Leadership cohort program template
A leadership cohort program template is a week-by-week plan for a group of managers who develop the same skills together. This one runs eight weeks: a start week with a baseline, six skill weeks that each pair a practice assignment at work with a 90-minute live session and a peer group check-in, and a closing week that repeats the baseline.
- 0:00Opening5 min
- 0:05Full-group debrief25 min
- 0:30Peer group breakout30 min
- 1:00Practice exercise25 min
- 1:25Close5 min
The 8-week leadership cohort: start, six skills, close
The outline is for new and mid-level managers. Replace the skills with your own model and keep the shape: order the skills from low to high risk, so a structured one-to-one comes before a difficult feedback conversation. Each skill week has a short lesson, one practice assignment at work, a three-question reflection, the live session and a peer group check-in.
- 1
Start
A baseline, two goals and the peer groups.
- Week 1
Starting the program
- Welcome lesson: how the eight weeks work
- Baseline self-assessment and two goals
- Live session: introductions, ground rules, goals
- Peer groups formed: agree how they'll work
Assign the peer groups before this session, so they meet for the first time in its breakout.
- Week 1
- 2
Skills
One skill a week, practised at work with a real person, debriefed live.
- Week 2
One-to-ones
- Lesson: the structured one-to-one
- Practice: hold one structured one-to-one
- Reflection worksheet
- Live session: debrief, role-play in pairs
- First peer group check-in
- Week 3
Giving feedback
- Lesson: feedback that lands
- Practice: one feedback conversation
- Reflection worksheet
- Live session: debrief, practise a difficult one
- Peer group check-in
- Week 4
Delegation
- Lesson: delegating with a clear brief
- Practice: hand over one task with a written brief
- Reflection worksheet
- Live session: debrief, peer coaching on the briefs
- Peer group check-in and midpoint pulse
Read the pulse answers before week 5's session, and join the call of any peer group that has gone quiet.
- Week 5
Running team meetings
- Lesson: meetings worth having
- Practice: change one recurring meeting
- Reflection worksheet
- Live session: debrief, swap meeting formats
- Peer group check-in
- Week 6
Coaching your team
- Lesson: ask instead of tell
- Practice: ask instead of tell in one conversation
- Reflection worksheet
- Live session: debrief, coaching practice in trios
- Peer group check-in
- Week 7
Leading through change
- Lesson: explaining a change
- Practice: explain one change to the team
- Reflection worksheet
- Live session: debrief, plan what continues after week 8
- Peer group check-in
- Week 2
- 3
Close
The before and after, and what continues.
- Week 8
Closing
- Final reflection: the same questions as week 1
- Live session: each leader shares where they started and where they are
- Last peer group check-in: agree whether the group keeps meeting
- Week 8
Leadership cohort session structure: one 90-minute session
Ten minutes for the opening and close, one 30-minute breakout in peer groups, and 50 minutes in the full group for the debrief and a practice exercise. With one facilitator, that lets most of a cohort of 12 to 20 speak in the full group and everyone speak in the breakout.
| Time | Block | What the facilitator does |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Opening5 min | The week's skill in one line, and what leaders were asked to try at work. |
| 0:05–0:30 | Full-group debrief25 min | Leaders report on the practice assignment: what they did, what happened, what they'd do differently. Draw out patterns across the cohort, and bring in quieter voices by name. |
| 0:30–1:00 | Peer group breakout30 min | Groups of four to six. Each leader gets about six minutes to talk through their assignment and hear back from peers. Rotate a timekeeper. |
| 1:00–1:25 | Practice exercise25 min | Practise next week's skill: role-play in pairs, coaching in trios or peer coaching on a brief. The facilitator observes and gives feedback. |
| 1:25–1:30 | Close5 min | Each leader names the one action they'll take at work this week: next week's practice assignment. |
Three checkpoints: week 1, week 4, week 8
The final reflection repeats the baseline questions, so each leader sees the change in their own ratings. Swap in your own model's skills, and add the leader's 360 or assessment results as a separate worksheet if you use one.
Baseline self-assessment
- 1Rate your confidence today in each skill: one-to-ones, feedback, delegation, team meetings, coaching your team, leading through change. (1 to 10 each)
- 2Which two of these do you most want to get better at, and why?
- 3Describe a recent people situation you'd handle differently.
- 4What would your team notice if this program worked for you?
- 5What's most likely to get in the way of practising at work?
Midpoint pulse
- 1How useful have the practice assignments been so far? (1 to 10)
- 2Which assignment changed something at work, and what?
- 3How well is your peer group working? (1 to 10)
- 4What should we do more of in the live sessions? Less of?
- 5Is there anything you need that you're not getting?
Final reflection
- 1Rate your confidence now in each skill: one-to-ones, feedback, delegation, team meetings, coaching your team, leading through change. (1 to 10 each)
- 2How far did you get on your two goals from week 1?
- 3Which practice will you keep doing, and when?
- 4What has your team noticed?
- 5Would you recommend this program to another manager? (0 to 10)
One practice assignment a week, in six parts
The assignment is where the development happens: done at work with a real person, small enough for one week, and specific about who and by when. Write each one in these six parts. The fallback keeps a leader in the program in a week when the real thing can't happen.
The weekly reflection and peer check-in
- What did I do?
- What happened?
- What would I do differently?
- What I said I would try
- What happened
- What I will try next
- 1Skill: e.g. delegating with a clear brief
- 2The action: e.g. hand one task you currently do yourself to someone on your team
- 3Who and by when: e.g. one person, before next Tuesday
- 4Preparation: e.g. write the brief: outcome, deadline, what decisions they can make alone
- 5Fallback: e.g. write the brief and walk your peer group through it
- 6Reflection: e.g. what did I hand over? How did they respond? What would I brief differently?
Four rules for the facilitator
What makes leaders bring real problems.
Size the cohort from airtime
With one facilitator and 90 minutes, 12 to 20 leaders lets most speak in the full group. Past 20, add a second facilitator or move more time into breakouts; past 30, split the cohort.
Keep reporting lines out of peer groups
Four to six leaders at the same level, from different functions. Nobody in a group with their own manager or direct report.
Keep the groups fixed
Trust takes two or three weeks. Reshuffling every session resets it.
Always offer a fallback
Some weeks the right person is on leave or the team is in a crisis. A smaller version of the assignment beats skipping the session.
What keeps leaders practising between sessions
The work happens at work. These keep the cohort going between live sessions.
Peer group calls
A 30-minute weekly call or a written thread per group, with the same three check-in questions every week.
Discussion channel
Quick reports on how an assignment went, and questions for the cohort before the next session.
Practice task list
Each week's assignment as a task list leaders check off, so you see who needs a nudge before the session.
Sponsor reporting
Progress for the client's HR or L&D lead, without showing what leaders write.
Leadership cohort program template · upcoach.com/templates/leadership-cohort-program-template