One of the things I’ve been really keen to understand since launching LUMA is whether the development is genuinely making a difference — not just whether people enjoy the sessions, but whether they leave feeling more confident, more motivated and better equipped to lead.

The early results have been really encouraging.

Across recent development journeys, participants have given an NPS of +100 and an average rating of 4.7/5. More importantly, 100% said they felt more motivated, and 100% felt more confident thinking strategically.

For me, though, the numbers only tell part of the story.

The real value has been seeing people become clearer about how they want to lead, more aware of their strengths and the impact they have on others, and more confident about tackling the situations they are facing at work.

Louise Harrison, Founder of Luma Development said, ‘That has a knock-on effect for teams too — better conversations, stronger relationships and more ownership rather than leaders feeling they have to carry everything themselves’.

And ultimately, that is where leadership development has to earn its place in a business. It needs to show up in better decisions, stronger leadership transitions and changes in the way people actually work.

I’m still learning a huge amount as LUMA develops, but it has been lovely to see the early impact coming through so clearly.

I’d be really interested to hear from other Northamptonshire businesses: what leadership challenges are you seeing most often at the moment?