Empowering Emerging Leaders: Celebrating Our First Leadership Development Cohort

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3 minutes

Meabh McMahon

Investing in Leadership

This month, we marked an important milestone at Data Intellect — the completion of our first Leadership Development Programme. Running from September 2024 to March 2025, the programme was designed to support and develop emerging leaders across the business, providing them with the tools, frameworks, and confidence to lead effectively in a fast-moving, technical environment.

Developed in partnership with Toojays Training & Development, the programme combined an in-person workshops, coaching, peer mentoring, and self-directed learning. The structure was grounded in practical application, encouraging our People to reflect on their own leadership style, experiment with new approaches, and build confidence in decision-making and collaboration.

A Recognised Standard: ILM Alignment

The programme was aligned to the standards of the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) — a leading authority in leadership development. This added rigour and external credibility to the experience, giving participants the opportunity to work towards recognised development milestones with real-world relevance.

The ILM framework is known for its focus on:

Practical, applicable leadership tools
Evidence-based decision making
Building inclusive, collaborative teams
Developing long-term strategic thinking

For our team, this meant building capability that is both reflective and action-oriented — qualities essential for leadership at any level of a growing business.

Developing Leadership at Every Level

At Data Intellect, we don’t view leadership as a role — it’s a responsibility that exists throughout the organisation. As we continue to grow, we know that good leadership will be critical to how we build teams, manage complexity, and scale our culture.

This programme was an investment in our people and our future. It’s one step in a broader commitment to developing talent across the business — creating a shared language around leadership and helping individuals lead with confidence in their own context.

Congratulations to everyone who completed the programme, and thank you to Lee Martin from Toojays for delivering an excellent and thoughtful programme throughout.

We’re looking forward to what comes next.