Most Leadership Programmes Gather Dust. LEAD™ Changes Lives
Most leadership programmes teach you stuff. Frameworks. Models. Best practices. You show up, sit through some sessions and leave with a folder that ends up on a shelf somewhere collecting dust.
LEAD™ isn't like that.
It's a ten-month experience that changes how you see yourself as a leader, how you see your business and how you see what's actually possible.
Who LEAD™ is For
LEAD™ is for CEOs, MDs, directors and senior managers running small and medium-sized businesses.
You've built something you're proud of, but you know you could take it further. You're good at what you do, but you want to be genuinely excellent. You've got a feeling that investing in yourself might be the highest-return investment you could make, but you just haven't quite made the leap yet.
If you've ever felt lonely at the top, uncertain whether you're making the right calls, or stuck working in your business instead of on it, LEAD™ was built for you.
What Makes LEAD™ Different
Research shows there's a major disconnect between what leadership is and how a business person learns to practice leadership. LEAD™ seeks to bridge this disconnect by connecting the awareness and meaning of leadership with your identity as a leader and your belief in achieving the tasks of a leader in order to become a better leader.
How? By combining formal, non-academic learning with real, lived experience alongside a peer group of other SMB leaders. From day one, LEAD™ makes leadership front and centre - you're not just learning about it, you're living it. This cycle of learning through actual experience, integrating formal input with situational learning over ten months, has been critical to the programme's success.
Three things set LEAD™ apart.
First, it's all about peer learning. You're not sitting in front of some lecturer. You're learning alongside a cohort of 8-15 other business leaders facing the same kinds of challenges. Different sectors, different businesses, but the same fundamental questions about how to lead well.
There's something really powerful about realising your struggles aren't unique. That other people may lie awake at 3am with the same worries. That the questions you thought only you were asking are being asked by others too.
The relationships you build during LEAD™ last for years. Lots of cohort members end up trading together, referring each other and supporting each other through challenges long after the programme has finished.
Second, it's intensely practical. Everything you learn gets applied to your actual business right away. This isn't theory for theory's sake. It's immediate, practical and useful.
You'll work on real challenges you're facing now. You'll get input from peers and coaches who have no agenda other than helping you succeed. You'll leave each session with actions to implement, not just ideas to think about.
Third, it develops you and your business at the same time. LEAD™ recognises that you can't separate the leader from the business. Your confidence, your self-awareness, your ability to have difficult conversations, your capacity to think strategically are not 'soft skills'. They're the foundation everything else is built on.
Leaders can sometimes carry imposter syndrome, wondering if they really belong in the role they've got. By the end of the programme though that doubt is replaced by genuine, evidence-based confidence.
What Happens Over Ten Months
LEAD™ combines multiple elements into one coherent journey - formal input, experiential learning, and practical application, all woven together.
You'll attend monthly sessions with your cohort, facilitated by experienced coaches who've actually led businesses themselves. You'll get one-to-one coaching focused on your specific challenges and goals. You'll hear from expert speakers on everything from strategy, operations and finance to culture, purpose and innovation.
You'll also spend time in other businesses. Shadowing days give you fresh perspective on how other leaders operate, what works, and what you might adapt for your own organisation.
Throughout, you'll be challenged. To think bigger. To question your assumptions. To try approaches that feel uncomfortable. Because let's be honest, growth doesn't happen inside your comfort zone.
The Results
We've been running LEAD™ since 2012 and the results are pretty consistent.
Leaders become more confident. Businesses become more profitable. Teams become more engaged. And perhaps most importantly, leaders start actually enjoying running their businesses again.
The specific numbers vary by business, but the pattern is clear: investing in leadership development generates returns that dramatically outperform other uses of that capital - read our case study here.
More than that, LEAD™ graduates join a community. Over 300 alumni across the UK, connected through shared experience, continuing to support each other long after the programme ends.
Is LEAD™ Right for You?
LEAD™ is a significant commitment. Ten months of your time. Money that could go elsewhere. The vulnerability required to be honest with peers about what you're really struggling with.
It's not for everyone. If you're looking for quick fixes or easy answers, this isn't it.
But if you're ready to do the work. If you recognise that your own development is the key to your business's growth. If you want to lead with more confidence, more clarity and more capability.
Then LEAD™ might be exactly what you need.
We'd be happy to have a conversation about whether it's right for you. No pressure, just an honest chat about where you are, where you want to be, and whether LEAD™ could help you get there.
Your business can only grow as fast as you do. The question is whether 2026 is the year you decide to invest in that growth.
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