YMCA England & Wales Leadership & Management Programme

The Leadership & Management Programme was developed by YMCA England & Wales to create a learning opportunity, deeply rooted in our shared ethos and culture, for our people – recognising that leadership is not simply about managing tasks or people.  

The programme features three leadership ‘pathways’ that reflect the different contexts in which YMCA leaders may be working, from those leading through influence, to those leading teams and services, and those in roles that need to work across boundaries and systems.  

The Leadership & Management Programme is unique to YMCA. It was developed by YMCA George Williams College in collaboration with an advisory group of practitioners, leaders, and young people drawn from all four YMCA nations. The programme centres the work and experiences of our people to ensure that learning and skills translate across a range of contexts and communities.  

Each pathway (or ‘course’) has three units, with each unit being delivered over four online sessions. Online sessions are two hours, and take place weekly.  Each course will start in October 2026, and finish in April 2027. 

The programme has been designed to meet the requirements of CPD Certification. This Certification is not mandatory, and you can complete the programme without it. Participants wishing to work towards certification will need to complete short assignments between the sessions. Upon successful completion, you will have a transferable portfolio that will support your leadership journey long into the future, whatever pathway you take.  

Read on to find out about the three Leadership & Management Pathways – Leading with Influence, Leading People and Practice, and Leading Across the System.  

For people who may not have formal management responsibility (for example, no direct reports), or who are beginning to take on wider responsibility through projects, peer leadership, collaboration or specialist expertise. This pathway includes those whose roles focus on working as part of teams to play a specific function without formal management responsibility – for example, a safeguarding specialist.  

The three units in Leading with Influence:  

Leading and Managing Projects – To enable the planning, delivery and evaluation of projects in the workplace. 

• Understanding leadership and management 

• Project planning and decision making 

 Leading and managing yourself and others – To develop self-awareness and awareness of others to enable effective interpersonal working. 

• Personal working styles 

• Support for self and others 

 Leading and Managing Project Evaluation – To enable the continuous improvement of professional skills and project delivery through evaluation. 

• Reflective practice 

• Evaluation and professional learning 

For people with responsibility for staff, volunteers, ‘projects’, services, programmes or significant areas of delivery or operations.  

The three units in Leading People and Practice: 

Leading and Managing Delivery Teams – To enable leaders and managers to achieve optimal performance and to tackle poor performance. 

• Interpersonal relationships and communication 

• Performance management 

 Leading and managing change – To enable leaders and managers to understand the complex context in which they operate, the continual change it demands and tools for change management. 

• Our changing context 

• Managing change and partnerships 

Leading and Managing Impact – To enable leaders and managers to evaluate the impact of a range of services and to enable organisations, projects and teams to act on insights. 

• Demonstrating impact 

• Organisational learning 

For people whose work requires them to lead across boundaries: between teams, YMCAs, partners, directorates, communities or parts of the wider movement. 

The three units in Leading Across the System: 

Leading and Managing Organisational Strategy – To enable leaders and managers to analyse their context and to strategically plan. 

• Situational analysis 

• Developing strategy 

 Leading and managing organisational development – To enable leaders and managers to create organisational structures and cultures that support organisational success. 

• Structure and culture 

• System leadership 

 Leading and Managing Succession Planning – To enable leaders and managers to plan for succession. 

• Succession planning 

• Critical reflective practice