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New manager foundations
The shift from colleague to manager, role clarity, expectations, management style, trust and the difference between managing work and leading people.
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Leadership development
Build confident managers, not dependent ones.
I design practical leadership and manager development around the situations people actually face: unclear expectations, difficult conversations, performance, change, trust and the shift from doing the work to leading others.
Practical
Evidence-led
Built for transfer
Lead with clarity
01Expectations
02Conversations
03Performance
04Change
23 years of Army leadership, combined with senior L&D and OD practice.
Good leadership development should make Monday morning easier, not simply make Friday afternoon feel inspiring.
I work with organisations to diagnose the real leadership need, then shape the right mix of workshops, practice, tools, peer learning and workplace follow-through.
The aim is not to turn every manager into the same kind of leader. It is to build the judgement, confidence and practical habits needed to lead people fairly and effectively.
Ways I can support you
Leadership development shaped around your people and context.
These can be delivered as standalone workshops or combined into a wider management and leadership pathway.
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Difficult conversations
Preparation, clear language, active listening, respectful challenge and practical ways to address issues before they become formal problems.
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Performance and feedback
Setting expectations, spotting the gap, exploring causes, agreeing action and giving feedback that is specific, balanced and useful.
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Coaching and delegation
Questioning, listening, building ownership, choosing what to delegate and creating development without abandoning accountability.
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Leading through change
Visible leadership, honest reassurance, psychological safety, communication through uncertainty and helping teams focus on what they can influence.
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Leadership pathways
A connected journey for aspiring, new and experienced managers using blended learning, practice, action learning and workplace application.
Example programme
Foundations of Effective Management
A practical starting point for new managers, aspiring managers, team leaders and supervisors.
The programme can be delivered virtually, face to face or as a blended journey. Short inputs are combined with discussion, workplace scenarios, practice, reflection and action planning.
90-minute focus sessions
Half-day workshops
Two-day core programme
Blended pathway
Ask for a tailored programme outline →
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Stage one
Role and expectations
The manager role, management style, psychological contract and the shift from colleague to manager.2
Stage two
Relationships and communication
Rapport, listening, emotional intelligence, managing upwards and adapting communication without labelling people.3
Stage three
Performance conversations
Clear expectations, feedback, coaching, difficult messages and constructive action planning.4
Stage four
Delegation and application
Building ownership, developing others and turning workshop learning into visible workplace behaviour.A book-linked lesson
The leadership workshop is not the finish line.
A theme from Chapter 20 of Making Sense of Organisational Development and Learning is the continuation journey: what happens after the initial delivery.
For leadership development, that means building deliberate opportunities to apply, reinforce and evidence new behaviour after the session. Without that, even a strong workshop can become an interesting day that changes very little.
“The training was not useless. It was unfinished.”View the book on Amazon
Sample tool
A 30-day leadership continuation journey
- Within 48 hoursChoose one real conversation where the new approach will be used.
- During week oneUse a job aid or question set, then capture what worked and what felt difficult.
- During week twoDiscuss the experience with a peer, manager or action learning group.
- By day 30Look for evidence of changed behaviour, not merely a completed course.
Practical question
What should this manager be doing differently 30 days after the programme?
How the work is built
Start with the behaviour, then design the learning.
Diagnose
Clarify the leadership problem, audience, context and evidence.
Design
Choose the right mix of input, practice, tools and workplace activity.
Deliver
Create a safe, practical environment for reflection and honest discussion.
Embed
Build manager support, peer reinforcement and evidence of application.
Start a conversation
What do your managers need to do differently?
Tell me what is happening now, what better would look like and who needs support. We can then work out whether the answer is a focused workshop, a wider pathway or something else entirely.
Send an enquiry
martin.furminger@hotmail.com