Senior leadership development programme (SLDP)

This programme is suitable for chief inspectors, chief superintendents, superintendents and police staff with equivalent responsibility. It is assumed that delegates are senior leaders with a broad experience of leadership and supervision.

It consists of two modules, four months apart with a work-based task in between. 

There is less emphasis on teaching leadership techniques and models and more on developing the individual to become better aware of their natural strengths and their areas for development, to fulfil their potential and lead effectively in a complex and demanding environment. 

All delegates are encouraged to develop an action plan to achieve their personal and organisation goals.

Themes

Leadership landscape

Recognising the complexity of contemporary demand on the service and its leaders.

Leadership culture

Understanding the potency of police culture and its naturally enabling and inhibiting impact on organisational development.

Leadership levels

Exploring what it means to be a leader at this level, the role and the most effective approach to delegation and empowering others.

The golden thread throughout is self-awareness. You will develop reflective practices through feedback from a number of perspectives including:

• Beyond 360°
• individual tutorials
• peer assessment
• psychometric assessment

The above will help you to identify your key strengths and areas for development, with coaching and advice on how to best approach this. 

Module one

• An introduction to the leadership landscape. 
• Your own 360° feedback and training to become a Beyond 360° facilitator.
• Basic coaching skills. 
• Supportive leadership underpinning principles and Durham University research into supportive leadership. 
• Exploration of organisational culture with reference to specific police cultural research, which elements are useful, which hinder progress.
• Exploration of organisational change and how leaders can best address cultural barriers to advance their area of business. 
• Explanation of emotional Intelligence using the EQ-i 2.0 model and a personal EQ-i 2.0 leadership report.
• The requirements of being a functional leader.

Inter-module work based task

You can select your own task to fit with your area of influence, identified development needs and organisational objectives or priorities. 

The intention is to apply your learning in the workplace, understand your core function, level you should be operating at and how you influence others. 

Your selected task should be sufficiently ambitious to be commensurate with your seniority within the service. 

You should consider the complexity of modern police leadership and explore an area of personal growth such as the impact of police culture on you, any self-imposed or external barriers and how you overcame them and leadership levels for both you and people you delegate elements to. 

In most cases, the work should impact at a force level. 

Module two

• Individual presentation of your work-based task experience to a 360° panel. 

• Individual and group feedback from peers.

• Psychologically safe environments, how to create them and know whether you have achieved it.

• Leadership landscape and critical analysis of key national documents relevant to your role. 

• A full day ‘Hydra’ immersive exercise to apply learning in scenario-based situations.

• Dealing with conflict using the Thomas Kilmann Instrument.