Scottish Sporting Leaders Programme

This programme is aimed at senior managers within local authorities or leisure trusts (including those working within Active Schools and Sports Development teams) and those within Scottish Governing Bodies of Sport (SGBs). This programme is also available to Partnership Managers and equivalent from sportscotland.  

The programme is designed to develop and enhance core leadership behaviours in our networks. There will be a strong focus on ensuring that equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) underpins everything we do, with specific content linked to the sportscotland EDI Strategy and how this is achieved by leaders in the sports sector. The programme allows participants to continue to develop and reflect on their inclusive leadership behaviour and performance, with the assistance of course leaders and facilitators Clare Moore and Graham Smith of Business Jigsaw. The aim of the SSLP is: 

• To provide greater leadership capability amongst sportscotland internal and external managers
• To provide the sporting sector with a pool of talented leaders able to successfully operate in their current roles
• To provide the sector with a potential pool of talented leaders able to successfully operate at management levels beyond their current roles
• That participants should continue to adopt new learning and adapt their leadership styles beyond the end of the programme

• Increased awareness of your current leadership style and its impact on the people and systems in which you operate
• Additional tools and frameworks to refine your personal leadership style, in alignment with the purpose of your organisation
• Boosted skills to face workplace challenges, such as having difficult conversations, leading high performance teams, and influencing without authority in the sporting system
• Inclusive leadership strategies for driving organisational and culture change, while maintaining team performance
• A new network of colleagues in the sporting system to learn from and achieve change with

The programme includes the following elements: 

• In-person launch event 
• 360 feedback process with 1-1 feedback session
• Two-day residential workshop
• Two half-day virtual workshops
• One day in-person workshop
• Two individual coaching meetings
• 360 feedback process with 1-1 feedback session
• Half day in-person celebration event

There are no written assignments, and the course is pragmatic rather than academic in format. 

We will aim for: 

• A mix of participants across partner organisations and from within sportscotland
• Seniority level of applicant: Senior Management Team member within partners e.g., Head of Development/Performance/Operations etc. Within sportscotland, experienced Partnership Managers and above
• Full commitment of the participants and nominators to the course dates and requirements
• Alignment to sportscotland investment priorities related to partner organisations 
• Match of applicants’ development objectives to course objectives.
• Spread of participants across geographies and organisations across the cohorts

The Equal Opportunities questionnaire is for information only and will not be used in selection.

Please note that dates and venues are subject to change in the event of unforeseen circumstances.  Virtual platforms and venues will be confirmed upon acceptance.