Module 3

Strategic Thinking & Influence

Move beyond managing tasks to shape strategic direction, make clearer decisions and build support for your ideas.

Experience gives you perspective, but the way people work keeps changing. Familiar leadership habits may need a fresh look when teams become hybrid, priorities shift or you want to develop others more deliberately. We understand the value of stepping back without starting again. Bring what you know; make room for what comes next.

Talk about your team Explore the course

Managers collaborating in a leadership workshop

Explore. Practise. Make it yours.

Duration

Half day · 3.5 hours per half day

Group size

6–8 delegates

Format

Online or face to face

Price — Face to face

From £1,350

+ VAT

Price — Online

From £1,100

+ VAT

where understanding becomes useful —

Why this course matters

The next level of leadership means seeing beyond today's tasks and helping others see the direction with you.

What you’ll explore in the Lab

Experienced managers moving into senior roles, heads of department and leaders seeking greater influence need to look beyond immediate demands and connect team priorities to the wider business. This half-day course develops strategic thinking, decision-making under pressure and the ability to influence stakeholders, peers and senior teams without relying on formal authority.

Delegates explore how to distinguish strategic choices from operational tasks, map key stakeholders and present ideas that make a clear case for support. The focus is on linking goals to the bigger picture, making clearer, faster decisions and building the support needed to move priorities forward.

a real challenge. a purposeful response.

The challenges this addresses

Operational urgency crowding out strategic thinking
Sound ideas failing to win stakeholder support
Team objectives set without a clear connection to organisational direction
Stakeholder interests overlooked when shaping proposals and decisions

What this can change at work

Strategic thinking gives experienced leaders space to connect today’s choices with the bigger picture. Managers practise linking team goals to organisational direction, making clearer decisions and understanding the stakeholders whose support matters. Shaping a persuasive pitch helps good ideas enter a more useful conversation. Teams can see why priorities matter, while the business benefits from proposals and decisions that consider both strategic relevance and the people needed to move them forward.

Goals linked to direction

Leaders explain how team goals connect to wider organisational priorities, making the reasoning behind local choices clearer in team discussions.

Stakeholders considered early

Managers map relevant stakeholders and their interests before shaping a proposal, rather than waiting until the pitch to consider potential concerns.

Ideas pitched with purpose

Proposals connect the idea to the bigger picture and address stakeholder interests, giving decision makers a clearer basis for discussing support.

Inside the workshop

Working in a small group of 6–8, delegates move from strategic thinking and decision-making into stakeholder mapping and presenting ideas to senior teams. Breakouts, peer-to-peer learning and live practice provide opportunities to test decisions, refine messages and practise influencing without authority. Delegates leave with practical approaches to connecting team goals with business direction, mapping stakeholders and pitching ideas for support.

Make Strategic Thinking & Influence relevant to your business

Tell us where you want to make progress with thinking strategically, not just operationally. We can discuss suitable workplace examples, priorities and access needs before agreeing the scope. Choose live online or face-to-face training for your UK or European team, with delivery arrangements agreed before booking.

Discuss this course

What the training covers

The scope below sets out the subjects covered. Workplace examples and practice are shaped around your team within the booked format.

Thinking strategically, not just operationally
Making better decisions under pressure
Stakeholder mapping
Influencing without authority
Presenting ideas to senior teams

What’s included in your booking

Your booked time and format: Half day · Live online or face to face, agreed before booking · 6–8 delegates.
Included in every course: Interactive, facilitator-led learningLive, hands-on sessions built around practice and participation.
Group discussionsShared conversations about real situations, so people learn from each other as well as the facilitator.
Breakout exercisesSmall-group practice, role-play and problem-solving, online or in the room.
Take-away materialsCourse materials, tools and templates to use back at work.
Facilitated learning and practical application: The subject coverage, exercises and facilitator feedback described above, with space to connect the learning to relevant workplace situations. The workshop description sets out the specific plans, prompts or tools developed in this course.

Follow-up coaching, refresher sessions and additional delivery days are not automatic inclusions; any additions are agreed in your proposal. Travel, venue arrangements and any software licences are confirmed separately where relevant. Prices exclude VAT.

Outcomes

The capabilities delegates work towards through the training and practice:

Link team goals to the bigger picture
Make clearer, faster decisions
Map and influence key stakeholders
Pitch ideas that win support

the next conversation is where it counts —

Take it back to work.

Choose a real situation where you want to apply the learning. Use it to turn an outcome into a manageable first step, then reflect on what changes.

Choose

Start with one priority: Link team goals to the bigger picture.

Apply

Try the approach in a relevant task or conversation. Note what felt useful and what you would adapt.

Review

Reflect on what happened, seek feedback where appropriate and choose your next step. Follow-up support can be discussed separately.

Bring this topic to your next event

We can discuss adapting Strategic Thinking & Influence into a keynote or large-group session, focusing on the themes most relevant to your audience. Depth, activities, timings and any follow-up depend on the format and package you choose; an event session is not a substitute for the full course.

Explore Speaking & Events

More from Leadership Refresher Lab

Module 1

Leading with Purpose: Your Style Revisited

Revisit your leadership style, challenge established habits and reset how you lead with greater purpose and adaptability.

Half day · 3.5 hours per half day6–8 delegates

Course synopsis

Experience is valuable; taking a fresh look at its impact makes it more useful. Leadership habits that once served you well can become less effective as your responsibilities grow and the people you lead change. Designed for managers with three or more years’ experience, leaders stepping into bigger roles and those who feel they have plateaued, this course creates space for an honest review of your approach. Through reflection and peer feedback, you will examine your strengths and blind spots, reconnect with your values and explore how to adapt your style to different people. You will define a clear leadership purpose and build a practical reset plan to guide changes in your everyday leadership.

Key focus areas

Reviewing your leadership style and habits
Strengths, blind spots and peer feedback
Leading with values and purpose
Adapting your style to different people
Your personal leadership reset plan

Outcomes — you'll be able to

Identify the habits helping and hindering you
Adapt your style to the people you lead
Set a clear personal leadership purpose
Leave with a practical reset plan

Included in every course

Interactive, facilitator-led learning
Group discussions
Breakout exercises
Take-away materials

Face to face

From £1,350+ VAT

Online: From £1,100 + VAT

Course details

Module 2

Leading Modern & Hybrid Teams

Build trust, connection and performance across hybrid, remote and multi-site teams, while responding to different generations and individual needs.

Half day · 3.5 hours per half day6–8 delegates

Course synopsis

Connection and clarity need deliberate attention when a team works across different places and patterns. Experienced leaders need to sustain trust, connection and performance when teams work across locations, schedules and generations, without overlooking wellbeing or individual needs. This half-day course explores what has changed about leading modern teams and how to adapt your approach across hybrid, remote, multi-site and international settings. Delegates examine communication rhythms, motivation across generations and ways to recognise wellbeing concerns early, with a focus on supporting people and avoiding burnout. The emphasis is on practical leadership choices that help you build trust at a distance, establish communication that works and motivate people with different needs.

Key focus areas

What has changed about leading teams
Building trust and connection at a distance
Communication rhythms for hybrid teams
Motivating different generations
Wellbeing and avoiding burnout

Outcomes — you'll be able to

Build trust in a hybrid team
Set a communication rhythm that works
Spot and support wellbeing issues early
Motivate people with different needs

Included in every course

Interactive, facilitator-led learning
Group discussions
Breakout exercises
Take-away materials

Face to face

From £1,350+ VAT

Online: From £1,100 + VAT

Course details

Your people. Your priorities.Ready to Thrive? Build your Lab.A programme shaped around your people — and the progress you want to make.

your next step starts here —

Ready to step into the lab?

Your business. Our training. Together, we thrive.

Bring the challenge your people want to work on. We'll shape a practical training workshop or coaching experience around it — with room to explore, practise and take a useful next step.

Start a conversation