The learning goals are wide and stretch across a spectrum from personal skill development to deepening business understanding and commercial acumen.

The essence of its design is underpinned by the principle that for true effective leadership as an individual, team member or in leading people both qualities are inherent and inseparable. Content can be headlined as:

• learning how to learn and apply lessons in a business environment
• building professional relationships
• communication and impact
• corporate marketing strategy
• coaching and feedback
• influencing and impact
• team development and performance
• process and supply chain design
• leadership
• cultural diversity
• organization and functional capability
• investment and expenditure
• corporate social responsibility

To bring these goals alive the learning experience is structured using a number of interweaved experiences from experiential workshops, business simulations, action learning teams and inter-modular activities and the support of a mentor. All of this is further supported by the fantastic resource of the Ashridge VLRC. Participants experience a wide range of learning experiences including:

• five intensive one week workshops using a series of learning techniques including: highly experiential activities, business simulations, psychometric profiling using Frio B and MBTI, presentations to senior Smiths leaders, executive director forums
• 3 business visits to complete action learning tasks between workshops
• a business assignment hosted by a Smiths leader
• mentoring via a Smiths Leaders
• development planning supported by their line manager
• access to the Ashridge VLRC
• an e-journal housing all memories captured during the programme

The participants' managers play a huge part in supporting them through the programme both in terms of participating in many of the events through to helping the participant in embedding their learning into their workplace and their everyday thinking and habits.

There are two principal programme facilitators, Alex Hill and Jonathan Harris. Both very different in the skills and life experiences that they bring to the programme and together they create a varied and challenging learning design.