Business school programmes
Where leaders grow
Assessment tools and 360˚ feedback for leadership programmes
We use best-in-class existing solutions or design bespoke tools to help participants in leadership programmes understand:
- their strengths and weaknesses;
- the effectiveness of their current approach to leadership;
- what they should do to be more effective leaders
We can design, select, administer and help business schools interpret the results to maximise the insights participants gain.
Selecting and interpreting leadership diagnostics
Programme directors often lack the expertise to select and interpret leadership diagnostics. Getting this right can significantly increase the personalisation of the participants’ learning; getting it wrong can significantly undermine the participant experience.
Our deep expertise in both a wide range of diagnostic tools and the leadership programme context means we can give business schools the assurance they need to use these tools with confidence.
Programme evaluation
Clients increasingly expect business schools to go beyond the traditional ‘happy sheet’ approach to programme evaluation; they want to understand what participants have learned, how they have applied it at work, and what impact this has had on their organisation.
Many schools now use pre- and post-intervention measures (especially 360° feedback) to provide a low-cost evaluation of programme impact – our experience of doing this in a wide range of contexts can add rigour and nuance to the evaluation process.
Leadership research
Leadership programmes provide a vehicle for conducting research into leadership in specific contexts, especially where data on a population of leaders is collected over time. We regularly conduct research with business schools and their clients to understand what ‘good’ looks like, so they can learn to improve their approach to selecting and developing leaders based on real data from their own people, rather than relying on ‘off-the-shelf’ prescriptions. Modern data analysis methods have allowed unprecedented insight into observed variance in leadership effectiveness, dramatically enhancing the value of such analyses.
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Design and delivery of leadership sessions/programmes
We offer taught leadership sessions lasting from 90 minutes to a full day, which help participants to integrate their theoretical learning with their own data derived from validated diagnostic tools (typically psychometrics and 360 feedback). This combination provides participants with a rigorous, evidence-based and personalised approach to reflecting on and developing their approach as a leader.
The core principles we teach have been applied successfully in a wide range of sectors and geographies and are summarised in Leadership: No More Heroes (3rd Ed. Pendleton, Furnham and Cowell, 2021, Palgrave MacMillan) the book we have written to set out the foundations of the Primary Colours® Model of Leadership, Edgecumbe’s proprietary model. This approach has been taught on a wide range of programmes at Oxford Saïd Business School and Henley Business School, and adopted by several leading UK businesses including Rolls-Royce, BSI and Hargreaves Lansdown.
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Meet our business school specialists
Jon Cowell
Edgecumbe’s CEO and Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School
Jon is Edgecumbe’s CEO and Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School where he lectures regularly on their flagship leadership programmes. He assesses, coaches and develops leadership capability and works with individuals, senior teams and entire organisations.
Sophie Mattholie
Head of Development
Sophie has an MSc in Occupational Psychology and is a Graduate Member of the British Psychological Society, with Level A and B qualification in Psychometric Testing. Sophie teaches our Primary Colours® of Leadership framework on programmes such as Oxford Said’s EMBA and Henley Business School’s High Performance Leadership Programme and has a research interest in women in leadership. She also develops 360-degree feedback solutions, either using our own model or that of the client, to personalise and help demonstrate the impact of leadership programmes. As well as facilitating feedback sessions and coaching executive leaders, Sophie runs facilitator training sessions for inhouse use of our assessment tools.
Ben Vernazza
Consulting Director
Ben is a Chartered Psychologist and joined Edgecumbe in 2021, where he works as a Principal Consultant within the Corporate Consulting practice. He is highly experienced in consulting with clients on leadership assessment and development services having previously worked for several consultancies including Saville Consulting and OPP/The Myers Briggs Company.
Ben works at all levels with public and private sector clients and his core focus is to provide bespoke consultancy solutions that impact individual, team and organisational performance. His principal experience includes the design and delivery of assessment and development processes, leadership development, coaching, team development and the application of psychometrics. He is a skilled coach and facilitator, equipped to use a wide range of tools and techniques when supporting leaders to harness their strengths, uncover their blindspots and develop to reach their potential.
Ben is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a Registered Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council and holds an EMCC accredited coaching qualification. He is qualified to use an extensive range of psychometrics to support his practice.
Becky Lees
Operations Director
Becky joined Edgecumbe in 2012 and has worked on the running and continuous development of our assessment tool services, including overseeing the build of two assessment platforms and more recently, the integration of our Assessments Hub into business school learning platforms. Becky’s key area of interest is improving client user journeys, in order to facilitate a more cost-effective, enjoyable and valuable experience of our services at all user levels.
Melanie Hacker
Client Project Manager
Mel is one of the team’s longest standing members, having joined us in 2006. Since then, Mel has been supporting our employee engagement, leadership development and training projects, providing co-ordination, client communication and document production.
Mel manages Edgecumbe’s work with Oxford Saïd Business School, ensuring our consultant’s sessions run smoothly.