Leadership training and resources

Links to resources and training to help you understand more about leadership.

Compassionate leadership training and resources

Compassionate leadership is a way of leading people which focuses on listening to, understanding, empathising with, and supporting, other people.

It’s a good way of working, because it helps the people we lead to feel valued, respected and cared for, so they can reach their potential and do their best work.

There are great resources and training opportunities out there to help you understand more about compassionate leadership.

(These resources may not be bilingual or accessible. We’re not responsible for content produced by other organisations.)

Free compassionate leadership sessions – Social Care Wales
We often run short sessions about compassionate leadership. Keep an eye out on our events page for the latest dates.

Course: an introduction to leading with kindness and compassion in health and social care – The King’s Fund
A free course about compassionate leadership.

Training and resources to be a positive and supportive leader

Free leadership courses – Gwella
Opportunities for you to learn more about leadership.

Manager development programmes

Team Manager Development Programme

Delivered by The Institute of Public Care at Oxford Brookes University, the Team Manager Development Programme supports the delivery of excellent social work practice by enabling front-line managers to improve practice quality, manage their team effectively and handle change successfully.

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We know that investing in our workforce and developing people

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has always been at the heart of good services in Wales.

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That's why we worked with the sector to develop

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the Team Manager Development Programme.

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The Team Manager Development Programme is an 18 month course,

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which can help you improve practice quality,

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manage your team effectively

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and handle change successfully.

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TMDP is a very practical course

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and I think one of the key aspects of it,

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is it first and foremost gives people the opportunity

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to network with their peers.

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Being a manager can be quite lonely place at times

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and TMDP fosters a real sense of belonging

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and sort of shared understanding of collective challenges.

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If you came on the course, you would crucially

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get the time and space to reflect on your own practice

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and how you are applying yourself

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to improve practice quality within your teams.

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I've found the best bits where the relationships like form

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with peers from around Wales.

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Quite often you would meet a similar manager

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in a similar role, facing the same challenges.

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And what I had found is they'd come up with solutions

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that actually I could pinch

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and I could take that back to my own local authority.

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So it was very useful listening to other people's ideas.

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I think the course taught me

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to understand the sort of the pressures between managing a team

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of social workers and supportive support and care workers etc

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versus the pressures and the expectations, if you like

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of upper management.

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I suppose, you know, that there's targets to be met.

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There's budgetary considerations from above.

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But there's also a team of individuals and human beings

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that need to be supported appropriately and effectively.

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The course taught me, I think, to deal with that difficulty better.

What you'll study

An introduction to managing practice quality.
Managing demand and capacity evidencing performance and quality.
Leading and managing for quality.

Entry requirements

You will normally be expected to:

have a recognised professional qualification in social work (or similar for non-social work staff) and registration with Social Care Wales, the General Social Care Council, the Scottish Social Services Council or the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (or equivalent body for non-social work staff where applicable)
have a minimum of three years post qualifying experience
occupy a front line management or senior practitioner position in a social care setting in Wales, or have been identified as an ‘emergent leader’ with impending career progression, and have the support of your employing organisation
have the ability to study at postgraduate level.

Award

Postgraduate Certificate in Managing Practice Quality in Social Care (60 CATS credits at postgraduate level 7) from Oxford Brookes University.

How to apply

To book your place, you'll need to speak to your local authority workforce development team.

Middle Manager Development Programme

Delivered by The Institute of Public Care at Oxford Brookes University the Middle Manager Development Programme supports managers to respond to the requirements of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.

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We know that investing in our workforce and

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developing people has always been at the heart of good services in Wales.

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That's why we worked with the sector

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to develop the Middle Manager Development Programme.

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The Middle Manager Development Programme is for middle

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managers in social care settings across Wales.

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The programme will help you develop as a leader,

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shape social care

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and deliver better outcomes.

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MMDP is the logical next step for anyone who really wants to hone

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their leadership and management skills.

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There's a strong focus on

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strategic management, strategic leadership,

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that collaborative aspect that comes with the more strategic roles

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and partnership working.

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It really helped me to develop my own leadership skills,

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to reflect on who I am as a leader, how to develop.

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What are my good points?

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What are my strengths and what areas I need to develop.

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And you learn from listening to others and their experiences.

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I also think it made you think about --

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So, for example, commissioning was one of the topics

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we learned a lot about

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and I thought I don't do commissioning.

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Social worker practice is what I do.

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Well, actually, I commission every day.

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It's just the language around it and the theory behind it

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that you don't really reflect on yourself and your development

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and you just think "Oh no - I do this. Oh, yeah!"

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and it just helps you think to believe in yourself

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and develop that confidence

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and to really know, "No, I do do this every day

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and it's not scary -- the theory and the what's behind it."

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It isn't scary. It's what I do.

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You should do the MMDP course if you aspire to be

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a stronger strategic leader than you already are

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and I think you should also do it if you've got an appetite for shaping the social care market,

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for influencing your providers,

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but also for supporting and looking after your providers

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because we're all working to the same goals.

What the programme covers

Developing as a leader.
Shaping social care.
Delivering better outcomes.

Entry requirements

You need to:

have a first degree and/or recognised professional qualification in social work (or similar for non-social work staff) or equivalent professional experience
occupy a middle management position in social care in Wales
have the support of your employing organisation
have the ability to study at postgraduate level.

Award

Postgraduate certificate in Strategic and Operational Leadership in Social Care from Oxford Brookes University which equates to 60 CATS credits at postgraduate level 7.

How to apply

To book your place, you'll need to speak to your local authority workforce development team.

First published: 16 April 2025

Last updated: 16 April 2025

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