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You will complete your portfolio electronically, on our new learning management system called Xapify.

You will receive full instructions on how to access this via email, however you can also find some useful information on this Padlet. All Nursing, Midwifery and AHP staff will have a Xapify account, you don't need to create one yourself - it is linked to your ESR account so is already done for you. Because of this, it's important that any changes (e.g. email or name changes) are updated on ESR as soon as possible to ensure you stay connected. Your Workforce Systems Team are able to make ESR changes/updates for you.

Please make sure you access Xapify BEFORE your first study day.

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Link to Xapify: https://xapify.app/#/leedsth

You can access through any device - at work or at home. MS Edge of Google Chrome browsers work best (sometimes it doesn't work well on Safari if accessing on an Apple device).

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Please note this is for Cohort 2 - scroll down this column for Cohort 3

Here’s your full programme timetable. You might find it helpful to print a copy or save it somewhere easy to access.

Please make sure to add all key dates to your diary and note the compulsory sessions, which are colour coded on the timetable.

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🌟 Welcome to the Programme 🌟

We’re delighted to have you on this journey with us. This Padlet will be your central hub for everything you need throughout the programme – from study dates and workshop details to resources, reflections, and support.

Here you’ll find:

Key programme information and updates

Guidance for your workshops, learning pods, and portfolio

Resources to support your development

Contact details and ways to access support

This is your space to explore, reflect, and connect with others (think of it as a virtual noticeboard). Please check back regularly for updates – new resources and module information will be added as we go.

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Hello My name is Josephine, I’m a Senior Professional Development Practitioner and the Programme Lead for Excellence in Leadership.

My role is to manage, develop and facilitate the programme, but more importantly, to be alongside you throughout your journey. I’m proud to be part of a programme that supports you to step confidently into your senior leadership role - helping you to recognise the unique value you bring to your profession, to feel appreciated for the work you do, and to challenge yourself to think differently.

Through reflection, connection, and the Leeds Way Values, my hope is that this programme will not only strengthen your leadership but also sustain you as the compassionate, effective leader your teams and patients need.

I look forward to welcoming you to the programme!

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Here you will find some useful resources to help you get the most out of the programme.

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Here’s your full programme timetable. You might find it helpful to print a copy or save it somewhere easy to access.

Please make sure to add all key dates to your diary and note the compulsory sessions, which are colour coded on the timetable.

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Please note this is for Cohort 4

Here’s your full programme timetable. You might find it helpful to print a copy or save it somewhere easy to access.

Please make sure to add all key dates to your diary and note the compulsory sessions, which are colour coded on the timetable.

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No Links Programme Timetable - EIL C4 Oct 2026

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The programme involves around 54 hours of protected learning time over the year.

This includes:

4.5 days of in-person workshops (around 34 hours in total)

5 Learning Pod sessions (4 hours each, around 20 hours in total)

We recommend discussing these dates with your line manager early on and ensuring they’re built into your roster or diary.

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To keep on track, you should aim to complete your portfolio module, by module. This allows you to stay aligned with learning pod discussions and the workshop content.

Modules will start on the following dates:

COHORT 2 (January 2026):

Module 1: 12/01/2026

Module 2: 16/03/2026

Module 3: 11/05/2026

Module 4: 13/07/2026

Module 5: 21/09/2026

COHORT 3 (May 2026):

Module 1: 14/05/2026

Module 2: 20/07/2026

Module 3: 28/09/2026

Module 4: 23/11/2026

Module 5: 18/01/2027

COHORT 4 (October 2026):

Module 1: 10/10/2026

Module 2: 02/02/2026

Module 3: 23/03/2027

Module 4: 11/05/2027

Module 5: 06/07/2027

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Complete your Insights Discovery Profile

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Complete your Insights Discovery Profile

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You will be contacted soon, by the Organisational Development (OD)Team with details about completing your Insights Discovery profile.

This is an important part of your learning journey and will help you better understand your leadership style and how you work with others.

Please make sure you complete it before the Welcome Day. The OD team will tell you an exact date for when this needs completing by.

The OD team will send you your personalised report. Please make sure you have this to hand on your Welcome Day.

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Which of the 8 personality types are you?

Discover what Insights Discovery is and how it can help you and your colleagues to work more effectively through an understanding of the eight core personality types.
Insights Discovery in a nutshell
Insights Discovery is a psychometric tool based on Jungian psychology, which uses a four-colour model to highlight key personality preferences and associated behaviours.

The tool is hugely popular within businesses and can be used for individual performance development or wider team development. It increases self-awareness, improves communication, decision-making and ultimately performance.

The process starts with an online evaluation which takes about 20 minutes to complete and is comprised of detailed multiple choice questions. Following completion of this, a personal profile is then generated providing in-depth insight into individual strengths and weaknesses, communication style, approach to problems and value added to the team.

Profiles outline your unique "colour mix" of the four colour energies: Cool Blue, Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow and Earth Green - each colour represents certain personality preferences and associated behaviours and we all have a unique mix of these traits or colours. Identifying what this is and getting to grips with the motivations behind our thoughts and actions enables us to work more effectively with others and results of the report are easily memorable thanks to the four-colour model approach.
Solving business challenges
Insights is highly effective in terms of organisational change, for example if your business is facing a team restructure or a change in leadership. Equally, it provides a universal language on which to shape performance management discussions, to better identify company culture and analyse customer service improvements. Personal profiles can be delivered or team Insights workshops can be organised, as per unique business needs. With an Insights report at hand, people are more self-aware and encouraged to talk openly using the universal language of colour preferences to discuss challenges faced, areas for improvement, individual strengths, weaknesses and team dynamics. People come away understanding far better how others tick and how best to communicate with them.
The eight personality types uncovered
The four main colour energies branch out into a mix of eight personality types listed below.

Based on Carl Jung's psychological theory, each type is a mix of: introversion, extraversion, thinking, feeling, sensing or intuition. The eight types are defined in the following manner:
Does this give you an inkling of your personality type?
In addition to discovering which of the eight personality types you are most like, your report identifies exactly where you sit within each of the 72 segments on the wheel. Depending on your colour mix, you can sit in one of three rings on the graph. You'll see there's an outer, middle and inner ring in the graph below - Insights terms these wheel positions 'Focused', 'Classic' and 'Accommodating' respectively.

Here's where it gets a little technical. You can actually sit in more than one ring on the wheel, if your 'Conscious' and 'Unconscious' personas differ. We'll look at an example of this in a minute, but first let's establish what we mean by conscious and unconscious personas.

Conscious persona
The Direct responses to the online evaluator, a combination of you, who you need to be and who you want to be. How you might " ACT ".

Unconscious persona
The Indirect responses to the online evaluator, this suggests your more instinctive behaviour, highlights possible blind spots and how you might " REACT ".

Your Insights discovery practitioner will take you through your report in more detail and explain this face to face, but here's a example of what your graph might look like if your unconscious and conscious personas differ:
Insights profiles are great tools to use for increasing our self-awareness. They can be used proactively to identify key areas for development and action, and can be shared with friends and colleagues to gage constructive feedback. If you'd like to find out more about how Insights Discovery can help you, drop us a line today.

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8 personality types: a deeper dive into Insights Discovery

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Find out what Insights Discovery is, how can it help your business and which of the 8 personality types you relate to the most.

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At the start of each module of the programme, there will be a 30 minute virtual meeting (on MS Teams) which will give a brief overview of the upcoming module content.

It is not compulsory that you attend these sessions, but it is an excellent opportunity to know mor, and access support and guidance from the Programme Lead should you need it. If you are unable to make it, don't worry - the recording with be available for you to catch up on.

You will receive a meeting invitation to all these sessions, but for your information, the sessions will be held at 2 - 2.30pm on the following dates:

COHORT 2 (January 2026):

Module 1: this will be covered in your welcome day

Module 2: 16/03/2026

Module 3: 11/05/2026

Module 4: 13/07/2026

Module 5: 21/09/2026

COHORT 3 (May 2026):

Module 1: this will be covered in your welcome day

Module 2: 20/07/2026

Module 3: 28/09/2026

Module 4: 23/11/2026

Module 5: 18/01/2027

COHORT 4 (October 2026):

Module 1: this will be covered in your welcome day

Module 2: 02/02/2026

Module 3: 23/03/2027

Module 4: 11/05/2027

Module 5: 06/07/2027

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On completion of the programme, you will receive an invitation to an in-person celebration event, to recognise and celebrate your achievements! This will be announced in due course.

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Your portfolio is made up of 5 modules, each designed to build on the one before it. While every module focuses on a specific set of topics, together they create a holistic, well-rounded development journey that supports you to grow as a confident, compassionate and strategic leader.

To help you stay on track, we’ve provided a completion target for each module. These targets are there to support your progress - your Learning Pod discussions will link closely to the topics in the adjoining module, so keeping up with the content will help you get the most from those sessions. It also helps to manage your workload, avoiding a last-minute rush at the end when reflection time can feel limited.

Don’t be alarmed if you can’t see all the modules on Xapimed straight away. Each module will be released at set times, usually a little in advance of the official start date, so you can look ahead and get a head start if you’d like.

At the start of each new module, there will be a 30-minute virtual “Introduction to the Module” session on Teams. This is a chance to hear an overview of the upcoming content, ask questions, and get guidance or support. These sessions will be recorded, so it's not a problem if you can't make it.

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As a new and developing programme, it's really important that we hear your feedback on what is working well and what could be better. We have made a number of tweaks to the programme from last year which will hopefully assure you that we do take every comment on board and put in place positive actions!

You will receive 3 programme evaluation forms at month 3, 6 and 9, as well as a short form at the end of each workshop day. Please take a few minutes to complete them - this will help us continuously improve the programme.

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You will complete your reflective portfolio on Xapify.

If you haven’t used it before, please take a few minutes to log in and explore. Please do not worry if you can't see the Excellence in Leadership portfolio on there yet - we will let you know when it becomes available.

If you experience any problems, get in touch with the Professional Development Team so we can help you.

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The programme involves around 54 hours of protected learning time over the year.

This includes:

4.5 days of in-person workshops (around 34 hours in total)

5 Learning Pod sessions (4 hours each, around 20 hours in total)

We recommend discussing these dates with your line manager early on and ensuring they’re built into your roster or diary.

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You’ll find all session dates on the Programme Timetable. Please make sure these are added to your diary early.

Remember – to complete the programme successfully, you’ll need to attend 11 core sessions (these are highlighted on the timetable).

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Your learning pod is a small, supportive group of 6 - 8 participants. Each pod is facilitated by an experienced senior leader and provides a safe, reflective space to explore real leadership challenges, share experiences, and learn from one another.

These sessions are one of the most valued parts of the programme & are a chance to step away from the day-to-day, think together, and build a strong network of peers who understand the realities of leadership at Band 7.

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You’ll be allocated to a pod of around 6 - 8 participants, with a dedicated facilitator.

You will meet either on a Tuesday or Thursday depending on your group. You have the choice to meet online or in person, but if you choose to meet in person we ask that you organise this yourselves. The meetings need to happen on the same day.

There are 5 pod sessions throughout the year, each lasting around 4 hours.

Dates are set in advance and are listed on the Programme Timetable.

Each session focuses on reflective discussion, problem-solving, and applying learning from the modules to your own context, so it's important to try and keep up to the modules times.

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Learning Pods are designed to help you:

Develop confidence in tackling leadership challenges.

Strengthen your reflective and critical thinking skills.

Build supportive, lasting professional connections.

Foster a sense of shared learning and community.

Your facilitator will guide the discussion but the learning is very much driven by you and your peers. The more open, curious, and engaged you are, the richer the experience will be.

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Your first pod meeting is all about getting to know one another and building a sense of trust and community. You don’t need to prepare anything formal, but a little reflection beforehand will help you get the most out of the experience.

Here are a few ideas to help you feel ready:

Think about your leadership journey so far - what’s going well, what’s challenging, and what you’d like to explore or strengthen through the programme.

Be open and curious - your pod is a safe, confidential space where you can be honest, ask questions, and learn from others.

Bring a real situation or example - you may be invited to share something from your role that you’d like the group to reflect on with you.

Protect the time - treat your pod sessions as dedicated development time. Step away from your usual environment where possible so you can really focus and engage.

Above all, come as yourself. The Learning Pods work best when everyone brings their real experiences, listens generously, and supports one another’s growth.

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The Lead & Learn series forms the backbone of the Excellence in Leadership Programme.

Across 5 workshops (including your Welcome Day), you’ll come together with colleagues to explore key aspects of leadership - from understanding yourself and leading others, to managing people, resources, and sustaining wellbeing.

Each session is interactive and practical, bringing leadership theory to life through discussion, reflection, and real examples from practice. You’ll aim to leave each workshop with new insights, tools, and connections to strengthen your leadership journey.

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(Half-day online session, 9:00–13:00)

Your Welcome Day marks the start of your leadership journey on the programme. It’s a chance to meet the team, connect with fellow participants, and get a clear picture of what to expect.

During this session you will:

Be welcomed to the programme and meet the facilitators

Explore the structure, expectations and key elements of the programme

Meet your Learning Pod

Meet your coach and learn more about the coaching offer

This session will help you feel prepared, connected and ready to make the most of the year ahead.

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(Full-day, in-person)

Topics covered:

Unconscious bias and inclusive leadership

Psychological safety and trust

Emotional intelligence

Compassionate and values-based leadership

Leadership identity and values in practice

Understanding team dynamics

This session helps you explore who you are as a leader, how you influence others, and how to create the conditions for your team to thrive.

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Workshop 2: Strategic Leadership in Practice - Managing People

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Workshop 2: Strategic Leadership in Practice - Managing People

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(Full-day, in-person)

Topics covered:

Personalised people management

Attendance management

Performance management

Supporting performance (with human factors content)

Accountability and decision-making

This session focuses on leading people with both compassion and confidence - understanding how to balance support with accountability.

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Workshop 3: Strategic Leadership in Practice - Managing Resources

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Workshop 3: Strategic Leadership in Practice - Managing Resources

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(Full-day, in-person)

Topics covered:

NHS finance and resource management

CQC readiness (Well Led framework, assurance vs reassurance, complaints, safety huddles)

Quality improvement methods

Innovation and change management

Leeds Improvement Method (LIM)

You’ll develop practical understanding of the systems and structures that shape your role and learn how to lead quality, safety and improvement with confidence.

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(Half-day, in-person)

Topics covered:

Leading under pressure

Managing energy and boundaries

Self-compassion and reflective practice

Peer support and sustaining team wellbeing

This final session is about sustainability - helping you stay grounded, resilient, and supported as you continue to grow as a leader.

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As part of the programme, you will access 6 one-to-one coaching sessions with Ashley Brooks, an experienced leadership coach. These are held virtually, via Teams.

This dedicated coaching support is a key part of the programme’s investment in you - your growth, confidence, and wellbeing as a leader.

It’s a unique offer for participants of the Excellence in Leadership programme and has been consistently described by previous participants as one of the most valuable aspects of their development journey.

Coaching provides a confidential space to:

Reflect on your leadership practice

Explore challenges and opportunities in a supportive setting

Strengthen your confidence and self-awareness

Develop clarity and strategies to take forward in your role

Ashley will contact you directly to arrange your sessions and discuss what works best for you. You’ll agree dates and times together, allowing flexibility around your work and personal commitments.

We encourage you to approach coaching with an open mind and a willingness to reflect honestly - it’s a powerful opportunity to invest in yourself and your leadership development.

Ashley Brooks Coaching –

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One of the most powerful parts of the programme is the opportunity to build a genuine network of peers who understand the realities of leadership at Band 7 level.

Throughout the programme, you’ll meet colleagues from across different departments, CSUs & professional backgrounds. These connections often become a lasting source of support, encouragement, and inspiration.

Building your network is a leadership skill in itself. It helps you:

Broaden your perspective and share good practice

Strengthen collaboration across teams and services

Build confidence in influencing and leading beyond your immediate area

Develop a trusted peer support circle that continues beyond the programme

You can choose how you stay connected - for example, some Learning Pods create WhatsApp or Teams groups to keep in touch between sessions. However you do it, we encourage you to keep those conversations going.

When we designed this programme, one of the strongest messages from our focus groups was the importance of connection and community. Participants told us that the relationships they built were what helped them stay grounded, motivated, and reminded of their shared purpose.

So, make the most of every opportunity to connect. Your peers are one of the most valuable resources you’ll gain from this programme!

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Example of Reflective Writing for the EIL portfolio

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Module 1 – Leadership Fundamentals for Clinical Practice

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Module 1 – Leadership Fundamentals for Clinical Practice

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Explore the foundations of effective leadership in clinical practice.

Key themes:
🩵 Emotional intelligence and self-awareness
💬 Communication and influence
🌿 Compassionate, authentic and values-based leadership

Discover how your personal leadership style shapes the culture around you and how to lead with confidence and integrity.

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Build the skills to create safe, inclusive and motivated teams.

Key themes:
🫶 Psychological safety and team culture
🌈 Inclusive leadership and unconscious bias (with some human factors content)
💡 Kindness, civility and engagement

Learn how to inspire trust, motivate others, and foster a positive team environment where everyone feels valued and able to thrive.

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Module 3 - Strategic Leadership: Managing People

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Module 3 - Strategic Leadership: Managing People

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Develop confidence in leading people with compassion and accountability.

Key themes:
👥 Personalised people management
🧭 Attendance and performance management
⚖️ Just culture, accountability and decision-making
💬 Courageous conversations

This module will help you navigate complex people situations and support performance while maintaining fairness and empathy.

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Module 4 - Strategic Leadership: Managing Resources

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Module 4 - Strategic Leadership: Managing Resources

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Gain practical insight into the systems and structures that support safe, effective care.

Key themes:
💷 NHS finance and resource management
✅ CQC readiness and the Well Led framework
🔍 Leeds Improvement Method and QI
🔄 Managing change and innovation

Understand how strategic leadership connects to quality, safety and improvement in everyday practice.

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Focus on sustaining yourself and your team through the pressures of leadership.

Key themes:
💪 Leading under pressure
🌸 Managing your energy and boundaries
💭 Reflective practice and self-compassion
💬 Sustaining team wellbeing and recognising burnout

This module supports you to lead with balance, self-awareness and care – for yourself and those you lead.

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A step by step guide to completing EIL on Xapify

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A step by step guide to completing EIL on Xapify

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Completing your Portfolio on Xapify - participants.

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Slide deck shared by Tom Chatwin on the welcome day. If you have any questions at all please contact Tom directly - tom.chatwin@nhs.net

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If you have any general questions or concerns at any point, please contact the Professional Development Team FAO Elfie (Programme Lead) at:

leedsth-tr.professionaldevelopmentteam@nhs.net

This inbox is monitored Monday - Friday between 8am - 6pm. If you require a quicker response, please email Elfie directly (or send a message on Teams).

If your query is related specifically to:

Your Learning Pod - contact your facilitator

Coaching - contact Ashley Brooks directly: ashley@ashleybrooks.co.uk

Xapimed/Portfolio/Workshops - Elfie via the Professional Development Team