From the sales conversation to company leadership. Tailored development for teams and managers. Experience since 2001, multinational clients and a specialisation in pharmaceutical companies.
Leading people in practice
Leadership Development for Managers: Leading and Developing Teams
Tasks have been assigned, yet decisions keep coming back to the manager. The team waits for instructions, leaving its leader little time to develop people. At ED Development, our leadership development and people management programmes help managers adapt how they lead, delegate responsibility and develop their people while working towards business goals.
Developing your team
What do leadership and people management involve?
Leadership gives people direction and encourages engagement. People management turns shared goals into clear tasks and responsibilities while supporting each person’s development.
Within our people management programmes, we work mainly with middle and senior managers, team leaders and project leaders.
The programme connects situational leadership with everyday management conversations. We tailor the content to participants’ decision-making authority, your organisation’s values and the situations in which they need to change their approach.
What we work on
What your leadership development programme covers
Managers work with examples from their own experience. They examine how their communication and decisions influence people’s initiative and follow-through on commitments.
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Situational leadership
Situational leadership and communication
We explore when someone needs clear direction, an explanation or the space to propose a solution. Managers consider the person’s experience and motivation in relation to a specific task. They also examine their own responses in difficult situations.
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Delegation
Delegation and taking ownership
When delegating a task, we clarify the expected outcome and decision-making authority. We agree on the support needed and review points. The manager retains oversight, while the team member understands where they can act independently.
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Motivation and feedback
Motivation and developmental feedback
We explore what motivates each person and how their work is recognised. Feedback focuses on specific behaviour and its consequences. Each conversation ends with an agreement on the next steps.
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Long-term development
Long-term development and difficult conversations
We connect development conversations with the competencies required for the role and the person’s potential. We also address disagreements, declining performance and communicating significant decisions. We can build on this work with change management support where broader organisational change is involved.
Common leadership challenges
When your leadership approach needs to change
Recurring situations often signal that a team needs clearer expectations or a different balance of support and autonomy.
- Managers take over their team members’ tasks and put off development conversations.
- Delegated work comes back incomplete or gets held up by repeated approvals.
- The same leadership style helps some team members but holds others back.
- Feedback is given only at performance reviews or when a serious problem arises.
- High performers are given more tasks, but no one discusses their development.
- Meetings end without agreement on who decides and who does what.
- Disagreements between colleagues remain unresolved and make teamwork harder.
- Corporate values are defined, but managers’ decisions do not reflect them.
How we work
How your leadership and people management programme works
Together with senior leaders and HR, we identify which management practices your company needs to improve and how we will evaluate their use in practice.
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Analysing needs and management practice
Our training needs analysis draws on interviews and real workplace situations. Depending on the brief, we use workplace observation or a Development Centre. We clarify the behaviour expected of managers.
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Designing your tailored programme
We tailor the topics and level of challenge to the managers’ seniority and their teams’ needs. We use your competency frameworks, where available, and select situations for practice and discussion.
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Putting new approaches into practice
Modules are spaced 3 to 5 weeks apart so participants can apply the approaches within their teams. They bring their experiences to the next session. We can complement this support with management coaching.
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Certification and evaluation
We conclude the programme with certification and an assessment of the agreed skills. We evaluate changes in management practice and identify further development steps for participants and their managers.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- since1993Management experience
- 25+Years of business development
- 60+Multinational clients
Didn’t find your answer?Elena Demeková, CEO and Senior Consultant
What is the difference between leadership and management?
Leadership focuses on setting direction, gaining support and developing people. Management involves organising work and achieving objectives. Managers draw on both in their roles. Harvard Business School Online also explains how the two relate.
How can managers delegate tasks and build team autonomy?
Agree on the expected outcome and scope of authority, along with how progress will be reviewed. Check that the person has the skills and resources they need. Match your level of support to the task. The Center for Creative Leadership explores the connection between delegation and people development. In the programme, we also examine when managers need to step in and which decisions they can leave to a team member.
How should managers give feedback to employees?
Describe the specific behaviour, the situation and its impact on work. Give the employee space to share their perspective and agree on the next step. If someone has not followed through on an agreement, explore why. The conversation should clarify expectations and the support needed. In the programme, managers practise both giving and receiving feedback using their own examples.
Is leadership development suitable for experienced managers?
Yes. We tailor the content to the responsibilities of middle and senior managers. Experienced managers work on long-term people development, leading teams through change or resolving conflict. For new managers, we focus on the transition into a management role and day-to-day leadership. The needs analysis guides the mix of participants and the level of challenge.
What experience does Elena Demeková bring to leadership development?
In her management roles at multinational pharmaceutical companies, Elena Demeková focused on developing feedback skills to support leadership and people development. She has also led and developed consultancy teams. We draw on this experience when designing your programme and work with the management situations you face. Explore ED Development’s client projects for further context.
How long does a leadership development programme take?
Duration depends on the objectives and scope of the programme. Time between modules allows participants to apply the approaches at work. At the next session, they discuss what they have used and what needs adjusting. We also agree how progress will be evaluated with senior leaders in advance, for example through the quality of delegation, development conversations or follow-through on team agreements.
