management reporting, risk registers or policy documents is useful but not essential. The course does not require prior board membership, accounting qualifications, legal training or specialist audit expertise. Participants will gain more from the course if they can bring a non-confidential example of a current governance, leadership or decision-making issue.

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 management, governance, risk, compliance, audit, legal or board-support experience. Prior board membership is helpful but not required, and no specialist accounting or legal qualification is needed.

Bring a non-confidential example of a governance, leadership, reporting or risk issue relevant to your role. A laptop is useful for reviewing materials and developing your action plan, but is not mandatory.

The course suits board members, executives, senior managers, company secretaries, risk leaders and future senior leaders. It is designed for people who make, support, challenge or report on governance decisions.

Corporate governance courses often focus primarily on structures, duties and compliance requirements. This course also examines the leadership behaviours, culture, decision quality and change responsibilities that make governance arrangements effective.

Participants can use the templates to review board papers, clarify delegated authorities, assess culture evidence and improve risk escalation. The final action plan identifies practical changes to make within 90 days.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days cover ten modules through instructor input, cases, group work, simulations and structured 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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