The last leadership programmne you will ever need

It's about the ‘operating system’ not ‘apps’

‘Apps’, on the whole are easier. They are the things we do like create strategies, formulate plans, have conversations, and communicate. So often training focuses on a new thought or practice in these ‘apps’. There is nothing wrong with that.

There is a risk that we, in organisations, can become addicted to a ‘there's an app for that’ mentality. Chasing the latest fad so it feels like we are tackling a problem but often left thinking that each one didn’t quite deliver on its promise...

It’s not the apps’ fault.

I have worked in many organisations that have tried to be more Agile, for instance, but ended up with just a new process and not a real shift in how they work (’doing’ Agile not ‘being’ Agile).

We focus on the operating system - shifting how leaders show up, their ‘way of being’, how they see themselves, how they see and relate to others, their core perspective.

We help our participants choose, in a fundamental way, how they relate to power dynamics, how they share responsibility, how they challenge others and how they create safety.

An upgraded operating system is a one-way move. Once upgraded, all the management/leadership apps, (the ones you have already and any you install in the future) will work a bit better.

“An opportunity to have a complete change in mindset.” Polly Hind, Senior HRBP, Save the Children UK

“I had no idea that it was such a totally new way of looking at things.” Gustav Henman, Co-founder, Beetroot

It is, and cannot help being, a catalyst

Ironically we train leaders to realise it isn’t about them at all. If you look at most leadership programmes, they have a tendency to reinforce a bias that has existed in organisations for centuries - that it’s all about the leader.

Instead we invite leaders to realise it isn’t about them except in what they create and unleash in others. Sometimes referred to as becoming a ‘multiplier’. But being a multiplier isn’t just about growing leaders in the way that you grew. It is about ‘being’ that others are already leaders.

This version of leadership changes people and culture. Although the shift is hard, by making others more responsible, more accountable, by relating to their potential, and really being ‘for’ them, you can create an environment in which your own leadership can continually grow.

Having completed Tuff training, you don’t have to chase the new app, you can use what you already know to demonstrate leadership in many new ways.

Once you see the world differently there is no going back. ‘The genie is out’. You can be the catalyst for your own and others development without any further input to solve a number of challenges that seemed insurmountable or unsolvable before.

“This course is a MUST for progressive leaders who are truly looking for ways to empower their teams.” Lina Maskoliune, Cheif of Strategic Growth, Profitus

“Great for anyone who wants to learn how to address and solve the most important issues affecting any teams, anywhere.” Horatiu Ticau, Head of People Operations Seedstars

We take the ‘blinkers’ off

We are all a bit blind to how much we run on autopilot. We respond in ways we have learned, we hide our pitfalls and play only to our strengths, often long after they have become unproductive. That’s OK, it's not wrong, our brains were designed that way. But we support leaders in adding more genuine choice and awareness into their decisions. Seeing more clearly their automatic tendencies and those of others, not by self-measurement (which is common in leadership programmes) but through frank, kind and personalised feedback.

The training is practical. So even though the intention is not to deliver ‘apps’ you will learn how to have conversations in a fundamentally different way. There is no ‘staying in theory’ and only learning things intellectually.

We are called ‘Tuff’ not because we create tough leaders, but because the training is amongst the toughest out there.

To do this our trainers have to ‘be’ the leadership we are training. Showing up in both in a tough and compassionate way. Being leadership whilst training it. It is why our trainers are themselves ‘in training’ for 2+ years.

Once the ‘blinkers’ are off, and the fundamental way of relating to people revealed, it is very hard to go back again.

“Most useful training I've had. This will give me an opportunity to reach the next level and lead in a way that previously I knew nothing about.” Graeme Wilson, Partner, Everoze

“We had so much practice that I felt like I got my big mistakes and screwups out of the way so that I could go back into the workplace and be more confident.” - Katherine Wynne, CEO, Croydon Mencap

We have a clear development plan designed to create independence not dependency

What we offer is the 'Step 1' programme to transform how leaders relate to others and then 'Step 2' to build on this foundation with how they relate to, and place challenges with, groups. After that we offer workout sessions and support leaders in continually practising. If we run an 'internal' programme - run just for your organisation - then new leaders can 'catch up' by attending open programmes. As long as the leader continues to practice showing up in a different way, the change becomes irreversible.

We have training specifically designed for HR teams, Sales Teams and employees. But isn’t an ‘upsell’ after Step 1, it’s normally an alternative. The HR person will get a shift from Step 1 training with other leaders, but they can also go through training with other HR professionals, perhaps their team, and practice cases that relate specifically to their context.

When things get really stuck with a specific team or group, we can offer ‘Collaboration Coaching’. A kind of group coaching that helps a team that is collectively blind to (or collectively unable to bring up) the things that run under the surface and get in the way. This is either a continuation of the training (if they have been on it) or often a way of introducing the core principles, because the training is partly about ‘talking about the hard things’. With a metric being that the group themselves confirm a real and substantial shift in the climate has taken place. The sort of shift that doesn’t go backwards.

No matter what the starting point, it is a journey of discovering a fundamentally different way of viewing the world. Tuff continue to support that journey in the least invasive way possible. The new perspective is easy to maintain and timeless. No ‘retraining’ needed, just workshops, internal support mechanism, occasional coaching and supporting directly when teams are really blocked.

A whole new journey begins where you find mindsets to unpick, unspoken things to be spoken about, new perspectives to take with the latest challenge, and you can relate to people in fundamentally different ways which unleashes capability you had never believed was possible.

“It’s hard to shift from predictable machinery to new ways and Tuff Leadership Training helps at the most challenging level for this: individually” Perry Timms, Founder PTHR

“What separates this training from any other that I've attended is: it's practical and it works for different levels of leadership… People in the organisation say to me: “the way you work with people has really changed”, and I know it is because of this training.” Lois Chingandu, Director of External Relations, Frontline AIDS (watch her full testimonial below)