The centre’s approach consists of the following elements:

• A preparatory phase of work in which selected advisers work with authorities, in collaboration with the centre, to identify leadership development needs and opportunities

• Working with advisers to develop detailed, costed plans to address these opportunities based on the centre’s knowledge of the supplier market.

The primary role of the adviser is to assist the leadership group in the authority (typically the cabinet and the senior management team) to identify and agree what is needed to improve their individual and collective leadership capacity and extend this throughout the authority.

This initial phase of work with an authority typically includes a number of stages: 

• Discussion between the Leadership Centre and the leader and the chief executive. The purpose of this is to agree how best the centre can add value to the authority’s work 

• An initial focus on the senior politicians – the cabinet – and the senior management team. This is not to suggest at all that this is the only area where leadership matters. However, we are clear that this is the area – joint working between senior members and officers – where there is a significant opportunity to effect change in the short term 

• Work with the adviser to assist this senior group to identify their current leadership capacity and challenges. Advisers and authorities typically do this by focusing o live strategic issues. In this way the initial phase of work can deliver tangible benefits for the authority.

• Agreement to a development plan over the following 12 – 36 months; this will cover the top group of politicians and officers and will also look ahead at development of leadership capacity throughout their authority. 

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