Leadership training turns capable supervisors into confident managers who can lead teams, manage performance and handle people issues with skill. BOTI’s 5-day Leadership and People Management course is a practical, in-house programme delivered to your staff anywhere in South Africa. Request a quote or a 15-minute callback below.

This intensive five-day workshop transforms potential into professional excellence, bridging instinct and strategy. It is built for organisations that need their team leaders and new managers performing fast, not theorising. Over five focused days, your people move from “doing the work” to “leading the people who do the work” using tools they apply the next Monday.

Who This Leadership Training Is For

This people management course is designed for supervisors, junior managers and middle managers who lead teams. It suits organisations promoting technical specialists into their first leadership role, as well as established managers who need to sharpen coaching, performance management and emotional intelligence.

If your HR or L&D plan includes building a leadership pipeline, reducing team turnover, or fixing inconsistent supervision across departments, this leadership training is a direct fit.

Course Overview

The programme covers situational leadership, effective supervision, coaching (the GROW model) and performance management. Participants explore emotional intelligence to enhance communication and conflict resolution, while mastering practical tools such as the Urgent/Important Matrix and 360-degree feedback.

Course Curriculum: 5 Days

Day 1: Leadership
Covers leader definitions, characteristics and principles; situational leadership (telling, selling, participating, delegating); a personal inventory assessment using the Kouzes and Posner model; inspiring a shared vision; challenging processes; enabling others; motivation; influencing skills; and SMART goal setting.

Day 2: Supervisor Role
Addresses supervisor requirements, goal cascading, work assignment approaches, degrees of delegation, feedback mechanisms, time management (the 80/20 Rule and the Urgent/Important Matrix), conflict resolution, and special situations such as managing former peers after a new promotion.

Day 3: Coaching and Mentoring
Features the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Will/Objectives), trust development, feedback techniques, obstacle management, and the distinction between mentoring and coaching.

Day 4: Performance Management
Includes the three-phase performance process, SMART goals, 360-degree feedback, competency assessments, Kolb’s Learning Cycle, and creating a practical performance plan.

Day 5: Emotional Intelligence
Develops self-awareness, self-management, verbal and non-verbal communication, empathy, and emotional control techniques for real business contexts.

Leadership Training That Delivers ROI

Leadership development only earns its budget when it changes behaviour on the floor. This leadership training is structured around application: every model on the five-day agenda comes with a tool managers use immediately, so the return shows up in team output, not just a certificate.

Where organisations typically see the return:

• Lower turnover. Poor first-line management is a leading reason good people resign. Better coaching and feedback (Days 2-3) directly improve retention, cutting the cost of re-hiring and re-training.
• Faster, more consistent decisions. Situational leadership and the Urgent/Important Matrix help managers prioritise and delegate, reducing bottlenecks where everything escalates to the boss.
• Measurable performance gains. The Day 4 performance-management toolkit (SMART goals, 360-degree feedback, competency assessments) gives managers a repeatable way to lift underperformers and stretch top performers.
• Fewer escalated conflicts. Emotional intelligence and conflict-resolution skills (Days 2 and 5) keep day-to-day friction from becoming grievances and disputes.

The funded-training bridge. Investing in your people can also support your B-BBEE scorecard. The skills-development element targets training spend of 6% of the leviable amount on black employees, and your business already pays the Skills Development Levy at 1% of payroll — a portion of which can be recovered through a Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report. Running structured leadership training for your management layer is one of the most strategic ways to put that spend to work. (This is general guidance, not financial or legal advice — confirm specifics with your SDF or advisor.)

To map likely impact before you commit, ask us for a free Training Needs Analysis (TNA) template so you can baseline your managers’ current capability and measure the shift after training.

People Management & Labour Relations for Managers

Strong leadership is half the job; managing people within the rules is the other half. This section of your team’s people management course grounds the soft skills in the day-to-day realities South African managers face — performance counselling, discipline, grievances and fair process.

Managers who lead teams need to be confident with:

• Fair performance management. Linking the Day 4 performance process to documented expectations and consistent feedback, so that when performance conversations become formal, the manager has followed a defensible, fair procedure.
• Handling conflict and grievances early. The conflict-resolution and emotional-intelligence content equips managers to de-escalate issues before they reach formal grievance or CCMA territory.
• Consistent, fair process. Treating team members consistently — in delegation, feedback, discipline and recognition — is both good leadership and a sound labour-relations practice that reduces the risk of unfair-treatment claims.
• Knowing when to involve HR. Good supervisors recognise the line between coaching a performance issue and a matter that needs HR, formal procedure or specialist labour-relations input.

For organisations that need deeper coverage of disciplinary procedures, grievances and dispute resolution, we recommend pairing this leadership training with a dedicated labour-relations programme — speak to us about a combined in-house package for your supervisory layer. (Labour-relations content here is general guidance; for specific cases, follow your own policies and take appropriate advice.)

Why BOTI

BOTI (Business Optimization Training Institute) is an established South African corporate training provider with a catalogue of more than 450 courses. Clients include Sasol, Glencore and the City of Johannesburg. We deliver in-house and on-site across South Africa’s major centres — Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria — as well as remotely, so your team trains together without travel disruption.

Related Leadership & Management Training

• Leadership & Management courses — explore the full cluster, from first-line supervision to senior management.
• Effective Supervision / Supervisory Skills — ideal as a precursor for newly promoted team leaders.
• Performance Management — go deeper on appraisals, KPIs and underperformance.
• Labour Relations for Managers — disciplinary procedures, grievances and CCMA readiness.
• Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace — extend the Day 5 content across your organisation.

Request a Quote or 15-Minute Callback

Ready to build a stronger management layer? Request a quote or book a free 15-minute callback and we will tailor this leadership training to your team size, sector and venue. Ask us about our free Skills Audit and TNA template to plan the right programme — and how it fits your Workplace Skills Plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the leadership training course?
The Leadership and People Management course runs over 5 days. It can be delivered in-house at your venue or off-site, anywhere in South Africa, and the schedule can be arranged to suit your team’s availability.

Who should attend this people management course?
It is designed for supervisors, junior managers and middle managers who lead teams — including technical specialists newly promoted into a first leadership role, and established managers wanting stronger coaching, performance-management and emotional-intelligence skills.

Is this leadership training accredited?
Yes. BOTI is an accredited training provider (Services SETA 12582, MICT SETA ACC/2016/07/0045, and a QCTO Quality Partner), and this leadership programme is accredited through the Services SETA under the Generic Management unit-standard qualifications. These unit-standard qualifications are currently migrating to the new QCTO system — accredited enrolment is available now, so please confirm the current accreditation when you book.

Can the training count towards our B-BBEE skills-development spend?
Structured training for your staff can support the skills-development element, which targets 6% of the leviable amount, and your business already pays the Skills Development Levy (1% of payroll). A portion of that can be recovered via a Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report. This is general guidance — confirm the specifics with your SDF or advisor.