8 Inspiring Leadership Training Ideas

Need a few leadership training ideas that are anything but dull? Then you’ve come to the right place since that’s what we at Peerspace dive into ahead. For the most part, leadership training events can involve a faraway retreat or an in-office activity. Either way, they all have one thing in common: meaningful, constructive activities that will help prepare your team leaders for greatness.

So if you believe leaders are made, not born, here are several inspiring leadership training ideas you can implement today.

1. Switch up the venue at a Peerspace

Your office’s conference room isn’t the only option for bringing your leadership training ideas to life. Think outside of those four walls with a quick search on Peerspace, an online resource that makes booking event venues fun and easy. Just like Airbnb, the platform allows hosts in your local area to list their space for rent.

Each space — whether it’s a loft, studio, art gallery, or even a warehouse — is available for rent by the hour. If a leadership training retreat is just not in the budget, you can still treat your team to an exciting adventure outside of the office! Peerspace can help you book a fun, creative space to host your training event. You can choose from modern houses, outdoor patios, galleries, theaters, warehouses, and more. You just might discover a hidden gem in your area that you never knew existed.

Here are a few of our favorite options:

• This historic general’s residence with water views in San Francisco (pictured above) with seating for 200, a dining room, a lounge, a ballroom, a kitchen, and an outdoor area
• This conference and training venue in Cumberland, GA, with space for 60, ergonomic furniture, on-site managers and staff, optional catering, and breakout space
• This luxury conference room near Galleria in Houston with room for 24, skyline views, on-site staff, an on-site restaurant, an outdoor area, and breakout space
• This Tribeca meeting loft in New York City with space for 75, an open layout, a dual-wall immersive projection system, coffee service, breakout space, and a kitchenette

And that is only the beginning! After all, Peerspace is the largest online marketplace for hourly venue rentals and is available in cities across the globe.

To add on catering service, as well as furniture or A/V gear rentals, reach out to your venue’s helpful local host for assistance. So with lunch and the venue covered, what will you do for your next corporate event? We will share more of our leadership training ideas ahead. All of them can work perfectly at your exciting new Peerspace venue, too!

2. Sharpen active listening skills

Active listening is a crucial skill for anyone in a leadership role. There are several ways to practice active listening. The classic game of telephone is a simple way to practice, but you can also branch out and try a guessing game.

Ask everyone to pair up and take turns being the speaker and the listener. The speaker will describe a place without naming it, and the listener will have to pick up enough clues to be able to guess which place they are talking about. You can switch it up and ask the speaker to describe a movie or another well-known subject as well.

3. Get in touch with corporate values

Every company has a set of values, and notable leaders will exemplify those values. Try an activity that will get everyone thinking about implementing company values in the workplace. Assign each staff member a value (or, if your team is larger, break everyone into teams). Ask each individual or team to come up with a few practical, real-world examples of how those values can be put to work in the office.

Here’s how and where to rent a conference room for the day!

4. Host a feedback session

A dynamic leader needs to be able to take constructive criticism and be empathetic toward staff members. This activity will involve more than just those in leadership roles. Gather the rest of the staff and ask them to share their comments and concerns with the leaders.

This can be conducted as a Q&A as well, with the leaders sitting at the front of the room as “panelists.” This honest, open dialogue will allow leaders to practice handling feedback and responding appropriately.

5. Identify excellent leadership qualities

Everyone has role models they look up to for inspiration. Ask each staff member to share their favorite leaders. They can be real or fictional (like General Leia from Star Wars). Give everyone a whiteboard space or poster paper on which they can draw their leader and write down a bullet list of their leadership qualities. Then, ask everyone to go around and present their leaders and explain how they themselves can exemplify those same leadership qualities in their work.

6. Host a brainstorming session

Involve the entire staff when you implement leadership training ideas. Gather everyone around a room and ask them to write an idea on paper (it can be for improving the office culture, workflow, or anything they can think of). Then ball it up, and throw it into the center of the room so that it is kept somewhat anonymous. Encourage everyone to write whatever they want, no matter how outrageous it seems.

The leaders in the room will then pick up and unfold each idea and write it on a whiteboard (or type it in a Word document and then project it). Work together to determine which ideas are feasible and come up with a plan for incorporating those ideas. This will help them demonstrate that they take their team’s ideas into consideration, are willing to listen, and know how to be sensible about incorporating new ideas. 

Check out these unique focus group ideas to check another to-do off of your task list!

7. Take an online leadership training session

Online leadership training tools are affordable and can offer insightful information. So why not host a webinar “watch party”? Gather everyone in a conference room, then have coffee and bagels or lunch catered as you all watch the webinar and take notes. After the webinar, ask everyone to share what they learned and how they will apply it to their role.

8. Bring games into the mix

Games are excellent, engaging learning tools, and they can double as effective leadership training ideas. Here are a few games for your entire staff that are designed to strengthen leadership skills:

Icebreakers

Good leaders get to know their team. Host a classic icebreaker game like two truths and a lie or the one-word game, where employees go around the table and share how they are feeling with one word that doesn’t necessarily have to be a word that describes an emotion. For more ice-breaker ideas, check out this blog.

Office trivia

This game can be a silly way to test leaders’ knowledge and attention to detail. It can involve fun facts like staff members’ birthdays, names of their pets, favorite colors, inside jokes, and more.

Deserted island

The object of this game is to correctly rank which items would be most important for survival if you were shipwrecked. (The US Coast Guard provides that information.) The team leader(s) will be elected to help the group come to a consensus on the item ranking.

Leadership training ideas: conclusion

We hope these leadership training ideas help you and your team achieve its goals. They can improve your listening skills and help you all understand how to make wise decisions that impact both the company and the team. In fact, these leadership training ideas will help your leaders sharpen those important skills and have a good time while doing it.

Don’t forget to book an inspiring Peerspace venue while you’re at it! A fresh, exciting space that has all the amenities you need is the easiest way to start your leadership training on the right foot.

Find unique leadership training venues on Peerspace