Real leadership challenges. Structured peer support. Tangible impact.
The Leader Lab is a facilitated, peer-to-peer development programme for more experienced managers and leaders who don’t need another leadership training course stuffed with theories and frameworks.
They already know the models.
They’ve read the books.
They’ve done the training.
What they need now is a more advanced form of development - space, structure and challenge to work through real leadership dilemmas, with peers operating at a similar level, and a skilled facilitator to ensure it leads to action, not just discussion.
This is leadership development that actually gets applied.
What This Programme Delivers
For participants:
- A high-trust, high-challenge space to work on complex, real-world leadership issues
- More confident judgement in ambiguous, high-stakes situations
- Stronger capability in handling people issues, performance challenges and competing priorities
- Increased self-awareness and more deliberate leadership behaviour
- Peer challenge that sharpens thinking - without it turning into unproductive “manager therapy”
For Your Organisation:
- Fewer issues escalating to HR or senior leaders
- Less senior time spent fixing avoidable leadership problems
- More consistent leadership behaviour at mid and senior levels
- Better decision-making closer to the work
- Leaders who take ownership and accountability, rather than passing problems upwards
In short: stronger leaders, fewer escalations, and less organisational drag.
Why This Matters
Many experienced leaders continue to be sent on training programmes that were never designed for them.
They revisit familiar models.
They nod along.
They leave inspired but then quickly return to roles where:
- The real challenges are messier than the theory
- There’s little opportunity to practise or reflect
- Decisions carry personal, cultural and organisational risk
- Difficult issues are postponed, avoided, or escalated
At this level, the gap isn’t skill or knowledge.
It’s application in context.
The Leader Lab addresses this directly - by supporting leaders to work on live challenges, with peers who understand the complexity, and with structure that turns reflection into action.
By the end of the programme, participants will be able to:
- Tackle complex leadership dilemmas with greater clarity and confidence
- Address people and performance issues earlier and more effectively
- Apply organisational leadership behaviours consistently in real situations
- Think more systemically about impact, trade-offs and consequences
- Lead with greater courage, judgement and accountability
- Draw on peer insight rather than leading in isolation
How The Programme Works
Duration: 10 weeks
Format: Facilitated peer-to-peer development
Group size: Pods of up to 4 experienced leaders
Programme structure
1. Orientation session (2 hours)
Sets the conditions for effective, senior-level peer work:
- Aligns the programme to your organisation’s leadership or behavioural framework
- Establishes expectations, boundaries and confidentiality
- Introduces the structured peer-coaching approach (including clear dos and don’ts)
- Ensures the space is purposeful, focused and outcome-driven - not a support group
2. Peer Lab sessions (4 × 90 minutes)
Each participant becomes the Focal Leader once, bringing a real leadership challenge they are currently facing.
With skilled facilitation, peers:
- Help clarify the core issue
- Surface assumptions and blind spots
- Explore realistic options and consequences
- Support the leader to commit to clear, practical actions
This is disciplined peer work - not advice-giving, venting or war stories.
3. Capstone session (60 minutes)
- Review progress and outcomes
- Reflect on leadership shifts and behavioural change
- Identify what to embed and sustain beyond the programme
Who Should Attend
The Leader Lab is designed for:
- Experienced managers and leaders
- Senior managers, heads of function and directors
- Leaders who have already completed leadership training programmes
- Leaders operating in complexity, ambiguity or organisational change
- High-potential leaders preparing for broader or more senior roles
It is not intended for:
- First-time managers
- Leaders looking for foundational skills training
- Programmes focused on theory, tools or framework
If your managers need to build foundational leadership skills, we recommend Ignite instead.
Ignite is our flagship programme for managers who need to develop core leadership capability through facilitated learning and practical application.
What Makes The Leader Lab Different
This is not leadership skills training.
It’s not a workshop.
It’s not hypothetical.
It’s not theoretical.
- No recycled content leaders already know
- No generic case studies
- No unstructured group discussion
Instead:
- Real challenges, brought by experienced leaders
- Structured peer challenge and support
- Skilled facilitation to ensure focus, depth and action
- Direct alignment to the leadership behaviours your organisation needs more of
Outcomes You Can Expect for the Business
Organisations typically see:
✓ Stronger leadership capability without repeated training spend
✓ Improved performance and productivity through better day-to-day decisions
✓ Reduced grievances, conflict escalation and employee relations issues
✓ Lower stress and absence linked to unresolved people challenges
✓ Higher confidence and consistency among experienced leaders
✓ A clear reduction in issues being pushed up to HR or senior leadership
In short: better leadership where it has the biggest organisational leverage. High performance without high turnover.