Leadership and management: building practical management skills

1. Understand the route

Most people become managers because they were good at their previous job, not because they were trained to manage. The skills are learnable: setting clear expectations, delegating, giving feedback, making decisions others understand and leading people through change. A good course gives you frameworks for each and, more importantly, practice applying them to your own team.

LSBUK's Mastering Leadership and Management covers leadership styles, decision-making, team motivation, performance culture, delegation, change leadership, emotional intelligence and executive presence, and ends with a personal action plan. It suits new managers moving into their first leadership role as well as experienced managers who want more structured tools.

2. Check fit, workload and cost

Who it suits. Team leads, middle and senior managers, and professionals preparing for leadership responsibility in corporate, public-sector or entrepreneurial settings. No formal entry qualifications are stated.

Workload. The course runs over 2 to 6 weeks, depending on format, Live Online in UK time or on campus in London. Ask admissions for the session times and the study expected between sessions, then plan when you will practise at work.

Cost. The published fee is £688 for Live Online study or £1,944 in London.

3. Compare your choices

• Practice-based or theory-led. Look for exercises built around your own team, not only models to memorise. What a practical leadership course should include gives a checklist.
• Short course or formal qualification. A short course builds working skills quickly. This course is not presented as a CMI or ILM qualification, so if your employer asks for one, check the requirement with that awarding body and ask admissions what you receive on completion.
• Training alone or training plus application. Most of the value comes from what you change afterwards. Plan it before you start: see why leadership training fails.

4. Inspect a practical example

The delegation and action plan shows a fictional team leader handing over a weekly service report: the result wanted, decision boundaries, resources, check-ins, an escalation trigger and how sign-off stays with the manager. It finishes with a 30/60/90-day action plan you can copy.

5. Ask the right questions before you enrol

1. What are the session times, and how much study is expected between them?
2. How much of the time is practice on my own situations, and how is feedback given?
3. What do I receive on completion?
4. Is a corporate or group format available for my team?
5. What does the fee include, and what payment options are available?