Building the confidence and competence of senior leaders through professional development at AMBS

With the end of the year fast approaching, and many businesses starting to wind down for the festive season, many senior leaders may be beginning to think about how they can kickstart their new year with a focus on prioritising their professional development to open up opportunities for progression on the career ladder.

The new year is the perfect time to consider learning and development opportunities, and Alliance Manchester Business School has an exciting line up of short business courses on offer starting from Spring 2024 onwards.

These 4-day courses are driven by the social, economic, and technological changes that the world is going through, and aim to support senior leaders across all industries to level-up their professional development and open up new opportunities in the workplace. Managing Complex Business Challenges will take place from 5-8 March 2024 and will explore new approaches to governance, communication and engagement when navigating decision making and complex business situations. Market Focused Strategic Planning will also be delivered from 5-8 March 2024 and will guide you through your strategic planning using best practice as you learn how to shape senior-level strategy to help you beat your competition. Leading Major Projects, delivered from 9-12 April 2024, is designed for project leaders looking to gain the experience, understanding, and resources needed to execute multifaceted major projects.

The fluctuating and unpredictable nature of today’s business landscape emphasises that there’s never been a more appropriate time for AMBS to introduce this extensive portfolio of professional development courses.

According to a survey carried out by AMBS of 500 middle and upper management professions, 80% of respondents felt they faced barriers in terms of their career progression in their place of work, and 29.4% felt that a lack of support from their line manager was a common reason for this.

Delivered face-to-face at the AMBS’s Manchester campus, the purpose of these courses is to help build individual’s skills and confidence as they lead in a time of constant change, uncertainty, and economic turbulence.

Bryan Lukas, Academic Director of Executive Education, and Professor of Marketing at Alliance Manchester Business School said:

“These courses demonstrate a particular form of thought leadership in business education, as the content is highly focused and geared towards people who are already managing business operations.

“Furthermore, because these courses are short (typically lasting four days) and can be combined with each other in different ways, it is also an extremely flexible form of knowledge acquisition.”

Since the delivery of the first cohort in July 2023, AMBS has welcomed a wide variety of senior leader professionals onto their short courses, some of whom have joined locally from the Northwest, and others who have travelled internationally to attend.

Delegates have also brought an array of industry experience to the classroom, sharing their expertise in a range of sectors such as technology, finance, banking, and construction, to name just a few.

Whilst leadership appears as a common thread throughout all the new courses, the first four courses focused on the psychological theories of leading teams and organisations, project management, digital transformation, and how to build unbeatable market strategies, all of which are highly important topics in today’s business landscape.

Delegates have been exceptionally pleased with their learning experience, with many saying that they’ve already started implementing their learning back into their organisations since leaving the course.

Hals Baggaley, Head of Category and Strategic Supplier Manager at the Co-op, who attended the Psychology of Leading People course said:

“Since completing this course, I have gained a greater appreciation of the role in which human psychology plays in both colleague and leader experience, and their organisational outcomes.

“I can honestly say I enjoyed the whole course. My favourite part was learning from both the course lead, and the other delegates that attended. The collaboration and networking opportunities were wonderful!” If you’d like to find out more about short business courses at AMBS and discuss how they can propel your professional development forward, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of AMBS’s course advisors.