Rethinking how leadership is practised, developed, and embedded in complexity.

Disruption is now constant. From geopolitical instability and digital transformation to climate risk and shifting societal expectations, leaders today operate in environments where uncertainty, interdependence, and ambiguity are the norm—not the exception.鈥�

In this context, effective leadership is not about individual charisma or control—it’s about adaptive leadership practices: creating clarity amidst ambiguity, mobilising others around purpose, and enabling coordinated action when the path ahead is unclear.鈥�

Leadership in Disruptive Times is designed to help organisations move beyond outdated, trait and style-based models to strengthen what matters most: the work of leadership. This means focusing on how leadership is enacted—collaboratively, relationally, and contextually—through daily routines, decisions, and interactions. Leadership is no longer about the few, but about the shared practices that shape outcomes across the system.鈥�

The workshop integrates both horizontal and vertical development, supporting leaders to build new skills while expanding their capacity to think systemically, respond adaptively, and engage others meaningfully under pressure. It provides a platform for collective reflection, shared learning, and practical strategies that support real, sustained transformation—not just personal insight.鈥�

Who is it for

This programme is designed for organisations or business units that:鈥�

  • Are navigating disruption, ambiguity, or high-stakes uncertainty鈥�
  • Want to evolve their leadership culture for greater adaptability and resilience鈥� 鈥�
  • Have experienced low impact from traditional leadership programmes鈥� 鈥�
  • Seek to build leadership as a shared, relational practice鈥攏ot just an individual skillset鈥� 鈥�
  • Need to grow leaders鈥� capacity to think systemically and act decisively in complexity.鈥�

    What you will learn

    Participants will explore a systems-based understanding of leadership that reflects the realities of complexity and disruption.鈥��

    Key learning areas include:鈥�

    • Why conventional leadership development fails—and what to do differently鈥�
    • How to recognise and shift leadership patterns embedded in everyday work鈥�
    • The link between vertical development and adaptive leadership capacity鈥�
    • How to build trust, psychological safety, and collective ownership鈥�
    • Practical tools to embed new leadership routines into systems and teams鈥�
    • Strategies for sustaining growth beyond the workshop.

    Skills you will develop鈥�

    • Leading through complexity, disruption, and ambiguity鈥�
    • Thinking systemically and interpreting evolving challenges鈥� 鈥�
    • Building relational trust and psychological safety across teams鈥� 鈥�
    • Embedding leadership into routines, dialogue, and cross-functional practice鈥� 鈥�
    • Growing the reflective and developmental capacity to lead adaptively.

    Programme impact

    For you:

    • Expand your leadership capacity to work with uncertainty and interdependence鈥�
    • Develop greater self-awareness, perspective-taking, and reflective insight鈥�
    • Shift from control-based approaches to sensemaking and adaptive leadership鈥�
    • Strengthen your ability to influence, align, and mobilise in complex systems鈥�
    • Grow beyond content-based learning to transformation in how you lead.

    For your organisation:

    • Build a more distributed, collaborative leadership culture鈥�
    • Improve system-wide leadership alignment during disruption鈥�
    • Strengthen cross-functional trust and performance under pressure鈥�
    • Reframe leadership development from a one-off event to a living process鈥�
    • Align leadership routines with values, strategy, and day-to-day challenges鈥�
    • Support the vertical development of leaders to navigate greater complexity.
     

    How to apply

    Next steps

    Our premium executive development programmes are a strategic investment, with competitive pricing thoughtfully determined by the programme's scope and design to meet your organisation's needs.

    Our team of resilience experts will be happy to talk to you about your organisation's development needs. Leave your details below and we'll get back to you.

    You can also email ORaCL@cranfield.ac.uk directly with any queries.