Leadership and Management Courses in Perth and Online

The ATI-Mirage team are leadership and supervisor training specialists, offering comprehensive leadership,  management and supervisor courses in Perth, online or at your office.

Our facilitators help empower and equip participants with people, strategy and operational skills as well as the communication, critical thinking and creative problem solving training needed. From Supervisor Toolkit for those new to management to our Leadership Essentials for more experienced leaders, as well as Managing People and Performance training, we can accommodate your leadership skills requirements. Leading and communicating change, mastering delegation and emotional intelligence for teams training is also critical in helping leaders and teams succeed.

As well as all our scheduled leadership courses listed below we have a complete Developing Leaders Program with four different leadership pathways for you to consider.

Our leadership training is both practical and interactive and we assist leaders to excel in the challenging and changing workplace. We provide a 100% quality guarantee with complimentary post course help desk to support your leadership training outcomes. Give us a call today on (08) 9218 9059 or send us an email at hello@ati-mirage.com.au.

Leadership Essentials
Duration: 2 Days

Self-Awareness with PRINT®
Duration: Half Day

Supervisor Toolkit
Duration: 1 Day

Leading Effective Meetings
Duration: Half Day

Mastering Delegation
Duration: Half Day

Coaching for Performance
Duration: Half Day

Creative Problem Solving
Duration: Half Day

Project Management
Duration: 2 Days

Data Driven Culture
Duration: Half Day

PRINT® to Enhance Team Effectiveness
Duration: Half Day

***new course***

Leading Hybrid Work Teams
Duration: Half Day

Team Effectiveness Workshop
Duration: 3 Hours

Mastering Leadership Challenges: FAQs & Expert Tips

How can I effectively handle difficult conversations with my team?

Navigating challenging discussions is a vital leadership skill. To approach these conversations:

  • Prepare Ahead: Clearly define the issue and gather relevant facts. Anticipate possible reactions and plan your responses, considering how you want the person you are speaking with to feel and what specific action you want them to take.
  • Create a Safe Environment: Ensure privacy and approach the discussion with empathy. Begin with positive intent to set a constructive tone. Use inclusive language to maintain a positive and constructive tone.
  • Be Clear and Specific: Address behaviours or outcomes directly, avoiding vague statements. Use specific examples to illustrate your points.
  • Balance your speaking and listening. Do you need to provide information, seek their perspective, or guide them to a solution? Choose the best tool for the job. For example, are you going to tell them facts, or get their perspective, and when in the conversation will you do this?
  • Listen Actively: Allow the team member to share their perspective without interruption. This fosters mutual understanding and respect.
  • Collaborate on Solutions: Work together to develop actionable steps for improvement, ensuring the team member feels involved in the process. Part of this includes not going in with an outcome already determined. Direct the conversation toward the mutual creation of the solution or agreed-to actions.

Remember, the goal is to resolve issues while maintaining trust and respect within the team, so ensure you use the right tools in the right way.

Assertiveness is about expressing your thoughts and needs clearly while respecting others. To enhance your assertiveness:

  • Use “I” Statements: Communicate your feelings and needs without blaming others. For example, “I feel concerned when deadlines are missed.” Identify your non-negotiables (i.e. specific needs or desired outcomes) and areas where you can remain flexible.
  • Maintain Open Body Language: Ensure your posture and gestures are welcoming, which conveys confidence without aggression.
  • Practice Active Listening: Show that you value others’ input, which balances your assertiveness with empathy. Assertiveness means recognising that your needs, opinions, and viewpoints are equally important to those of others.
  • Set Clear Boundaries: Clearly define what is acceptable and what isn’t and communicate these boundaries respectfully.
  • Stay Calm: Manage your emotions, even when discussions become heated, to maintain a composed demeanour.

Developing assertiveness is a skill that benefits from practice and reflection.

Effective performance management involves continuous communication and development. Consider the following approaches:

  • Set Clear Expectations: Define and communicate specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.
  • Provide Regular Feedback: Don’t wait for annual reviews; offer constructive feedback consistently to guide performance. Focus on strengths first—genuinely acknowledge their skills and contributions. This makes conversations about improvement more constructive and better received.
  • Recognise Achievements: When you notice their positive qualities and abilities, ensure you individually acknowledge and celebrate their successes to motivate and encourage continued high performance.
  • Treat all staff equally: We all tend to speak more to and about those we find it easy to have a good relationship with. Great leaders are even-handed and look for positive contributions from all staff and not perceived to have favourites.
  • Develop Individual Plans: Collaborate with team members to create personalised development plans that align with their career aspirations. Short on time? Get each team member to come up with their own plans, then make time regularly with each one to discuss these plans.
  • Address Issues Promptly: Tackle performance concerns early to prevent escalation and provide support for improvement.
  1. Unresolved issues only become more challenging—for you, your team, and even your successor.
  2. Addressing them early prevents larger problems later.
  3. Plus, the longer you leave it unaddressed, the more your level of responsibility rises.

By fostering an environment of open communication and support, you can enhance overall team performance. Effective communication takes time to do well, and it improves over time – so even if things are not great now, with your concerted and focused effort, you can improve even the most difficult of situations.

Delivering feedback effectively is crucial for development. To structure your feedback sessions:

  • Schedule Appropriately: Choose a time and place free from distractions to ensure privacy and focus.
  • Give advance notice so both parties can prepare—unexpected feedback can lead to resistance rather than reflection.
  • Encourage Dialogue: Invite the team member to share their thoughts and feelings about the feedback.
  • Balance Positive and Constructive Feedback: Start with positive observations before addressing areas for improvement to keep the conversation balanced.
  • Collaborate on Action Steps: Work together to identify specific actions to maintain strengths and address areas needing improvement.

Structured feedback sessions promote growth and strengthen working relationships. The more you manage performance through one-on-one, regular, and consistent catch-ups, the less you will have to performance manage.

Balancing accountability with autonomy empowers your team. To achieve this:

  • Set Clear Expectations: Ensure team members understand their responsibilities and the standards required.
  • Establish Regular Check-Ins: Schedule periodic meetings to discuss progress, address challenges, and provide support.
  • Foster Ownership: Encourage team members to take responsibility for their tasks and outcomes.
  • Provide Necessary Resources: Ensure they have the tools and training needed to succeed.
  • Recognise Accountability: Acknowledge when team members meet or exceed expectations, reinforcing positive behaviour.
  1. Make this a habit across your whole team, adopting the phrase ‘catch ‘em doing it right’ as your leadership motto.
  2. This builds a culture of encouragement and growth, where people are more likely to step up and take initiative rather than fear making mistakes.

This approach promotes a culture of trust and responsibility within your team. These are a few of our favourite tips, and all these work when the leader is willing to put in the effort to create a culture of trust where people feel truly valued. To learn how these fit in the context of your workplace, consider joining us for one of our leadership development workshops.

Empowering your team to think critically enhances their development and reduces dependency. Consider these strategies:

  • Ask Open-Ended Questions: Encourage them to explore solutions by asking questions like, “What approaches have you considered?” “What ideas do you have to solve this?”
  • Promote Problem-Solving: Resist providing immediate answers; instead, guide them through the problem-solving process and ask open-ended questions of them.
    For instance, avoid questions like, ‘You realise that was wrong, don’t you?’ This kind of phrasing puts people on the defensive and prevents actual problem-solving.
  • Encourage Continuous Learning: Seek out opportunities for their professional development – such as delegation of tasks, entrusting a decision to them, asking their take on things without adding your opinion -to build their confidence and skills.
  • Delegate Authority: Assign tasks that require decision-making to foster independence, raising the bar over time as part of their growth and development.
  • Create a Safe Environment for Mistakes: Allow team members to learn from errors without fear of undue criticism. Afterall, isn’t that how we learn to do everything? Didn’t you learn to drive by grinding the gears and endless bunny-hops?

By fostering a culture that values learning and autonomy, your team will become more self-reliant and innovative. They will also sense that you trust them and that you care about them as people.

Leading a team through change requires empathy and clear communication. To facilitate this:

  • Communicate the Vision: Clearly explain the reasons for the change and how it benefits the team and organisation. Of course, you may be a position where you cannot engage in full disclosure, yet you can still be as up-front about things, and this will earn you a positive reputation.
  • Remain in your role as a leader and avoid the temptation to slip into a ‘friend first, leader second’ approach.

Many leaders, especially those who were once peers with their team, struggle with stepping fully into leadership. It gets easier and more comfortable with practice. While maintaining strong relationships is important, your team needs a leader who is clear, fair, and decisive—not someone who avoids tough calls to remain ‘one of the team.’
Finding this balance builds respect and ensures you are leading effectively while still being approachable.

  • Involve the Team: Engage them in the planning process as and when you can to increase buy-in and reduce resistance. They will (or should) understand that you won’t be able to tell them everything you may know about the change.
  • Be positive without sugar-coating or glossing over concerns raised. Encourage your team to express their concerns openly—help them take responsibility for their role in adapting to change.
  • Address Concerns Openly: Provide a platform for team members to express their fears and concerns and address them honestly.
  • Provide Training and Support: Equip them with the skills and resources needed to adapt to the change.
  • Celebrate Milestones: Recognise and celebrate progress to build momentum and reinforce the positive aspects of the change.

By supporting your team through transitions in a way that they feel supported, you can minimise resistance and foster a more adaptable work environment.

Personality differences can lead to conflicts that affect team dynamics. To manage these effectively:
  • Promote Open Communication: Encourage team members to express their perspectives and listen to each other.
  • Remind them they are responsible for their emotions, reactions, behaviour and how they communicate.
  • Mediate Neutrally: Act as an impartial facilitator to help resolve disputes and find common ground.
  • Establish Team Norms: Set clear expectations for behaviour and communication within the team. Once set, hold these norms, and clearly state how you expect each person to uphold team norms.
  • Provide Conflict Resolution Training: Equip your team with skills to manage disagreements constructively.
  • Focus on Shared Goals: Remind team members of common objectives to realign their efforts collaboratively.
Addressing personality conflicts proactively helps maintain a harmonious and productive team environment. While managing conflict within a team can be challenging initially, this is a crucial leadership skill. Remind yourself that you can grow this skill and your confidence in this area.