City & Country has always been passionate about preserving Britain’s architectural heritage, whether through conservation, restoration, or new creations. With the founding family taking a step back, City & Country was entering a new chapter.
They knew that to keep their legacy thriving, their leaders needed the right tools and skills. They were looking for a way to refine their leadership skills, deepen self-awareness, and enhance teamwork all while staying true to the company’s core values and unique heritage.
The goal was to create a leadership course that combined practical leadership training programmes with a profound understanding of the company’s heritage values, ensuring a smooth leadership transition while preparing the organisation for future challenges.
City & Country had already experienced Lumina Learning’s tools from their learning and development programmes. Lumina Learning, along with a team of senior consultants, created a leadership course that was both practical, personalised, and grounded in evidence-based approaches, delivered over 12 months.
The programme was designed to fit in with City & Country’s existing culture, featuring a mix of interactive workshops and e-learning for a flexible and engaging learning experience. There were 6 core programme modules and 2 optional modules for leaders. The core modules included Self Awareness, Introduction to Leadership, Setting Others up for Success, Team Development, Coaching and Facilitation for Leaders, and Culture and Change. The modules were designed to give practical skills while taking leaders through developing their most authentic and effective styles of leadership.
The goal was to move away from a traditional command-and-control approach and shift the focus to developing leaders with a strong coaching skillset. Empowering leaders to help their teams grow by building on individual strengths and providing clear, practical, and supportive feedback to ensure goals are met. An Action Learning method was implemented that had a ‘Plan, Act, Reflect, and Learn’ cycle to allow key takeaways to build up across the modules, encouraging continuous improvement and deeper learning.
Theory was introduced through online modules, letting the leaders engage with it at their own pace. They began with reflection questions like, “How does this theory match with your experience?” and then discussed, practiced, and reflected on the theory during workshops, always concluding with, “Now what are you going to do differently?”.
Throughout the programme, Sanford’s Support and Challenge Model guided interactions between facilitators and participants, balancing the need to challenge ideas with the need to offer support, empathy, and encouragement. This approach gradually built a strong sense of psychological safety within the group, leading to more meaningful conversations.
The leaders also explored the role of culture in their organisation effectiveness, reflecting on their part in shaping it. After identifying their current culture, they considered how they wanted it to evolve, and they committed to a charter of leadership behaviours which would support the development of their desired culture going forward.
The programme explored group dynamics and team formation concepts to help the leaders understand these processes. Using a digital ‘Team Mandala’, they could see the live information of their teams’ strengths, preferences and opportunities. It illustrated the value of diversity within the teams and supported the practice of building rapport and being an inclusive leader. This aspect was crucial across the board, whether it was helping Joel create a more cohesive team environment, assisting Lee in balancing his leadership approach, or supporting Lindsey in furthering a positive team culture. Additional psychological concepts were introduced to teach essential leadership skills like influence, feedback, facilitation, and change management, which everyone, including Michael and Nicola, found instrumental in their leadership development.
The leadership programme combines the flexibility of self-paced learning with the immersive experience of 13 face-to-face workshop days for leaders. This blended approach ensures people have the opportunity to engage deeply with the material while also developing practical skills in an interactive setting. To further support each individual’s development journey, they each receive 5 personalised Lumina Portraits, offering a valuable, in-depth look into their leadership style and growth areas. Additionally, the programme includes 18 hours of tailored one-to-one online coaching, providing dedicated time to refine skills, address challenges, and accelerate personal and professional growth