Director Development Programme

This course provides the essential learning to achieve the Post Graduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership for Directors from the University of Chester. You may choose to complete the PG Cert, which is available with our associate provider. Full information on how to complete this can be found in the Certification Information sheet at the bottom of this page.

Delivered over a 5-day period, this course covers 5 subject areas, one per day. The detail of these subject areas are:

The role of the Company Director and the Board

• Director duties as defined in the Companies Act 2006
• Corporate and ethical governance
• Risk management in the current climate
• Offering both challenge and support in the boardroom and managing

  stakeholders

• Considering on-going legislative changes

Finance for Non-Finance Directors

• The key financial reports and metrics of a business, including cash flow,

  balance sheet, and profit & loss / income statements

• How to interpret the financial information from a non-financial perspective
• Understanding accounting principles and standards

• Methods that can be used by finance directors to create financial information

  that is non-financial friendly, including financial ratios

• Understanding the relationships between a company’s financial stakeholders

  and its directors / business owners

• Recognising the signs of a failing company
• How to rely on, and gain the most from the finance function

The Director’s role in leading and managing an organisation

• Self-awareness in leadership and 21st century leadership practice
• Developing an inquisitive mind-set and leading organisational change and

  knowledge

• Managing performance and measuring progress
• Influencing a positive culture in the workplace through effective, responsible,

  and sustainable leadership

• Managing diverse and inter-dependent teams
• Developing soft skills for performance (coaching and mentoring) and developing effective teams and resilience in the workforce

The Directors’ role in strategy

• Understanding differences between strategic and operational thinking
• Strategic business planning concepts
• Designing and managing a process for successful organisational change
• Defining the business environment and influential factors
• Reviewing a range of strategic leadership and management theories to inform best practice

The Director’s role in strategic marketing

• Deriving value and market share from research and insights
• Developing a brand and ‘the universal truth’
• The purchasing and decision-making process
• Public affairs and stakeholder communications
• Digital and social marketing