Programmes
Team and leadership development
Connected teams and stronger leadership, with the trust and clarity that show in results
For teams and leadership teams that are newly formed, dealing with conflict, low trust or underperformance, or doing well and ready for their next level.
The challenge
Where does your team stand today?
Teams and leadership teams are asked to deliver more while the work keeps changing: new colleagues, reorganisations, hybrid work and AI. Where collaboration and leadership fall behind, it shows in results, energy and retention.
Effective teams rest on trust, psychological safety and clear roles. That’s what we build, starting from the team’s combined talent potential and strengths.
Is your team…
- newly formed or changed after a reorganisation, and needs to get up to speed?
- under strain, with conflict, low trust or results that lag behind?
- working across functions, locations or generations, and losing energy in the process?
- doing well and ready for its next level?
Is your leadership team…
- leading through constant change without losing its people?
- aligned on priorities and acting as one team?
- supporting the managers in the middle, who carry much of the change?
- made up of the right mix of leaders for your strategic goals?
What it delivers
What changes for your team
Trust and psychological safety
People feel safe to share ideas, concerns and mistakes, in a way that respects differences in culture and generation, so problems surface early.
Collaboration across boundaries
Smoother work across functions, cultures, generations and locations, with knowledge shared openly and fewer silos.
Focus on shared goals
Clear goals, priorities and roles, so everyone knows what matters most and energy goes into the intended results.
Engagement and sustainable employability
People who use their strengths at work stay energised and engaged, which helps reduce absenteeism.
At the start, we agree a few success measures together, with you as the client and, where relevant, the leader and HR. A few months later we review them, so you can show what the programme delivers.
For teams
The team programme
A team performs at its best when people know what they bring and how they complement each other. The team report shows the team’s collective strengths and non-strengths, and how it scores on the habits of successful teams. In facilitated sessions, the team uses these insights to align its goals and roles, make better use of complementary strengths, remove what blocks its effectiveness and turn its agreements into daily habits.
A team that steers itself, with the trust and synergy that support performance, engagement and wellbeing.
Regular team check-ins
Many teams invest in themselves only at an offsite or team day, or when something is really off. A regular check-in keeps a team that works well sharp.
The leader, before and after
Beforehand, I agree with the leader what the programme should achieve and how we will measure it, and prepare them for their own role in it. Afterwards, I support them in building it into the team’s regular rhythm: one-to-ones, performance conversations and team meetings where the team agreements are revisited.
Strengths profile
A validated online assessment showing each team member’s talent potential and strengths, possible performance risks, career motivators and values, with an optional 360 feedback module.
Team profile
The combined strengths and non-strengths of the team, the risks they pose to performance and wellbeing, and how it scores on the habits of successful teams.
One-to-one feedback
A 1-hour session in which each member becomes aware of their strengths profile and explores how to put it to work, so they reach their own goals and the team’s goals with more ease.
Team workshops
Half-day workshops based on the team’s needs, working with its own profile and real situations from daily work. Each workshop ends with concrete agreements the team can apply straight away. See the six workshops ↓
Follow-up
Intervision sessions on real challenges from daily work, to find solutions together and anchor new habits.
Step 04 · Team workshops
Half-day workshops, single or as a sequence
Each workshop builds on the team’s unique strengths profile, as shown in the team report, so the team works on what is true for them from the first session.
The person behind the role
When: a new team or new membersTeam members get to know the person behind each role: what each colleague brings and how they work best. Each person also draws up their own action plan to improve their performance, relationships and wellbeing at work.
Strengths and blind spots
When: friction, conflict or low trustBased on the team report, the team sees its collective strengths and weaknesses, and understands why some things come easily and others are a struggle. It then explores how to make the most of its strengths and reduce its risks, and what the team wants to be known for.
Shared goals and roles
When: priorities or roles are unclearThe team translates its shared ambition into achievable goals and clear priorities that support the business objectives. It clarifies roles and ownership, and uses insights from the team assessment to link each person’s strengths to the team’s priorities. The team then divides the full scope of work smartly, so each task goes to the person best placed to deliver it.
Team effectiveness
When: results lag behindUsing the team report, the team sees how it scores on the habits of successful teams and why certain challenges keep coming back. It names what helps and what hinders its results, agrees concrete actions, and agrees how members hold each other accountable.
Working through change
When: a reorganisation or new ways of workingThe team explores how its strengths help it stay resilient and adaptable, and where change puts pressure on it, for example when strengths go into overdrive. It learns to use its strengths flexibly as situations change, so it meets a reorganisation, a new system or AI with confidence and keeps improving.
Making it last
When: after the workshopsIn intervision sessions, team members bring in real challenges from daily work. Following a structured method, colleagues analyse the issue, share their perspectives and advise each other. Because each person looks at the issue from their own strengths and perspective, the team sees more angles and finds better solutions. The team also reviews progress on its agreements, and a culture of learning from each other takes root.
As a single workshop, a series or a full programme, as part of a team day or offsite. On site or online, in English and Dutch.
For leadership teams
Three building blocks, combined to fit your leaders
If you want to realise your strategic ambitions, leadership capability matters. I work from both a strategic and a practical point of view: mapping your leaders’ strengths, values and growth opportunities to your culture and strategic goals, and translating these insights into day-to-day leadership habits. This includes the managers in the middle, who translate strategy into daily work and carry much of the change.
Leadership capability assessment
Insight into the leadership capability you have today, measured against what your strategy needs. It can cover one leadership team, a division or your whole leadership population, and shows strengths, growth potential and performance risks, with optional 360 feedback. You see where the gaps are and which priorities to focus on for significant impact.
Leadership workshops
Each leader’s profile and the leadership team’s combined profile, set against your strategy, are the starting point. The team sees where it is strong together and where its blind spots are, agrees how it will lead and make decisions together, and learns how to bring strengths-based leadership into the teams it leads. The result: clearer agreements, more trust and a shared view of the leadership your strategy asks for.
Leadership coaching
One-to-one coaching for members of the leadership team, starting from a leader assessment. Leaders gain clarity on their strengths and on what gives and drains their energy, and turn that into concrete leadership habits. The result: more focus, more authentic leadership, stronger working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders, and a healthier balance between work and life.
Combining coaching and the team programme
You can add leadership coaching for the team leader or the leaders in a team programme, so they put into practice what the team agrees. It also works the other way round: leaders who have done the coaching often bring their team into the team programme, which usually runs over three to six months.
In practice
What this can look like
Many of these teams work across countries and cultures.
For an international team of leaders and professionals working across several countries, I combined strengths and 360-degree assessments with individual feedback sessions and a team workshop at their global offsite. As a result, team members gained insight into each other’s strengths and how these complement one another. The team agreed on clearer ways of collaborating across locations and built a stronger foundation of trust.
An occupational health services provider wanted its management team to lead with more impact in a changing market. After a strategic talent session, in-depth leadership assessments and one-to-one feedback for individual MT members, the MT gained sharper self-insight and concrete ways to use their talents, helping them balance stability with greater adaptability.
For educational coordinators from six secondary schools, I facilitated a kick-off and a couple of intervision sessions. As a result, they built a network across the schools: they share expertise more readily, consult each other with more confidence on cases from daily practice, and strengthened their culture of learning together.
We are very grateful we had the opportunity to work with Esther over two months to learn about our individual and team strengths and also become aware of potential gaps we can now focus on. Esther approached every conversation and specifically our team event with a huge portion of empathy, positivity paired with knowledge and underlying understanding of this whole process and opportunities. She helped us to see and honor more facets of our personalities and at the same time to learn how we can leverage from our strengths as a team.
Esther has helped design an awesome group dynamic session which helped the leadership team to establish more trust and understand each other better. She is a truly L&D partner who can approach matters from both a strategic and a practical point of view.
Experience
From 2014 to 2020, as the Dutch franchise holder for Strengthscope®, I played a crucial role in the introduction of Strengthscope® to the Netherlands and trained other professionals as accredited practitioners. Before that, I led L&D and talent management in global and EMEA roles at RBS and Belkin. As a certified intervision facilitator, I also equip teams to keep learning from each other after the programme ends.
She brings the ideas of positive psychology that characterizes the instrument Strengthscope® in a motivating, pragmatic and highly qualified and effective way.
I’ve worked with Esther for the last few months and her support has been invaluable. I reached out to her for consultancy support to up-skill the team on strengths based coaching and strengths based leadership workshops. Esther has not only given us the confidence and skills to deliver but also has gone over and beyond with the resources she procured to enable us to continue to deliver and support our teams internally. I really appreciate the knowledge and expertise that Esther brings and her caring, people centric approach.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a team programme take?
It depends on your goals, the time available, your budget and the urgency. A single workshop takes half a day. A full programme, from assessment to follow-up session, usually runs over three to six months.
Can this be part of our offsite or team day?
Yes. A workshop works well as part of an offsite or team day, at your location or a venue you choose. The assessments and feedback sessions take place beforehand, so the day itself is spent on what matters to the team.
Do you work on site or online?
Both, depending on what works best for your organisation: on site at your location or online, in English and Dutch.
Are assessment results confidential?
Yes. Individual and leader reports, and the feedback sessions that go with them, remain confidential between the person and Light Up Your Talent. The team report, which shows the team’s combined profile, is shared within the team and with the team leader or manager.
How is pricing set?
For team and leadership programmes, pricing depends on the size of the group, the number of sessions and which profiles are used. After the free intake you receive a tailored proposal.
What do the assessments cost?
Assessments are passed on at cost, whether they are for individuals, a team, a leadership team or an organisation-wide programme. My fee is for the work around them, such as workshops, coaching and consultancy.
Where do your team and leaders want to grow next?
Whether your team is newly formed, under strain or ready for its next level, or you want a clear view of your leadership capability, let’s start with a free 30-minute conversation. You’ll leave it with a clearer view of your first step.
Talk through your challenge or ambition