Developing your leadership and management skills

A new suite of workshops and support has been launched to help you develop your leadership and management skills.

The Organisational Development (OD) team has designed the LJMU LEAD Programme – Leadership Enhancement and Development - to elevate the leadership capabilities of both current and aspirational managers across the university. It will help equip you with the skills, techniques, mindsets and approaches needed to empower and engage your teams.

The range of workshops will focus on both the leadership and management aspects of the role, balancing the operational with the strategic, the short term with the long term and the practical with the visionary.

Developing skillsets

While each individual session is standalone and self-contained, the overall programme has been designed to provide complementary skillsets that will allow leaders to develop a comprehensive understanding of how to best approach different situations.

For example, whilst one workshop will focus on the practical and organisation aspects of conducting an appraisal, another session will look at how leaders can enhance their communication style to gain rapport during these one-to-one situations. Other sessions will look at tools and techniques that can be used to help with planning and project management, complimented by other sessions that focus on building strong, engaged teams that can excel in the completion of these projects.

Open to future leaders

The programme is not limited to current leaders and welcomes aspirational and future leaders, while attendance on some of the sessions will be mandatory to newly appointed managers. As the LEAD Programme grows, there will be additional topics and services offered, including specialist strands for academic leadership, financial management and others. There will also be guest presenters and special events, as well as opportunities for networking, mentoring and one-to-one support.

Tina Purkis, Executive Director of Human Resources, said: "We have received feedback in the staff survey that people want to see new development interventions that better suit their needs and career plans. 

"The new leadership development offering has been developed following this feedback.  It is aimed at anyone who wishes to enhance their leadership skills and is also suitable for anyone who is aspiring to be one of our leaders of the future.  It covers a variety of essential skills that LJMU staff in leadership roles need to be effective and provides a great opportunity for building your network and obtaining support in your career journey too. 

"I would encourage people to book onto these impactful courses and also to look out for the future specialist strands too where you can enhance specific skills such as financial management."

How to register

For full details and to register for any of the sessions currently available, please visit the OD website or check the staff development calendar.

If you would like to speak to a member of the OD team for more details, please get in touch via email.