Step Up Step Across
Step up with confidence. Lead across and beyond with clarity.
Step Up Step Across (SUSA) is a six-month modular programme designed for ambitious mid-career professionals leading in complex environments and challenging times. It blends leadership theory with hands-on practice to develop wise, collaborative leadership through deep inquiry, reflection, and practical experimentation.
By aligning personal values with purposeful action, participants build the inner clarity and outer capability to lead with intention, developing themselves, their teams, and their organisations to drive meaningful and lasting change both within and beyond their organisation.
Register your interest
"The course was truly eye-opening. It uniquely understood my individual career path, fostering a safe space where a diverse group of peers from different sectors created an incredible learning environment, even in downtime. SUSA empowered me to redefine and confidently articulate my strengths, fundamentally shifting my perspective on my career."
Claire Pottage
Head of QCommerce Support Services, Co-op
Who is it for?
As roles become more complex, organisational performance is increasingly shaped by the quality of day‑to‑day line management and how leadership shows up in practice.
SUSA is tailored for mid‑career leaders who are stretched by what the role now demands - “what got me here won’t get me there.”
It is particularly relevant for heads of departments, service managers, and those in equivalent roles across all sectors, including public sector leaders at Grade 6–7.
What this programme equips leaders to do
- Lead with confidence and judgement in complex, fast‑paced environments where authority is often shared or unclear
- Make better decisions under pressure, balancing pace, risk and competing priorities
- Deepen your understanding of wise leadership and how to navigate organisational and cultural change
- Lead people and teams through uncertainty and change, strengthening motivation, accountability and performance
- Work effectively across organisational and sector boundaries, building trust, influence and collaboration without relying on hierarchy
- Apply systems thinking to real organisational challenges
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Work on live leadership challenges within a cross‑sector peer community, testing and applying insight directly in role
Enquire today
If you think this programme isn't for you, explore our other leadership programmes which might work better for you. Click the button below for our leadership brochure.
Leadership Brochure
"SUSA provided me with invaluable leadership skills, against the very real backdrop of an uncertain and complex world and working environment, with the added bonus of providing networking opportunities with peers across various sectors. This allowed positive discussions to flourish where unique industry or public viewpoints around leadership were challenged in a collegiate manner conducive to self-growth."
Mark Hammill
Programme Manager, BAE Systems
Programme Information
2026 cohort schedule (October 2026- March 2027)
SUSA include various elements from modules, action learning / support and challenge sets; one to one mentoring; an insight visit; expert facilitators & senior speakers sessions; reflection time; practical tools and a cross‑sector community that sustains participants during and beyond the programme.
Date: 13 - 14 October
- Orientation to leadership in complexity
- Reflective leadership practice
- Inner leadership, self‑awareness and judgement
- Collaborative leadership
- Project and challenge identification
- Lived leadership insight
- Community and trust building
Date: 2–3 December
- Leading people and teams through uncertainty
- Judgement, decision‑making and influence
- Technology, AI and leadership responsibility
- Influence without authority
- Practical leadership tools and applications
- Lived leadership insight
- Mentoring integration
Date: January or February (location and date tbc dependent on host organisation)
- Immersive exposure to leadership in a real system
- Live senior leadership insight
- Systems thinking in action
- Live system analysis
- Cross‑sector perspective and challenge
- Structured reflection and application
Date: 2–3 March
- Thinking as a systems leader
- Practical system
- Power and political intelligence
- Project work and applied learning
- Lived leadership insight
- Reflection on impact and progress
- Looking ahead and continuing development
Participants are paired with an experienced senior leader to support reflection and application throughout the programme while also broadening their cross‑sector perspective and professional network.
On completion, you join WIG’s cross‑sector alumni community, enabling continued learning, exchange and collaboration beyond the programme.
How to Apply
Please download and complete the application form, which requests details about your leadership experience, goals, and motivation for joining the programme. Submit your completed form and your CV to [email protected].
2026 Fees
WIG Member fee: £6,135 + VAT
Non-Member fee: £7,976 + VAT
How to Pay
Accepted applicants will receive an invoice from WIG upon confirmation of their place.
Public‑sector organisations may be invoiced directly by WIG, subject to their own departmental procurement rules. Some departments may prefer to book via Government Campus where applicable. If you’re unsure which route to use, please check with your organisation’s L&D or procurement team. This reflects the post‑April 2026 position that departments may book directly, subject to their own rules, while keeping Government Campus as an option where required.
Drop-in Session
Join our online drop-in session on 18 June to learn more about the programme!