Building Better Leaders programme

Our flagship, modular leadership programme that turns technical experts into capable, confident, compassionate people leaders.

  • Best in class delivery with a Net Promoter Score of 73*.

    *Across 240+ participants 2024/2025

  • Specially developed for leaders who are promoted as technical experts.

    Often without formal leadership training, common in consulting, construction, engineering, education, and creative industries.

  • 30,000 hours of leadership training delivered.

    Together, John & Rachael have spent the last 10 years developing leaders across multiple sectors .

Who it’s for

The Building Better Leaders programme has been specially designed for people newly managing others or leading teams in:

  • Consulting

  • Construction & Engineering

  • Education & Local Government

  • Creative industries

Designed for organisations that often promote on technical excellence before formal leadership development. That’s where we come in.

How it works

Modular by design. Practical in delivery.

Pick your modules: Choosing from 20+ leadership topics to create a programme that fits your people and organisational context.

  • Three topics per module: Each module comprises 3 topics to build focused capability.

  • Flexible formats: Delivered as 3 × 2‑hour virtual workshops or a 1‑day in‑person workshop per module.

  • Two facilitators every session: Ensures rounded perspectives, interaction and personal attention.

  • Evidence‑based & applied: Grounded in organisational psychology, translated into tools leaders can use the same day.

Need help choosing? We’ll co‑design a pathway that maps to your roles, culture and business goals.

What delegates will learn

Topics develop capabilities that aren’t typically learned on the job including:

  • Self‑awareness and personal leadership

  • Understanding team dynamics

  • Personal accountability

  • Resilience and energy management

  • Effective communication and influence

All to aid improved perfomance in leadership and team outcomes. See the full topic list below.

Programme Outcomes

  • to lead people, not just projects.

  • on their role and how to set direction.

  • and stakeholder relationships

  • With better ownership, accountability and momentum.

Results you can measure

We run pre- and post-programme evaluations for every cohort, giving you clear, data-backed evidence of progress at individual and team level. Clients report:

↑ 51% improvement in understanding what good leadership looks like

↑ 55% increase in leadership confidence

↑ 55% improvement in time management

↑ 35% improvement in communication effectiveness

↑ 51% improvement in understanding what good leadership looks like ↑ 55% increase in leadership confidence ↑ 55% improvement in time management ↑ 35% improvement in communication effectiveness

Programme Topics

  • Introduction to Leadership

    Explore the application of proven leadership skills and theory, suitable for both new and experienced leaders:

    • Understand the difference between leadership & management

    • Learn essential leadership skills including the Four Leadership Styles

    • Craft the most effective leadership style for your teams needs

    • Learn how to lead different team members

    • Discover the importance of your leadership shadow

    • Better understand the impact you have on others, improving self-awareness, and leadership effectiveness.

  • Effective Communication

    Explore learnings from miscommunication, resulting in better difficult conversations and communication:

    • Improve your communication style with your team members

    • Master the art of difficult conversations

    • Learn how to give useful, detailed & constructive feedback

    • Better understand how you respond to team members when under pressure

    • Appreciate the benefits of asking more questions, making fewer statements

    • Better understand how your emotions and feelings impact your team.

  • Goals Setting Techniques

    Learn the theory of effective goal setting and how to apply this to the appraisal and personal development planning process:

    • Better understand the benefits of setting personal & business goals

    • Learn how & where to use different types of goals for better results

    • Accelerate your results through combined team goals

    • Better team performance through engaging appraisal conversations

    • Get new starters in your team to flourish quickly

    • Easy to remember framework for all your goal setting needs.

  • Effective Meeting Management

    Explore proven techniques for running more productive meetings, to better manage your teams outputs:

    • Enjoy shorter productive meetings

    • Avoid wasting time and getting off track with effective agenda design tips

    • Increase delegate participation and greater idea generation

    • Understand your role and behaviours required in any given meeting

    • Make better decisions in a shorter time frame

    • Benefit from clear and concise meeting recall for improved actions.

  • Understanding Different Personality Types

    Build better working relationships through an understanding of preferences using the Myers Briggs Types indicator:

    • Appreciate the value of different team members working preferences

    • Identify where in your team you need to focus in order to stay ahead

    • Build a more rounded team with complimentary skills

    • Improve team effectiveness and motivation for work

    • Discuss techniques for working more effectively together

    • A fun and effective team building day activity.

  • How to have Coaching Conversations

    Help people realise their potential through coaching methods and tips:

    • Understand the value of how to use coaching

    • Learn when to use mentoring, rather than coaching

    • Easily begin a coaching conversation with a memorable process

    • Learn how to use powerful & incisive questions

    • Help team members find solutions for themselves rather than being reliant on you

    • Use easy to follow coaching methods

    • Increase your listening skills for better conversations.

  • Understanding Your Values

    Understanding your team and your own personal values and how these relate to your organisations values:

    • Learn how to experience a more meaningful and fulfilling work life balance

    • Understand why we believe what we believe

    • Be more motivated and directed towards our values

    • Better understand one another through shared values

    • Improve our own tolerance and understanding of others

    • Understand the difference between values and motivation

    • Enable team members to act and behave more intentionally.

  • How to Get Off the Drama Triangle

    An interactive introduction to Transactional Analysis and how the drama triangle plays out in relationships:

    • Understand the 3 roles everyone adopts in a difficult conversation/relationship

    • Learn how to manage your reactions & emotions in your relationships

    • Improve your awareness/ questions/ responses for easier conversations

    • Help other people with the quality of their relationships

    • Make more sense of your past challenging experiences

    • Reduce your stress with better behavioural understanding.

  • Leading Through Change

    Learn how to better manage and lead through periods of change including psychological reactions and why people resist change:

    • Increase your awareness of how change affects different people in your team using the change curve

    • Understand how you can help people transition for better outcomes

    • Learn more about why people worry about change

    • Help people understand their default behaviours for better results

    • Implement personal changes in your life to better effect

    • Get better at implementing change with 10 essential steps.

  • Time Management Techniques

    Get more out of your day by working smarter not harder with proven time management techniques:

    • Embed the overall time framework to get more from your day

    • Implement new and varied ways of working to get more done

    • Use different approaches for different tasks and get better results

    • Help your team to become more focussed and results orientated

    • Prevent stress and burnout in your role

    • Avoid firefighting by creating more time for planning and thinking.

  • Managing Team Conflict

    Confidently and effectively manage conflict in a healthy way:

    • Increase team participation in communicating their ideas

    • Use conflict in a healthy way to improve creativity

    • Tackle the elephant in the room for better team harmony

    • Ensure you are able to spend your time on the most important aspects of your role

    • Your team will regard meetings as interesting and lively

    • Accomplish more tasks contributing to your results and personal development.

  • Team Motivation & Influence

    Keep your team engaged by understanding what motivates and influences them individually and collectively:

    • Understand the value of what truly motivates people

    • Learn how different people want to work, to see better results

    • Get more from your team by knowing their personal motivators

    • Easily spot and rectify peoples demotivators

    • Use different influencing skills for better results

    • Learn the three different types of influencing

    • Understand the most important behaviours for better careers.

Building Better Leaders clients include:

How we support different learners

Our design meets people where they are, so everyone can engage and grow.

  • Visual: Clean diagrams, flip-charts and infographics to make ideas stick.

  • Analytical: Research-backed models, data and clear frameworks for evidence-minded thinkers.

  • Auditory & verbal: Story-led teaching, real-world examples, short videos and lively discussion.

  • Social: Breakouts, peer coaching and whole-team activities for collaborative learners.

  • Independent: Quiet reflection, journalling and personal goal-setting woven throughout.

Neuroinclusive by design

We can brief participants on the session flow in advance and discuss preferred seating and other simple adjustments—so people can focus, contribute and succeed in ways that work for them.

Physically inclusive in delivery

Beyond facilitation style, we work with you to ensure:

  • Venue accessibility: Step-free layouts and clear walkways for wheelchair users and colleagues with visual impairments.

  • Communication adjustments: Live captions, printed materials, or alternative formats for anyone with hearing or sight loss, agreed in advance with your team.

  • Psychological safety: Clear trigger warnings, voluntary sharing, and a coach available in breaks for one-to-one support, recognising that real lives come to work with us.

Curious about how we can help build better leaders in your organisation?

Please complete the contact us form.

Email: leaders@scaffoldcoaching.com

Or call Rachael on: 0753 553 5352