Designed for modern organisations operating in demanding and fast-moving environments, the Academy combines leadership development, emotional intelligence, resilience, strategic capability and organisational performance into one connected executive framework.

Strong organisations are built by capable leaders, resilient teams and a culture that supports sustainable performance.

As organisations navigate growth, change and increasing complexity, there is a growing need for leaders who can think strategically, communicate effectively, inspire others and perform consistently under pressure. Developing these capabilities is no longer a luxury; it is a strategic investment in future success.

The Executive Performance Academy has been created to support organisations in building the leadership, resilience and organisational capability needed to thrive in today’s environment.

Developed by Illuminare Executive Education, the Academy brings together leadership development, emotional intelligence, communication, resilience, strategic thinking and organisational performance within one connected framework. It provides a flexible pathway for individuals and organisations seeking to strengthen leadership effectiveness, develop future talent, improve organisational alignment and create high-performing cultures.

Whether accessed through professional training, accredited qualifications, executive coaching or Executive MBA progression routes, the Academy equips leaders with the practical skills, knowledge and confidence required to lead effectively, manage complexity and drive sustainable organisational performance.

Develop People. Strengthen Leadership. Build Sustainable Performance.

The Executive Performance Academy by Illuminare Executive Education is a specialist leadership and organisational development pathway designed to strengthen executive capability, build resilience and support sustainable high performance across individuals, teams and organisations.

Built around six integrated specialist areas, the Academy provides organisations with flexible access to executive-level development that can be delivered as:

Professional Training

Accredited Learning

Stackable Level 7 qualifications leading towards an Executive MBA progression

Executive Capability for Modern Organisations

The Academy has been developed for organisations seeking to:

Strengthen leadership capability

Build resilient teams and cultures

Support succession and future leadership

Improve communication and organisational alignment

Develop strategic thinking capability

Support wellbeing and sustainable performance

Equip leaders to manage complexity and change

Create stronger organisational performance over time

The pathway has been designed in collaboration with executive practitioners, educators, leadership specialists and industry professionals who understand the realities of modern leadership and organisational performance.

Several areas are informed by the principles explored in BALANCING ACT: Mastering Work, Wealth and Wellbeing and the Calibration Model™ for sustainable high performance.

One Connected Framework. Six Specialist Areas.

The Executive Performance Academy has been designed as an integrated leadership ecosystem rather than disconnected training modules.

Each specialist area connects to the others, allowing organisations and individuals to:

  • start anywhere
  • build capability progressively
  • tailor learning around organisational priorities
  • combine units strategically
  • create personalised qualification pathways
  • develop both individual and organisational performance simultaneously
Executive Performance Academy – Illuminare Executive Education 1 2 3 4 5 6

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Delivery Options

Executive Training Pathway

 

Organisations can access the Academy as a flexible executive training solution delivered through:

  • online learning
  • live workshops
  • leadership programmes
  • organisational development initiatives
  • tailored internal cohorts
  • bespoke capability pathways

Ideal for:

  • leadership development
  • executive teams
  • emerging leaders
  • organisational transformation
  • resilience and wellbeing strategy
  • succession planning

Accredited Qualification Pathway

 

Learners also have the option to complete assessments to achieve:

  • Ofqual-regulated Level 7 credits
  • diploma qualifications
  • the Extended Diploma in Executive Resilience and High-Performance Leadership
  • progression toward Executive MBA study

This allows organisations and individuals to combine professional development with recognised academic achievement.

Academy and Programme Director

Sarah Brennand

Sarah Brennand leads the Executive Performance Academy and is Co-Founder and Managing Director of Illuminare Executive Education.

With more than 20 years of experience across business leadership, executive education and organisational development, Sarah has designed and delivered leadership and professional development programmes for individuals, teams and organisations across the UK and internationally. Her background spans senior leadership roles within Higher Education, business ownership, programme development and executive training, providing a unique blend of academic expertise and commercial insight.

Sarah is the creator of the Calibration Model™ and author of Balancing Act: Mastering Work, Wealth and Wellbeing. Her work focuses on developing the leadership capability, resilience, communication and strategic thinking required for sustainable high performance in today’s increasingly demanding professional environments.

As Academy Director, Sarah oversees the design and delivery of the Academy’s programmes, qualifications and executive development pathways, ensuring they remain practical, relevant and aligned with the evolving needs of modern leaders and organisations.

To discuss your development goals, team requirements or organisational learning needs, please get in touch to explore the most appropriate programme or pathway.

sarah@illuminare-executiveeducation.com

Accredited Qualifications

Units 1-3

Leading Self

Diploma in Executive Resilience

Focused on: emotional intelligence, communication, resilience, sustainable executive performance

Units 1-2-4

Diploma in Systems Leadership

Focused on: emotional intelligence, communication systems leadership, organisational alignment, leadership effectiveness

Designed for: professionals leading people, culture and organisational performance

Units 4-6

Leading Others and Organisation Systems

Diploma in Strategic Leadership and Performance

Focused on: strategic leadership, organisational systems, financial capability, international leadership

Wellbeing Champion Pathway 

The Wellbeing Champion pathway acts as an outer layer to the Executive Performance Academy framework, supporting organisational resilience, wellbeing culture and sustainable workforce performance.

Executive Coaching

Executive Coaching is a standalone service, available on its own or combined with any of the Academy’s pathways, giving senior leaders a confidential, one-to-one space to think, process and perform.

Units 1-6
Extended Diploma in Executive Resilience and High Performance Leadership

Executive MBA Progression

Leads to a guaranteed progression into the final stage of a UK university MBA.

Diploma in Executive Resilience

Units 1-3

Focused on: emotional intelligence, communication, resilience, sustainable executive performance

Unit 1

Emotional Intelligence for Strategic Impact

Develop self-awareness, executive presence, influence and leadership effectiveness.

Unit 2

Skilled Communication for Influence and Alignment

Strengthen communication capability, stakeholder engagement and leadership influence.

Unit 3

Resilience for High Performance

Build resilience, adaptability and sustainable performance under pressure.

Diploma in Systems Leadership

Units 1, 2 & 4

Focused on: emotional intelligence, communication
systems leadership, organisational alignment, leadership effectiveness
Designed for: professionals leading people, culture and organisational performance

Unit 1

Emotional Intelligence for Strategic Impact

Develop self-awareness, executive presence, influence and leadership effectiveness.

Unit 2

Skilled Communication for Influence and Alignment

Strengthen communication capability, stakeholder engagement and leadership influence.

Unit 4

Strategic Leadership and Systemic Alignment

Develop systems leadership capability and strategic organisational alignment.

Diploma Lead – Diploma in Systems Leadership

Tamara Zaple Rolfs

Tamara Zaple Rolfs leads the Diploma in Systems Leadership and is the founder of My Delta, a leadership and organisational development consultancy specialising in systems leadership, systemic team coaching and place-based change.

With over eight years’ experience as an Executive Headteacher across both local authority and multi-academy trust settings, alongside more than a decade of governance experience, Tamara has led strategic programmes across complex educational systems and supported leaders navigating significant organisational change.

Her specialist area is working with leaders operating in high-pressure, interconnected environments, helping them develop the relational capability, systems thinking and strategic perspective needed to lead effectively across organisational boundaries. She is passionate about supporting leaders to build collaborative cultures, strengthen communication and create sustainable change.

Tamara’s work is informed by her background in anthropology, providing a distinctive perspective on the relationship between culture, behaviour and leadership. Her experience spans education, public services and the community sector, and she is also co-host of the podcast Beyond the Status Quo.

As Diploma Lead, Tamara oversees the strategic direction and delivery of the Diploma in Systems Leadership, ensuring learners develop the knowledge, skills and practical insight required to lead successfully within complex systems.

Diploma in Strategic Leadership and Performance

Units 4-6

Focused on: strategic leadership, organisational systems, financial capability, international leadership

Unit 4

Strategic Leadership and Systemic Alignment

Develop systems leadership capability and strategic organisational alignment.

Unit 5

Strategic Finance and Value Creation for Executives

Strengthen commercial awareness and strategic financial decision-making.

Unit 6

International Market Strategy and Cultural Intelligence

Develop global leadership capability and international strategic awareness.

Wellbeing Champion Pathway

Supporting Business Resilience from the Outside In

The Wellbeing Champion pathway acts as an outer layer to the Executive Performance Academy framework, supporting organisational resilience, wellbeing culture and sustainable workforce performance.

Designed to complement the six specialist Academy areas, the pathway supports organisations seeking to:

  • strengthen workplace wellbeing
  • improve resilience culture
  • support people performance
  • develop internal wellbeing advocates
  • reduce burnout and performance fatigue
  • improve organisational sustainability

Together, the Executive Performance Academy and Wellbeing Champion pathways create a connected ecosystem for leadership, resilience and organisational performance.

Delivery Format (12-Month Programme)

or

Delivered online or across four quarterly, in-person development days, hosted on-site or at a central location. Each day builds progressively, allowing learning to be applied between sessions.

Focus: Safe, confident, ethically grounded Champion practice

Includes:

  • Role clarity and boundaries within organisational environments
  • Ethical responsibility, safeguarding awareness, and appropriate signposting
  • Understanding wellbeing across teams, functions, and leadership levels
  • Mental, emotional, physical and financial wellbeing in the workplace
  • Early indicators of stress, overload, disengagement, and burnout
  • Navigating workplace pressures and emotional labour
  • Protecting Champion wellbeing, energy, and capacity

Focus: Navigating difficult realities without overstepping

Includes:

  • Inclusive and psychologically safe conversations in professional environments
  • Supporting colleagues through organisational change, uncertainty, and pressure
  • Managing emotional labour and vicarious stress
  • Neurodiversity-aware wellbeing conversations
  • Hybrid and remote working challenges
  • Maintaining professionalism, compassion, and clear boundaries

Focus: Moving beyond individual support to systemic influence

Includes:

  • Workload, systems, and structural drivers of stress within organisations
  • Translating organisational wellbeing strategy into everyday practice
  • Influencing without authority
  • Working with managers, team leaders, and HR professionals
  • Building consistency across departments and teams
  • Aligning Champion insights with organisational policy, people strategy, and
    EDI commitments

Focus: Long-term impact without burnout

Includes:

  • Preventing Champion fatigue and role overload
  • Measuring and evidencing wellbeing impact (what matters to HR and leadership)
  • Feeding insight upwards safely and appropriately
  • Reflective practice and learning loops
  • Succession planning and continuity within Champion networks
  • Personal sustainability, boundaries, and renewal

Executive Coaching

Personalised Support for Sustainable Leadership Performance

Not every leadership challenge is best worked through in a group setting. Executive Coaching is a standalone service, available on its own or combined with any of the Academy’s diplomas, the Wellbeing Champion pathway or Executive MBA progression route, giving senior leaders a confidential, one-to-one space to think, process and perform.

Leadership can be an isolating place. The higher a leader moves, the fewer people they can speak to candidly, and the more they are expected to have the answers rather than ask the questions. Executive Coaching gives leaders and managers something rare: outside perspective, honest challenge and a sounding board from someone whose only focus is them and their success, not the politics of the organisation around them.

Sessions draw on the Calibration Model™ for sustainable high performance, alongside strategic and business-focused coaching, supporting leaders with the real decisions in front of them, not just their wellbeing and resilience. That combination is what makes it useful at every level: for leaders at the top navigating complexity and isolation with no internal equivalent to turn to, and for managers on a progression path who benefit from having someone solely invested in their growth.

Delivered flexibly as a 3-month or 6-month programme, with two sessions each month, coaching gives leaders dedicated time to work through real challenges as they arise, rather than waiting for a scheduled training day.

Executive Coaching is well suited to:

Senior leaders and executives navigating growth, transition or increased complexity

Individuals preparing for a new role or expanded responsibility

Leaders and managers who would value an independent sounding board, strategic guidance and outside perspective

Leaders at the top who have few, if any, people they can speak candidly to within the organisation

Those on a progression path who want someone focused solely on their development and success

Academy learners wanting additional one-to-one support to embed their diploma learning in role

Coaching can be accessed as a standalone service or alongside any of the Academy’s diplomas, the Wellbeing Champion pathway or Executive MBA progression route, giving organisations and individuals a genuinely personalised route through the Academy.

Contact our team at ClientServices@illuminare-executiveeducation.com email to enquire about Executive Coaching or use the button below to be taken to our enquiry form.

Build a Qualification Your Way

The Academy provides flexible development pathways for organisations and professionals.

Units can be accessed:

  • individually
  • as specialist development areas
  • as diploma pathways
  • or as part of the full Extended Diploma route

This flexible structure allows organisations to align learning with:

  • leadership development priorities
  • organisational strategy
  • talent development
  • succession planning
  • resilience and wellbeing initiatives
  • performance and capability goals

Executive MBA Progression

Learners completing all six certificates to receive the Extended Diploma in Executive Resilience and High Performance Leadership gain guaranteed progression into the final stage of selected UK university MBA programmes.

This provides organisations and professionals with:

  • recognised Level 7 qualifications
  • flexible MBA progression opportunities
  • international academic recognition
  • scalable leadership development pathways
  • long-term talent investment opportunities

Current progression partnerships include:

  • University of Staffordshire
  • London Metropolitan University
  • Additional partnerships in development

Learners can choose online or campus-based MBA progression routes depending on their goals and location.

Additional international partnerships in development

Start anywhere, combine units strategically and develop both individual and organisational performance simultaneously.

Learn from Experienced Executive Practitioners

The Academy is delivered by experienced professionals with backgrounds across:

  • executive leadership
  • strategic consultancy
  • organisational development
  • executive coaching
  • higher education
  • international business
  • leadership and resilience development

The focus is practical, applied and commercially relevant, ensuring learning translates directly into workplace impact and organisational performance.

Mike Pagan

Mental Wealth Strategist | Executive Coach | Speaker

Sarah Brennand

Executive Coach | Certified Executive | Licensed Emotional Intelligence and Master NLP Coach

Diego Masciaga

World-Renowned Service & Hospitality Leader | Advisor | Mentor

Floyd Woodrow

Elite Military Leader | Founder, Compass for Life | Chairman, Quantum Group

Lynda Shaw

Cognitive Neuroscientist | Business Psychologist | Entrepreneur

Build Leadership Capability That Lasts

Why organisations choose the Executive Performance Academy?

Connected leadership development framework

Flexible qualification and training pathways

Practical executive capability development

Accessible international delivery

Stackable Level 7 qualifications

Executive MBA progression opportunities

Sustainable performance and resilience focus

Organisational impact and leadership alignment

Develop People. Strengthen Leadership. Build Sustainable Performance.

Enquire about a Course with the Executive Performance Academy

Let us know what you are interested in

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Diplomas, Wellbeing and MBA Progression
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