Leadership Development at LSE

The first thing to do is to conduct a self-assessment and review of your current leadership skills. This is available to anyone at LSE, and can be used as a tool to focus on current or future development areas.

The self-assessment and review can be accessed here.

A guide to setting up and understanding your review can be found here.

If you would like support in understanding the results of your review, you can book a conversation with a leadership expert within Organisational Learning and Development by emailing hr.learning@lse.ac.uk . As part of this conversation we would need you to share your review with us. This would be confidential and not be shared more widely. 

Your review report will identify your strengths and areas for development as a leader. You will be able to use this report to leverage and build on your strengths and address your areas for development in a targetted manner.

You can use the outcomes of your report to target online learning linked to each of the pillars of the leadership framework. We have a learning pathway on MyStaffDevelopment for each of the four pillars. If, for example, you have found that your development areas are clustered under the belonging pillar of the framework, you can use the associated belonging pathway to target development in this area. 

You can find the pillars here: 

Agility

Belonging

Collaboration 

Delivery

Depending on your role, you may be eligible to attend one of our three different leadership programmes. You can find a comparrison of the programmes in the table below, with more details about each further down the page. 

We offer leadership development coaching session to anyone who has conducted a leadership diagnostic assessment. 

The session will be between 30 and 60 minutes and focuses on supporting you maximise the learning from your diagnostic report. The session can also be related to questions you have about your current practice. It can not be related to anything you would normally need to discuss with your HR partner. 

If you would like to, you can book a conversation with a leadership expert within Organisational Learning and Development by emailing hr.learning@lse.ac.uk . As part of this conversation we would need you to share your review with us. This would be confidential and not be shared more widely. 

This programme is for anyone at band 6 or below who is looking to better understand what it means to be a leader. The programme will develop skills that will support individuals in understanding how leadership weaves into their role now, their future career and personal aspirations and what it means to be a leader at LSE.

The programme consists of one full day and three half day face-to-face modules over four months, with some self-study required before each module. Participants will also conduct and receive feedback on their own leadership skills review as part of the programme.

The programme covers

• The distinction between Leadership and Management, Showing leadership in your current role, The key concepts of leadership, Your space as an authentic leader
• Finding yourself as a leader, Understanding your strengths and values, Envisioning the leader you want to be and how to get there
• Inclusive leadership and you, Emotional intelligence and leadership, Essential people skills for leadership (coaching, influencing etc.)
• Introduction to leading teams and team dynamics, Leadership at LSE, Self-development planning and personal goal setting, Recognising and overcoming imposter syndrome, Career development and ongoing professional development

Please note that all scheduled cohorts are currently fully booked. We expect to run another cohort in Spring Term 2026. You can register on the waiting list here.  

For more information, please download the programme overview on the right of this page or contact us at hr.learning@lse.ac.uk

This programme is currently under development and will be launched in early 2026.

The Embed Programme is for professional services staff in management roles at bands 6 to 8 who wish to develop their skills as leaders under LSE’s leadership framework and who may aspire to be senior managers and leaders of the future.  The programme has been designed to help these staff collectively lead and deliver the Schools emerging strategy over the next few years.  

This is a blended learning programme, based on a diagnostic conducted prior to the programme. Participants attend three full day workshops in three months, linked to aspects of the leadership framework; leading your self, leading others and LSE and beyond. Participants undertake a psychometric assessment to support their development and conduct self-study linked to their leadership diagnostic.

The content of the three workshops includes:

Workshop 1:

- Introduction to the programme

- Understanding your diagnostic

- Leadership at LSE

- Your space as an authentic leader

- Leading from within and emotional intelligence in leadership

Workshop 2: 

- Psychometric strengths assessment

- Leader as coach

- Inclusive leadership and psychological safety

- Influencing

Workshop 3: 

This workshop covers:

- Team dynamics

- Developing high-performing teams

- Transformational leadership and leading through change 

- Influencing

- Action learning and next steps

To apply for this programme, please complete the application form, ensuring all sections of the form are completed before returning to hr.learning@lse.ac.uk at no later than 5.30pm on Friday, 5 December 2025.

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The LSE Leaders Programme is for academic colleagues who are to become Head of Department or who may aspire to have a career in Academic leadership, and professional services staff in senior roles at band 9 and 10. The programme has been designed to help these staff collectively lead and deliver the School's future during a time of change.

A combination of one day workshops, action learning sets and individual executive coaching. The programme covers:

• Exploring the role of a Leader at the LSE
• Being effective when communicating as a Leader
• Influencing others
• Working collaboratively
• Managing yourself and time effectively to achieve results
• Leading people through change
• How to develop strategic thinking

Dates for the next cohort will be confirmed in due course.

If you would like any further information about this programme please contact Jacinta Stevens, Head of Organisational Learning j.stevens4@lse.ac.uk