Building Strengths-Based Leadership Across Horsham’s Senior Team

Empowering Council leaders to collaborate, delegate, and lead confidently through a strengths-based approach.

Horsham District Council, like many local authorities, is working within a challenging and uncertain landscape. While the future of devolution and potential structural change remains unclear, the organisation has remained stable and proactive — with consistent leadership from its Chief Executive and Finance Director.

Kate Davis, Learning and Development Consultant, saw an opportunity to enrich the council’s long-standing commitment to coaching and development. With Strengthify’s support, Horsham’s senior leadership team participated in a Discovery Workshop to explore how a strengths-based approach could enhance collaboration, leadership confidence, and cultural alignment.

What We Did

Strengthify delivered a Discovery Workshop to Horsham’s leadership team, introducing the principles of positive psychology and the CliftonStrengths framework. The session gave participants the opportunity to explore:

• Their own unique strengths and potential blind spots
• How to better delegate and collaborate across the team
• Practical approaches to using strengths in times of pressure and change
• The role of strengths in sustaining performance and wellbeing

Through guided activities and structured reflection, the session helped surface individual insights while encouraging collective learning.

Impact

• Validating and energising for senior leaders

Several participants described the workshop as affirming and helpful in reinforcing their instinctive approach to leadership — particularly around focusing energy on their strengths and encouraging others to do the same.

“A good tool to identify one’s own best approaches and understand colleagues better.”
— Robert Laban, Head of HR & OD

• Greater awareness of how individual strengths complement the wider team

Leaders noted that understanding their colleagues’ strengths gave them a more strategic way to think about task allocation, collaboration and interdependence.

“Understanding the interaction of individuals’ traits is invaluable in building and maintaining a fully functional and effective team.”
— Senior Leader

• Cultural fit with coaching and people-first leadership

The approach complemented the coaching ethos already in place. Leaders reflected that the language of strengths could help embed this culture more deeply across the organisation.

• Relevance for future team development

Some participants expressed interest in using the approach at team level — to encourage better collaboration across services, increase ownership, and support staff wellbeing through energising work.

Feedback Highlights

Overall Value of the Workshop

• 53% of participants rated the session as very or extremely valuable.

“A fast-paced, enjoyable session that really engaged team members.”

Understanding Team Strengths

• 79% of participants agreed the workshop helped them better understand their colleagues’ strengths and how these can positively combine across the team.

“I liked the overall concept of concentrating on strengths, rather than trying hard to improve weaknesses that are counter to your natural style.”

Practical Application

• The session helped frame new ways to delegate, collaborate and sustain motivation.

“It could be useful for helping teams work better together and for sharing responsibilities across services.”

What’s Next

Following the Discovery Workshop, Horsham District Council is considering how to extend the strengths-based approach into other areas of leadership and team development. These conversations may include:

• Exploring team workshops for cross-service collaboration
• Introducing strengths into the management development programme
• Embedding strengths insights into coaching conversations and team reviews
• Using strengths to support resilience and wellbeing during periods of organisational pressure

The workshop provided a clear next step in advancing the council’s commitment to positive, people-centred leadership.

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