At a glance
Client: The Institute of Leadership (IoL)
Challenge: IoL wanted to bring their well-regarded My Leadership programme into a modern, fully digital experience. They aimed to make it easier for members to follow, engage with, and gain recognition for their learning.
Solution: Embed worked with IoL to create My Leadership+, a digital learning journey that builds on the existing programme. It combines practical courses, supporting resources, and clear pathways to help members apply leadership skills in real life.
Impact: Members now have an accessible, motivating, and structured learning experience. They can see their progress, earn digital recognition, and put what they learn into practice – while IoL can demonstrate the value of membership clearly.
Helping a trusted framework reach more leaders
The Institute of Leadership is one of the UK’s most respected professional bodies, supporting leaders and managers at every stage of their careers. Its My Leadership framework, centred on five dimensions — Achievement, Authenticity, Collaboration, Ownership, and Vision — has long helped members understand and grow their leadership capability.
IoL’s goal wasn’t to replace this strong foundation. Instead, they wanted to extend it into a more connected, digital, and scalable experience that would help members engage more fully, see their progress clearly, and gain recognition for the development they achieve.
“Working with Embed on the development of our new learning system, MyLeadership+, has been a fantastic experience. Nothing was ever too much trouble — they supported us every step of the way, managing the project smoothly and solving problems quickly. Their expertise in different learning styles and the latest technology helped us identify opportunities to save money while delivering richer, future-proofed content for our membership community. Embed are now our go-to people for learning content, and we couldn’t recommend them highly enough.”
— Becky Martin, Director of Events and Engagement, The Institute of Leadership
The Challenge: Bringing a trusted leadership model into a modern member experience
IoL’s challenge was about evolution rather than replacement. The original framework had successfully introduced members to leadership principles, but the materials existed across multiple formats. Members valued them, yet it wasn’t always obvious how everything fitted together, or how to track progress and apply learning in real time.
IoL wanted a learning journey that would feel continuous, practical, and visible, while meeting modern expectations for digital learning. They saw an opportunity to:
- Bring all resources together in a single, easy-to-navigate platform
- Make development self-directed yet structured, so members could progress at their own pace
- Introduce recognition and credentials that reinforce learning and signal progress to employers
- Strengthen the tangible value of membership by giving measurable outcomes
To make this vision a reality, IoL partnered with Embed to co-design and pilot a new programme — My Leadership+ — combining the credibility of the original framework with a modern, engaging digital experience.
Why Embed – a partner who makes learning practical and human
IoL needed a partner who could translate strategy into an experience people would actually use. Embed was chosen because we combine learning design expertise, platform experience, and collaborative delivery.
Our role was to help IoL extend their framework into a scalable, motivating, and measurable experience, one that makes it easy for members to see what to do, apply it in their work, and feel recognised along the way.
Discovery: Understanding members and shaping the journey
We started with a two-week discovery phase to understand IoL’s culture, member needs, and employer expectations.
Through workshops, interviews, and user insights, we explored: what members valued most, how they engaged with learning, and what success looked like for both members and employers. From this we developed a Discovery Report detailing member personas, learning pathways, and design priorities.
This informed every decision in the next stage — ensuring the learning journey would feel both credible and human, while delivering practical value in the workplace.
Design: Creating an engaging, human-centred experience
Using insights from discovery, Embed designed the learning architecture for My Leadership+. The new programme:
- Mapped courses to the five leadership dimensions, allowing members to progress from foundational to advanced leadership skills
- Used a playlist-style approach, letting learners explore at their own pace while keeping the path through the programme clear
- Included reflection prompts and job aids to support application at work
- Followed a conversational tone with approachable visuals, making the experience engaging and easy to navigate
Interactive prototypes allowed IoL stakeholders to experience the platform before build, refining navigation, flow, and content to ensure it met both learner and organisational needs.
Build: Content, resources, and the platform
Embed delivered a complete content and platform solution.
On the content side, we developed 40 eLearning courses spanning Core and Strategic levels. Each course blended theory and practical application, drawing on IoL’s leadership research and written in a clear, accessible style. We also curated over 80 supporting resources — handouts, checklists, and reflection guides — so learning could continue beyond each course.
The platform was designed for simplicity and scale. Members could log in directly from the IoL website, explore courses, track progress, and access resources anytime. The system also provided analytics for IoL, showing engagement and helping demonstrate the value of membership.
Together, these elements created a digital learning ecosystem that’s intuitive, practical, and motivating.
Recognition: Making progress visible
To motivate members and make development tangible, we introduced digital micro-credentials for each leadership dimension completed. Completing all five dimensions earns the My Leadership+ badge, a shareable symbol of achievement.
This recognition gives members confidence and provides employers with clear evidence of progress, reinforcing the value of both the programme and IoL membership.
Pilot: Testing and refining the experience
A two-week pilot tested the programme with a select group of members. Feedback focused on usability, content relevance, and the motivational impact of recognition. Insights were used to refine the learning journey, interface, and credentialing system, ensuring a smooth and rewarding experience at full launch.
Impact: A modern learning journey built on strong foundations
My Leadership+ is now a scalable, accessible, and engaging digital learning experience. Members benefit from:
- Clear, structured pathways aligned to IoL’s five leadership dimensions
- Practical resources for immediate application in the workplace
- Recognition that motivates and evidences progress
For IoL, the programme demonstrates membership value in a measurable way. For members, it’s an intuitive, motivating journey that builds on a framework they already trust.
Embed continues to work with IoL to:
- Refine content and improve user experience
- Add new resources and integrations
- Support reporting and engagement tracking
Nicole Horsman, Commercial Director, Embed said of the partnership:
“Collaborating with The Institute of Leadership on MyLeadership+ has been a true partnership from day one. Their clear vision for empowering their community made it easy to align our expertise in learning design and technology with their goals. We’re proud to have helped create a scalable, engaging learning programme that will continue to evolve with their members needs. Seeing MyLeadership+ come to life has been incredibly rewarding, and we’re excited to keep supporting The Institute of Leadership as they grow and innovate.”
The Bigger Picture: Learning that works for real people
This project shows how a trusted framework can be extended for modern expectations without losing what already works. Embed combined strategy, design, and content expertise to create a learning experience that is scalable, practical, and meaningful for leaders and employers alike.
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