Future Vision
In 2012, the Leadership Centre launched its flagship programme, Future Vision. The overarching aim of Future Vision is to help senior leaders address the leadership challenges they are facing, helping to inspire and create a better future for citizens by enabling systems change through leadership development.
This highly acclaimed programme offers a unique experience for senior leaders. Designed and delivered by the Leadership Centre in collaboration with Do-Well (UK) Ltd, leading academics, and global experts, Future Vision is designed for senior leaders facing complex, evolving challenges.
You will already lead with skill and experience, yet the growing pressures of climate change, AI, political uncertainty, and global instability demand new approaches. This dynamic, blended programme combines experiential learning, cutting-edge leadership theory, and real-world practice.
You’ll engage with top experts, explore adaptive leadership in diverse locations, and work alongside skilled practitioners. Through coaching, collaboration, and reflection, you’ll refine your approach to leadership—shaping new insights and ideas throughout the journey.
As the UK evolves and devolves, Future Vision will take you across key locations in both the UK and the US, offering a unique, immersive learning experience that will empower you to lead, influence, and thrive with greater confidence, insight, and a powerful network of allies.
We are holding an open information session online on 15th May 2025, 5pm-6pm. If you are interested in the programme and would like to find out more, please join us. Email mark.dalton@leadershipcentre.org.uk
Key Information
Dates: See below
Duration: 1 year
Format: A mix of residential, face-to-face workshops, online workshops and 1:1 coaching
Fee: The standard participant fee for public sector organisations is £13,495 + VAT and for private sector organisations £15,995 + VAT. To ensure accessibility, up to four discounted places will be awarded. All accommodation and food is included in the price.
Who is the programme for?
Leadership in complex contexts inevitably requires working across traditional organisational, professional, political and spatial boundaries. Future Vision is therefore an explicitly cross-sector programme for up to 25 participants, selected to ensure that the cohort can benefit from a genuinely diverse range of experiences and perspectives. In a given year, a Future Vision cohort might include:
- Elected officials e.g. local authority Leaders and Police and Crime Commissioners
- Local authority Chief Executives
- Chief Constables and Chief Fire Officers
- Senior Officers from the armed forces
- Senior figures from the diplomatic service e.g. an Ambassador
- NHS Chief Executives from across the system
- Senior leaders in public health
- Senior civil servants from across Whitehall
- Senior leaders in pre-18, further and higher education
- Charity and third sector Chief Executives
- Senior figures in the business community.
The Foundations
The Leadership Centre has distilled decades of experience of working adaptively into five systemic leadership capabilities that support leaders to see, think and behave in a way which empowers you to respond effectively to today’s leadership challenges. You’ll develop the ability to navigate complex, interconnected challenges, gaining insight into systems thinking and the tools needed to make sense of chaos. At the heart of this process is convening meaningful conversations—building influence through listening, facilitating collaboration, and framing strategic discussions that inspire action. Through storytelling, you’ll learn to communicate your vision effectively, using narrative to galvanise others. The programme encourages an innovative mindset, where creativity and experimentation are central to driving positive change. Equally important is personal governance, a focus which will support you to build self-awareness, emotional resilience and trust, ensuring you lead from within with integrity and confidence.
The modules are also shaped by three core themes — adaptive leadership, cultural competence, and political nous — which are woven throughout and will be evident in each stage of your learning journey.
Focus and Structure
The programme is divided into several blocks across the year. Attendance at the core blocks is essential. The forthcoming cohort will contain the following:
Face to Face Elements
1. INTRODUCTION AND ORIENTATION
24 Hour Design Event, Cumberland Lodge, Windsor
11th – 12th September 2025
Kickstart the journey with cohort-building, an interactive welcome from faculty and an introduction to key themes. You will engage in leadership coaching and co-create a learning experience tailored to your leadership challenges.
2. ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP IN SYSTEMS
3 days & 2 nights, Manchester Metropolitan University
13th – 15th October 2025
Gain a critical understanding of systems leadership—how it differs from management and how it works in practice. You will engage with senior leaders and academics, explore real-world applications through site visits, and deepen your regional connections. Reflective practice and group work will help refine your leadership challenges.
3. PUBLIC NARRATIVE & MOVEMENT BUILDING
3 days & 2 nights, Wrexham University & Gladstone’s Library
19th – 21st January 2026
Develop a critical understanding of Public Narrative and its potential for influence and change. Highlights will include engaging with senior leaders and community figures, exploring the power of narrative in place and systems, and enhancing regional knowledge through site visits and group conversations.
4. POWER, RELATIONSHIPS & CULTURAL COMPETENCE
4.5 days & 5 nights, Boston, Massachusetts
24th – 26th February 2026
Explore and develop power and relationships, gain a deep understanding of cultural competence and what it means to be a 21st Century Public Servant.
5. FOCUSING ON THE FUTURE
2 days, 1 night, Cumberland Lodge
25th – 30th April 2026
The US element of the programme provides timely global context and perspectives. We’ll spend time at MIT exploring technology’s role in key leadership and policy areas, and connect with colleagues from Harvard Kennedy School to deepen learning from the other modules. There’ll also be time for hosted and informed sessions on the political landscape.
6. SENSE MAKING & TURNING LEARNING INTO USEFUL ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP PRACTICE
3 days & 2 nights, Plymouth Marjon University
15th – 17th June 2026
Take time to reflect on our Boston experiences in light of our learning so far and what lies ahead. We’ll stretch our thinking towards possible futures. As organisational culture is often a key barrier to system leadership, this module will explore how these barriers show up and critically review approaches to making change stick.
7. STAYING CONNECTED & MAKING PROPOSALS
1.5 days & 1 night, Windsor & Central London
8th – 9th July 2026
An opportunity to reflect on your personal and collective growth throughout the programme. You will present your systems challenge proposals to the Leadership Centre Board before a formal graduation that marks the transition to our alumni network.
Virtual sessions
These 90-minute online sessions will be co-designed with you, focusing on topics you find important — such as AI, UK and global politics, personal purpose, self-care, and preventing burnout.
1:1 coaching
Each participant will have the opportunity for 6 hours of 1:1 coaching over the duration of the programme. The sessions will be delivered by members of the team who will be familiar with the programme content and therefore able to support you in the practical application of your learning to your own leadership challenges.