Senior and Aspiring Leader Leadership Programme

This programme is designed for senior and aspiring leaders who already hold or are developing leadership roles in their respective fields.

It focuses on enhancing leadership capabilities in complex healthcare settings, strengthening collaboration across boundaries, and fostering a unified leadership approach to deliver key healthcare objectives.

The emphasis is on how senior and aspiring leaders can lead as a team and work together effectively to achieve shared outcomes.

Delivery Sessions

Day 1 (Face-to-Face)

Session 1: Understanding the NHS Challenges and the System Context

This session will explore the current pressures, priorities, and opportunities within the NHS, with a focus on the Suffolk and North-East Essex (SNEE) system.

We will also delve into the interface between primary and secondary care, exploring the leadership behaviours and system approaches required to strengthen collaboration across organisational boundaries.

As senior and aspiring leaders, you will reflect on your role in leading as a team to navigate these challenges, setting the tone for collective leadership across the system.

Session 2: Planning and Embedding Change

Focusing on the human side of change, this session will cover how to engage, motivate, and support teams through transitions. We will explore Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) methodologies to implement sustainable improvements and discuss how senior and aspiring leaders can work together to drive system-wide change.

The session will highlight how, as leaders, you must align on shared goals, lead together as a cohesive team, and work collaboratively to implement change across organisational boundaries.

Session 3: Being a Leader – Leadership Beyond the Clinical Role

This session will distinguish between leadership and management within a system context, particularly in the NHS. You will reflect on your leadership identity and role within the wider system, exploring how to lead across organisational boundaries, navigate complexity, and influence without authority.

The focus will be on leading together as a cohesive team to deliver on shared objectives, emphasising the importance of collective leadership and supporting each other within the NHS. We will also address organisational power politics, exploring how power dynamics can impact leadership and decision-making.

You will consider how to navigate power structures, manage internal politics, and use influence strategically to drive positive outcomes and lead effectively in complex healthcare environments.

Virtual 1 (Half-Day) – Leading Self and Others

Using MBTI profiling, this session will help you understand how your personality preferences influence your leadership, communication, and decision-making styles. Senior and aspiring leaders will reflect on how these preferences impact their ability to collaborate as part of a team and how to build emotional intelligence and trust within the team.

The session will focus on recognising your own impact and adapting your style to enhance team dynamics.

Virtual 2 (Half-Day) – Creating and Leading a High-Performance Workplace

This session explores the key behaviours, mindsets, and conditions that create a culture of excellence, accountability, and collaboration. Senior and aspiring leaders will reflect on the current state of team performance and discuss strategies for enhancing collaboration and driving high-performance in clinical teams.

The session will include practical tools for assessing team dynamics and improving collective leadership to ensure alignment with the organisational goals.

Virtual 3 (Half-Day) – Managing Difficult Conversations and Influencing People

This session will provide strategies for managing sensitive and challenging conversations with individuals and teams, helping you navigate difficult interpersonal dynamics with confidence.

Using real-world scenarios, you will develop the skills to manage conflict constructively and lead conversations towards positive outcomes. Building on these communication techniques, the session will also explore strategies for influencing people through trust, credibility, and effective communication.

Senior and aspiring leaders will delve into the psychology of influence, learning how to build alignment and shared purpose in complex environments.

You will focus on how to collaborate effectively as a leadership team, using influence rather than authority to drive system-wide change and achieve collective goals.

Additionally, we will explore how to use influence within organisational power politics, managing both internal and external dynamics to align stakeholders and achieve collaborative goals.

Virtual 4 (Half-Day) – Systems Thinking and the Role of Anchor Organisations

This session will focus on integrated working between primary and secondary care, as well as the evolving role of Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs) and anchor organisations in driving place-based improvements. Senior and aspiring leaders will explore how to leverage collective leadership to strengthen integration and address health inequalities, ensuring that the broader system is working cohesively.

We will discuss the Future Shift strategy and the potential for senior leaders to collaborate across organisational boundaries to create meaningful, sustainable improvements.

Day 2 (Face-to-Face) – Strategic Thinking and Leadership Across Boundaries

This final session will focus on strategic leadership across primary, secondary, and community care sectors, as well as the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. You will explore how to shape and communicate a compelling organisational vision, make long-term decisions, and strengthen system-wide collaboration.

The emphasis will be on strengthening your ability to lead as a cohesive team, making strategic decisions together and ensuring that you work collectively to achieve shared goals for the health system.

Presentation Element

To consolidate your learning and demonstrate how you are applying leadership strategies, delegates will present their progress on a specific objective they identified at the beginning of the programme. The objective should focus on improving the interface between primary and secondary care, a key area for system-wide integration and improvement.

The presentations will be structured around the following components:

• Objective Overview: Each delegate will present the specific objective they selected at the start of the programme. This objective should focus on addressing a challenge or opportunity at the primary-secondary care interface, with the aim of improving collaboration, patient care, or system efficiencies.

• Progress to Date: Delegates will outline the progress they have made in achieving this objective. This should include actions taken, key stakeholders engaged, and any successes or challenges encountered along the way.

• Action Plan: Delegates will provide an action plan for the next steps, detailing how they intend to continue developing the objective, implement further changes, and evaluate success. They should outline the specific leadership approaches and tools (such as CQI methodologies, emotional intelligence, or systems thinking) they will use to drive change at the primary-secondary care interface.

Action Learning Sets (ALS)

These sessions are designed to provide each individual with the opportunity to present a real-world leadership challenge and follow up on actions taken, ensuring sustained development and accountability.

Approach

The ALS sessions will employ a structured problem-solving methodology in which participants bring current leadership challenges from their workplace to the group.

Rationale

ALS offers an interactive and collaborative learning environment that accelerates development by allowing participants to apply leadership concepts to real-time situations.

Individual Coaching

Each delegate will also have the option to access up to four one-to-one coaching sessions. These confidential sessions are tailored to support individual growth, offering focused time to explore personal leadership challenges, aspirations, and development goals.

Challenges to address

• Cultural issues – Lack of trust between groups and individuals causing division and impeding progress.
• Process issues – Excessive and repetitive administrative burden.  From lack of standardisation to lack of flexible options to accommodate localised variation within standards.
• Communication issues – Confused responsibilities, unclear accountabilities, competing pressures combine as barriers to development.

Training and Action Learning Set Dates

Lunchtime Webinar (optional) – Virtual 1 hour 10th July 2025

Lunchtime Webinar (optional) – Virtual 1 hour 15th July 2025

S1 – Understanding NHS Challenges and planning change – Face to Face FULL day 11th September 2025

ALS1 – Action Learning Set – Group Virtual Session 2-3 hours 25th September 2025

S2 – Leading Self and Others – Virtual Half Day 16th October 2025

S3 – Creating and leading a high performance workplace – Virtual Half Day 6th November 2025

ALS2 – Action Learning set – Group Virtual 2-3 hours 27th November 2025

S4 – Managing Difficult Conversations – Virtual Half Day 22nd January 2026

S5 – Systems thinking and the Role of anchor organisations – Virtual Half Day 5th February 2026

ALS3 – Action Learning Set – Group Virtual 2-3 hours 26th February 2026

S6 – Strategic thinking and Strategic leadership – Face to Face FULL day 19th March 2026

About Xytal

• Founded in 2003, by clinicians and improvement and business experts, for the express purpose of serving general practice.
• We’ve supported Surgeries and PCN development through consulting and programme delivery to over 1,300 teams in general practice.
• We’re an NHS England and Improvement delivery partner providing National Quality Improvement and Transformational Change programmes into general practice.
• We are a London-wide LMC accredited supplier.
• We are comprised of healthcare colleagues and experts skilled in business, quality improvement, finance, strategy and leadership.

Eligibility

Available to all current and future leaders across SNEE wishing to develop their leadership skills and influence the primary/secondary care interface.