Leadership development

For leaders to be good in the current environment we believe they will need to be more adaptable, more flexible, and more willing to learn, so that they can lead the response to the fast-changing realities of the 21st century.

Improving results by learning from experience

Good leaders will be open, curious, and capable of reinvention, when needed, at a personal and organisation level. They will look for relevant, applicable solutions to the problems they face, not for quick fix generic answers.

Our approach to leadership development will help your organisation’s leaders to discover these attributes in themselves, to examine the problems they encounter, and to find new solutions.

Our approach

Our Leadership Development offer is built on an approach called Action Inquiry. This both incorporates and benefits from our extensive and pioneering track record in the field of action learning.

Action Inquiry is an umbrella term to describe the use of a cycle of inquiry – plan, act, describe, review and act more effectively. In this case, the field of inquiry is leadership and the leadership development programme takes your leaders through a critically reflective practice that starts with their existing knowledge and experience, and develops an improved understanding of how to tackle more effectively the biggest challenges they face.

In our experience, the Action Inquiry methodology ensures that our Leadership Development activities are practically focused; the nature of the learning process results in leaders directly applying new ideas and actions in their day-to-day leadership tasks within your organisation or company.

How it works

Leaders will work together in a facilitated group for an extended period – typically up to a year – to ask questions and discover potential answers to their leadership challenges.

They will typically take part in:

  • practical Action Inquiry based Leadership Workshops led by expert consultants
  • action learning sessions
  • executive coaching sessions
  • personal 360° feedback processes, adapted to your organisation’s leadership model
  • a personal leadership project, supervised by an internal mentor or one from another organisation

Leadership Development Inquiry starts with a set of questions that leaders might not have asked themselves before. The answers to these questions are the starting point which set the direction for the inquiry to take:

  • What does leadership look like where I am working now?
  • What leadership is called for in my present organisation?
  • What sort of leader do I want to be?
  • What is my leadership practice model, and how effective is it?

The simultaneous combination of action and inquiry enables leaders to analyse the effectiveness of their actions and make different choices. Increased self awareness alongside a rigorous analysis of the organisation’s need in a changing world leads to new forms of disciplined leadership practice.

Next steps

Every Leadership Development programme we design is specific to the company or organisation so we would meet with you to create a tailor-made programme that meets your needs. To arrange an initial meeting, at no cost and without obligation, please contact Ruth Cook on 0207 407 1971 or email .