Executive Edge | Commercial leadership programme, Manchester | The Charisma Coach Skip to content

Sally Anne Smith | The Charisma Coach & Wayne Jones OBE | Improbus ConsultancyBook a call

Executive Edge

A four-day commercial leadership programme for leaders who want to step back from the day-to-day.

Book your 30-minute call See the five outcomes

Why attend

Are you so deep in the business that you cannot step away? Build leaders who own decisions and a business that grows beyond your personal involvement.

If every key decision comes back to you, growth depends on your availability. Create the clarity, authority and confidence managers need to act. Protect time for strategy, strengthen commercial judgement and leave with practical changes to apply in your business.

Who it's for

CEOs, founders, business owners, C-suite executives and board-level directors who are responsible for growth, people and the future of their organisation.

When and where

Four days at premium locations in Manchester city centre, with an online sustainment session four weeks after Day Four. Before Day One, you log strategic hours and avoidable escalations for two weeks (from around 23 November) to set your baseline.

How it runs

Four in-person days of spaced learning: DiSC insight, live business application, recorded and coached practice, an Accountability Partner (a fellow cohort leader, paired with you on Day One) and an in-house Innovation Project.

From bottleneck to growth

The shift this programme is built around: from every decision routing through you, to managers who own theirs while you protect time for strategy. An illustration, not a data chart.

Five commercial outcomes

Every outcome has visible evidence, so you can see what changed in your business.

Release executive capacity for growth
Transfer at least two recurring decisions and one operational responsibility to named leaders.

Measured by: protected strategic hours and avoidable executive escalations, measured against a Day One baseline and reviewed with your Accountability Partner at 30, 60 and 90 days after Day Four.
Build management ownership
Put a live delegation and decision-rights plan into practice on one business priority, with the named owner stepping up to carry it.

Measured by: the owner, authority, boundaries, milestones and review points on record; one coached feedback conversation; and a 90-day check with your Accountability Partner on milestones met without executive intervention.
Improve commercial decision quality
Apply a disciplined decision process to one material growth, investment or operating choice.

Measured by: options, assumptions, risk, return, decision date and accountable owner in a decision log; decision time compared with your usual pace; and a 90-day check with your Accountability Partner against the original assumptions.
Align strategy with execution
Translate the business strategy into a leadership message and three to five shared priorities.

Measured by: a recorded, coached strategic message; a 90-day scorecard with owners, KPIs, milestones and review dates; a team pulse check on shared priorities; and a 90-day check with your Accountability Partner.
Prove innovation before scaling
Run a small, fast test of a process, tool, offer or team change, with an agreed baseline, success criteria, and cost and risk boundaries.

Measured by: results and stakeholder feedback presented on Day Four, ending in a scale, adapt or stop recommendation.

Your seven months at a glance

Four spaced days, then online sustainment and Accountability Partner reviews. Spacing is measured to scale.

The four days

Day 1 | Monday 7 December 2026

Lead yourself

How must I change so my business can grow beyond my personal involvement?

Protect strategic time, recognise the impact of your leadership style and develop managers who can make decisions without you.

Leadership identity and values. Define your leadership brand and four non-negotiable values; test them against a difficult commercial choice.
DiSC under executive pressure. Recognise triggers, overused strengths and the effect of your style on leadership-team decisions.
Am I a Future Fit Leader? Review your mental and physical fitness and your sense of purpose alongside leadership capability and sustainable energy.
Critical thinking and executive judgement. Challenge assumptions, weigh trade-offs and defend a decision on a live business dilemma, recording it in your decision log.
Coach with purpose. Use GROW while recognising when to coach, direct or intervene without taking ownership back.

What you achieve: A leadership brand and four values that anchor difficult decisions, with stronger executive presence under pressure.
What you take away: A redesigned executive week that protects strategic thinking and enables management ownership.
Business outcome: More capacity for growth and less dependence on you for routine decisions.
Before the next session: Before Day One, log strategic hours and avoidable escalations for two weeks to set your baseline. Then coach one manager, apply one Future Fit habit and meet your Accountability Partner twice. Bring evidence of what changed.

Day 2 | Monday 11 January 2027

Lead the team

How do I build managers who take ownership, exercise judgement and deliver our strategy?

Give managers clear outcomes, decision rights and boundaries, then combine purposeful coaching with honest feedback and accountability.

Accountability and stakeholder influence. Map the people critical to growth, alignment and execution; report back on application.
Trust and psychological safety. Invite challenge and early escalation while maintaining clear expectations and performance standards.
Feedback with courage and care. Use SBI and Radical Candour in a difficult conversation with a manager or director.
Coaching and delegated authority. Set outcomes, authority, boundaries, resources, review points and escalation triggers.
Communicate the business vision. Deliver and record a strategic message; receive coaching on clarity, credibility and connection.

What you achieve: A manager-development plan with clearer decision rights, stronger stakeholder relationships and defined accountability.
What you take away: Rehearsed coaching, delegation and courageous feedback, plus a recorded strategic message refined through coaching.
Business outcome: Managers who own delivery, escalate earlier and communicate strategy consistently.
Before the next session: Transfer the first of your two recurring decisions with agreed boundaries, coach the receiving manager and gather feedback on clarity, inclusion and ownership. Ask your team to name the shared priorities, and bring the results.

Day 3 | Monday 15 February 2027

Lead the business

What strategy, systems and capabilities must change for this business to grow safely?

Turn growth ambition into an operating plan, strengthen the decisions and capabilities that enable delivery, and test innovation before committing to scale.

Operational delivery to strategic direction. Identify executive dependency, competing priorities and weak processes constraining growth.
Build the conditions for growth. Test decision rights, leadership capability and operating rhythms; agree what to start, stop and strengthen.
Use AI to sharpen thinking. Explore options, challenge assumptions and verify outputs while protecting judgement and confidential information.
Pitch a credible growth proposition. Record and defend a new-business or investment pitch covering value, return, execution and risk.
Launch the Innovation Project. Design a small, fast test before Day Four. Set a baseline, owner, success measure, resources, risk boundaries and scale, adapt or stop criteria.

What you achieve: An operations plan connecting growth ambition to process, capability, roles and review rhythms.
What you take away: Practical AI capability and a recorded growth proposition able to withstand commercial challenge.
Business outcome: An Innovation Project with a baseline, owner and cost and risk boundaries, ready to scale, adapt or stop.
Before the next session: Run a small, fast test with your managers before Day Four. Track results, costs and stakeholder feedback; prepare an evidence-based scale, adapt or stop recommendation.

Day 4 | Thursday 11 March 2027

Lead the future

What must we develop, innovate and protect now to remain relevant and resilient?

Use future scenarios and innovation evidence to set clear priorities, build leadership succession and commit to a measurable 90-day plan.

Scan the horizon. Separate evidence from assumptions across customers, competition, workforce and technology.
Build future leadership capacity. Review succession, employer brand, capability gaps and the behaviours required for growth.
Lead transformation. Communicate what is known, uncertain and influenceable while maintaining trust and direction.
Present the innovation evidence. Defend early results, risk and people impact from your small, fast test, then recommend scale, adapt or stop.
Commit to the next 90 days. Set priorities, owners, measures and review dates after Day Four, including what you will stop doing.

What you achieve: A future-readiness agenda informed by customer, workforce and technology scenarios.
What you take away: Succession and capability priorities, an Innovation Project decision and a 90-day executive scorecard.
Business outcome: An organisation better prepared to adapt, innovate and grow beyond 2027.
After the day: Launch your 90-day scorecard, hold the first review with your Accountability Partner and prepare for the sustainment session.

Meet your facilitators

Two leadership minds. One powerful experience.

Sally Anne Smith

Leadership and business transformation consultant

For more than twenty years Sally has helped leaders across Europe transform the way they communicate, influence and inspire. Trusted by BMW Group, STMicroelectronics, DPDHL Group, Nordea Banking, Channel 4 and the NHS, she combines commercial thinking with behavioural science to create leaders people want to follow.

What she brings: expert leadership facilitation, behavioural insight and practical coaching that strengthens executive presence, communication and management ownership.

Wayne Jones OBE

Former executive board director and global business leader

Wayne has led businesses employing more than 14,000 people, with revenues exceeding £4 billion. He is Chair of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce and an active partner in coaching leaders throughout Greater Manchester. He helps leaders think commercially, build resilient organisations and prepare their businesses for the future.

What he brings: board-level experience, sharp commercial insight and a global business perspective that connect leadership decisions to strategy, performance and sustainable growth.

Client experience

Companies we have worked with include MAG, DPDHL Group, INNIO, CD&R, Bain Capital, EQT, BMW Group, Nordea Banking, Tesco, SBM Offshore, Virgin Atlantic, Huddersfield University, Trafford College Group and SMEs across the UK.

Why the partnership matters

Wayne brings board-level experience and sharp commercial insight, while Sally brings expert leadership facilitation and a deep understanding of how people learn and change. Together, they turn business challenges into practical leadership action, creating confident leaders, stronger teams and sustainable business growth.

The investment

Executive insight. Practical application. Sustainable business growth.

If every decision still routes through you, the real cost is the strategic time you are not spending on growth. This programme is built to hand that time back.

Standard investment£3,447.00per leader, plus VAT

GMCC members save 15%£2,929.95per leader, plus VAT

Your investment includes

Four in-person daysExecutive growth and learning with Sally Anne Smith and Wayne Jones OBE, combining commercial experience with expert leadership development.
An expanded executive communityShare ideas, perspectives and experience with fellow business leaders.
Sustainable strategies and business solutionsWork on your real leadership and growth challenges.
Personal leadership insightDiSC profiling, guided reflection and practical workbooks.
Recorded and coached company messagesStrengthen how you communicate your vision, strategy and plans for growth.
An in-house Innovation Project for 2027Clear ownership, practical application and measurable business outcomes.
An Accountability Partner and online sustainmentSupport between sessions and beyond the programme. Sustainment serves as your 30-day review; your Accountability Partner supports the 60 and 90-day reviews, all measured from Day Four.
A focused 90-day action planBuild management ownership, release executive capacity and drive sustainable growth.

Accountability Partner: a fellow cohort leader, paired with you on Day One, who reviews your progress between sessions and challenges your commitments.