Why train your leaders and managers?
Good leaders and managers are critical to the effective operation of any business. They need to have the competence and the confidence to lead those working for them by example, communicating with and inspiring them to engage in the corporate vision and achieving the organisation’s business goals.
In our experience over the last 25 years, most leaders and managers are promoted on the basis of their technical competence. There seems to be an assumption that this will be enough to make them an effective leader or manager. Sadly, many people promoted into these positions do not fulfil their potential.
An effective leader or manager can have a huge impact on:
- Productivity
- Employee engagement
- Staff retention
- Decision making
- … and ultimately
- The bottom line!
Without the necessary leadership and management skills, the transition from being a team member to leader or manager can be a difficult one. While moving up the ladder in an organisation, it is essential to have the necessary skills which can be acquired through attending our leadership and management training course to enhance both competence and the confidence to use the new skills and behaviours.
What is our leadership and management training course about?
In a bid to reduce costs some organisations attempt to have one experienced leader or manager train a new one. In practice this strategy is often ineffective because, unless the manager in question has been trained how to train the process will not produce the desired results.
While the development of great leaders is obviously a critical success factor for organisations in today’s challenging business environment, it is often the front-line managers who have the most contact with front-line employees; the people who are critical to the execution of an organisation’s vision and strategy through their day-to-day operations.
While ad hoc training days are better than no training, a more effective development strategy is to design a comprehensive and integrated leadership and management training programme that covers key topics including:
The role and skills of leadership
Communications skills
Performance management
Time management
Coaching skills
Giving effective feedback
Appraisal skills
Decision making and creative problem solving
Managing change
Building a cohesive team
Developing a culture of accountability
Presentation skills
Interpersonal influence
Project management
Strategic thinking
How is our leadership and management training structured?
Our leadership and management training programmes are designed to meet your specific requirements. They are built after meeting with you and your delegates to identify the subjects that need to be included if we are to ensure you get a positive return on your training investment. You can learn more about the Eagle Process here.
Once the design has been agreed with you, we begin the delivery of the leadership and management training course. Our delivery style is highly challenging and highly supportive. It uses a variety of learning methodologies because we know that delegates have different learning preferences. At the conclusion of the programme we recommend that the delegates complete a workplace project that demonstrates:
- What they have learned
- How they have applied their learning
- What benefit there has been for them, their team and your company from the training
LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT
Frequently Asked Questions
What is management training?
In spite of research indicating that managers who receive training are more effective in their roles, few companies actually provide it. All too often individuals are promoted into a management role because of their technical competence, given a pat on the back, a short pep talk and told to "let me know if you have any problems."
You wouldn't want your doctor or auto mechanic to "wing it" this way. Not too many managers have to make life-or-death decisions but their actions do have a direct effect on the careers, livelihoods and day-to-day happiness of the people that they manage.
So, management training is a training activity that focuses on improving a delegate’s skills as a manager. While there might potentially be some technical element to it, there may be more emphasis on ‘soft skills’, such as communication and empathy, which enable better team work and more progressive relationships with the people they manage.
What is taught in management training?
Again, this will depend on the specific needs of our client that we identify during our free-of-charge diagnosis session. As I mention elsewhere, most of our programmes focus on what are termed as ‘soft skills’. These include such topics as communication skills, motivating a team, personal influence, delegation and time management. But we also cover ‘harder’ issues such as decision making and problem solving, building a culture of accountability and managing change.
What are the benefits of management training?
Management training can directly impact company morale as managers feel more valued, important and secure in a position where their organisation is investing money on their development. Also, one of the ‘hidden’ benefits of management training programmes is the opportunity to bring managers together. This allows them to get to know their peers and to learn about the problems that face them. It can also help to create a management team dynamic.
What are the objectives of management training?
When we design and deliver any management training for either upcoming or existing managers, the goal is always to increase their competence and their confidence. Then, as their confidence increases, so does their ability to get more from the people in their teams by actually using the skills they have learned on the training programme and managing them in a more effective way. In this way the manager has a huge impact on employee engagement and retention, motivation, productivity and, ultimately, the bottom line.
What are the types of management training?
There are many types of management training. There are obviously different ways of delivery. With the COVID-19 crisis in full flow, some companies are expanding their use of online training using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype and Google Hangouts for example. These platforms have come a long way in recent years, including the development of breakout rooms for delegates. There are obvious advantages to delivering management training in this way; including cost and time.
While we can utilise online training for our clients, most of our management training has been delivered in face-to-face group situations. I really like the opportunity this setting allows for discussion and ‘seeing the colour of their eyes’!
The other differentiation of management training is that between ‘open’ programmes delivered to groups of delegates from different companies and an ‘in-house’ programme. The latter has the advantage of being able to tailor the content to suit the requirements and the culture of the client; which is why we have focused on this type of programme for over 20 years.
What is leadership training?
Leadership training can take two fundamental forms. Our programmes work with people who have been identified as ‘leaders of the future’ or who have just taken their first steps in the critical role of being a leader. We also work with experienced leaders who want to continue their development by exploring the latest thinking and models.
What is taught in leadership training?
As with all of our training programmes, our leadership training is always designed to meet the specific requirements of the clients that we work with. That said, there are some ‘usual suspects’ that we focus on in most of our leadership training programmes. These include:
- Exploring the context of leadership
- Defining what leadership is
- Dispelling some of the myths of leadership
- Exploring the history of leadership
- The key models of leadership and how they can be applied
- Identifying examples of great leaders and the skills and characteristics that made them great
What are the benefits of leadership training?
We begin by recognising that an effective leader can have a huge impact on an organisation in terms of the productivity of its people, employee engagement, staff retention and, ultimately, the bottom line. A well structured and integrated leadership training programme can assist a person’s transition into what is an incredibly challenging role.
One of the benefits of our leadership training programmes is that delegates develop a deeper understanding of what it means to be a leader as well as providing them with the necessary skills to engage people. Developing leadership skills in this way also helps to build confidence in others and paves the way for future inspirational leaders.
What are the objectives of leadership training?
In today’s dynamic business environment, challenges can arise at any time and an effective leader needs to be able to respond to those challenges with intelligence, strategy, and expertise. Our leadership training programmes allow the delegates to think deeply about what being a leader means to them.
Because they allow the delegates a chance to step away from their day to day activities, leadership training also offer the opportunity to clarify their vision as a leader and how they can communicate that vision and align their people to it in a way that engages and motivates them.
Finally, training leaders can offer delegates insights on how to pick a good team, how to build a team capable of delivering their vision for their team or the organisation.
How do you ‘create’ a leader?
This is an interesting question. For many years it was thought that some people were born leaders. They were usually the rich and titled or those born into great military families. We believe that while some people have a potential head start in their leadership development, it is possible to develop great leaders through leadership development and training programmes. For us the important thing is that delegates get an opportunity to understand what being a leader is all about and to explore their leadership style to identify its strengths and also areas that they need to work on.
What are the six leadership levels?
This refers to a model that we use in many of our training programmes. It is called ‘logical levels’ and in the case of leadership training it examines:
- In what environment do you lead?
- What behaviours do you use to be a leader?
- What skills and capabilities do you draw upon when you are leading?
- What do you believe and value about being a leader?
- What is your identity as a leader?
- What is your purpose when you are being a leader?
The process that we take delegates through is often described as enlightening as it goes deeper than just looking at the skills of leadership and gets them thinking about where leadership starts. We often say that leadership is like charity in that it begins at home and this process helps them to understand themselves in order to lead themselves first and others second.
the Leadership and Management training Programme?
When I heard I was on yet another training course, I had a negative view and thought it would be a waste of time like previous courses I have attended. How I was proved wrong! The course content was mind-blowing and made me realise things about myself that I had never considered before. The skills I have learned are truly helpful in work and my personal life and has made me look at things in a different light
I call it pure genius. The course was unlike any other I have experienced. What did it do? In short it opened everyone’s eyes to themselves and also to their interaction with others. The effect was remarkable – their behaviour changed, their work and private lives improved and stress levels decreased overnight.
I first met Ian in 2000 and he has without a doubt had one of the biggest impacts upon my professional (and indeed) personal behaviours and attitudes. I cannot put into words how grateful I am to Eagle Training for opening my eyes and allowing me to view things from a different perspective allowing me to perform better professionally in my varying roles throughout my employment at Robert Bosch. I have even been to a business in Canary Wharf with Ian on a day off to attend a training course on NLP. Ian is so incredibly friendly and approachable whilst maintaining incredible professionalism. I cannot recommend Ian and Eagle Training highly enough.
It was vital in selecting a training provider that I found an individual who was not only willing but also able to take time to understand the culture and the nuances of the business and individuals with whom they were to partner. In this respect, I would highly recommend Ian as someone who
places personal ethics and standards alongside his undoubted professional expertise. He delivers bespoke training and development programmes to a consistently high standard as evidenced by both delegate feedback and business impacts. Ian understands the need to justify training spend by
measuring positive outcomes for both the business and delegates and he achieves this balance in an engaging and highly professional manner at all times.
It was vital in selecting a training provider that I found an individual who was not only willing but also able to take time to understand the culture and the nuances of the business and individuals with whom they were to partner. In this respect, I would highly recommend Ian as someone who
places personal ethics and standards alongside his undoubted professional expertise. He delivers bespoke training and development programmes to a consistently high standard as evidenced by both delegate feedback and business impacts. Ian understands the need to justify training spend by
measuring positive outcomes for both the business and delegates and he achieves this balance in an engaging and highly professional manner at all times.
Ian is one of the most talented management trainers I have ever had the pleasure and privilege to work with. He brings high levels of energy of enthusiasm along with many years of experience and insight in diverse organisations, sectors and parts of the world. His training skills are outstanding, engaging learners using a range of approaches and techniques – including a great sense of humour! – end enabling them to move forward, conceptually and practically, in leaps and bounds. I would have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Ian. He is a man of integrity and an absolute star!
Ian offers a range of leadership, collaboration and team development or training services that deliver tangible outcomes. From my own experience of Ian, I have valued his support, advice and guidance. A source of ideas, insight and ability to listen, reflect and offer suggestions that are empathetic, yet challenging. This is conveyed when engaging with clients; a subtle and unobtrusive manner that enables him to engage and bring all his knowledge and experience to the fore.
I have been lucky enough to attend a few training and development courses with Eagle Training, such as the aspiring manager’s program, managers excellence program and NLP. In short, the courses literally changed my life in both personal aspects as well as building my career. Ian is the most engaging trainer I have ever had the pleasure of working with and is so knowledgeable about his subjects. I would definitely recommend Ian and Eagle Training without hesitation.
I would recommend Ian for the best leadership training capturing up to date techniques with practical advice and insights enabling you to deploy them and improve your performance. Ian is the most knowledgeable, enjoyable and adept trainer I have worked with. Clients always ask for more. He has both unlimited interest in his subject and for his audience.
Ian’s approach to training is refreshing and engaging. I have attended quite a number of training programs and none have had an impact on me because none were tailored for me. Ian’s training managed to keep both my right-hand brain and left-hand brain simultaneously engaged. This results in a truly meaningful learning experience that has a massive impact on what you take away from the sessions. You will use what you learn from his training in your job and your personal life; because the training is character building and has a profound effect on you. Ian’s approach to training is completely different, it is more than a job to Ian. Ian connects with all his clients because he really listens to them. First, he invests time in understanding who he is training and what they need out of the training, then he formulates a program that is best suited to the desired outcome but tailored to you. If you want your Managers and Staff to truly evolve, become self-managing and empowered then I cannot recommend Eagle Training enough. Thank You for your support, Ian! Regards.
I have had the pleasure of knowing Ian and using his services for over 20 years. I was lucky to have been part of Ian’s Management Excellence Programme and Leadership Excellence Programme many years ago as part of my early management and leadership training. These courses are like no other and have influenced and guided me throughout my career. The reason behind that is not only the content but the way the courses were delivered by Ian and his colleagues. His enthusiasm for learning and training is infection. His style is able to make all delegates comfortable and open to learning. His courses are enjoyable and so the learning is easy, and it sticks. Since being trained by Ian I have had the pleasure of working with some amazing companies, and at each of them have been able to involve Ian and his company in the training and development of managers, including at RHM, Premier Foods and Yeo Valley. I only do this because the training Ian delivers also drives measurable improvements from the attendees. I would not hesitate to recommend Ian for all your training and development needs.
Ian is a focused professional who delivers results and is not afraid to go the extra mile. He really brings out the best in people and the results are plain to see. His immense successful experience in his field puts him ahead of the competition. He is easy to work with and has a great sense of humour which puts delegates at ease during the training sessions. Well done Ian keep up the good work.
I have been on plenty of courses but this one was the most interesting. It kept your attention all the way through plus you got feedback as you were going along. The corporate trainer’s enthusiasm and willingness to listen was a great boost. They have the capability to reach where other trainers haven’t.
I believe that the course has given me more confidence in myself, which is no mean feat!! I would like to say that I feel Ian created a very trusting environment for us all that enabled us to be very open and honest about many issues. It gave us the opportunity to be open about feelings and issues that on a day to day basis we never really get the chance to do. It was a pleasure to watch colleagues on the course open up and blossom and grow and Ian enabled this to happen. It has been a real pleasure. Thank you, Ian.
It has been a fantastic programme. I was initially a bit sceptical about how I would find it, but it has been invaluable. It has equipped me with the skills and tools to deal with difficult and challenging situations. The programme has been fun, enjoyable and it has really helped me to develop into my new role.
Overall this has been an exceptional course that has certainly exceeded my expectations of what a management course could offer me. It has provided me with practical skills and tools that I can actually use in my day to day work and for life.
Fantastic course! Ian has a clear passion and wealth of knowledge of facilitation, management and NLP, which all adds to a detailed and thorough experience. Real-life examples make difficult concepts easy to learn and Ian always assists and explains when needed in a 1:1 exploration.
Ian created a c conducive atmosphere for learning; both formal and informal. There was a mix of humour and seriousness. The structure of the course was excellent with excellent reference material and handouts. Ian was an excellent trainer who was interested in attendees and individual responses. He is obviously passionate about the material and wants his attendees to learn, but enjoy at the same time.
I have found the course to be extremely worthwhile. I was unsure of what to expect but after meeting the facilitators in their first session they engaged everyone and explained everything excellently. The course exceeded all of my expectations and I would recommend it to anyone, young or old, to attend. Thanks to you both!
When I heard I was on yet another training course, I had a negative view and thought it would be a waste of time like previous courses I have attended. How I was proved wrong! The course content was mind-blowing and made me realise things about myself that I had never considered before. The skills I have learned are truly helpful in work and my personal life and has made me look at things in a different light.