- Understand the impact and cost of early leadership pressure without proper development
- Explore parallels between sport, the military and modern workplaces
- Learn simple, no-cost strategies to support emerging leaders in any organisation
- Discover five practical actions aligned to the IoL’s Five Dimensions of Leadership
- Gain insights from the latest data, including FEED’s Leadership & Junior Talent survey and Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z & Millennial Study
Masterclass
Lead Before You're Ready: Rethinking Leadership for a New Generation
Part of January Jumpstart 2026: The Leadership Recharge
Location: Online (via Zoom)
Exclusive IoL Member event.
CPD hours: 0.75
Across today’s workplaces, young professionals are being asked to step into leadership roles earlier than ever - often without the preparation, support or confidence they need. This “readiness gap” is showing up in corporate environments, sporting teams and even military settings, and the data is clear: emerging leaders are under unprecedented pressure.
In this powerful session, our host Darrell McLennan Fordyce FIoL, draws on real experiences from the military, sport and business sectors to explore why leadership development must be treated as a starting point, not a reward. Blending storytelling, insight and practical tools, this session makes a compelling case for rethinking how we nurture the next generation of leaders.
What you'll learn
Who is this session for?
- HR, L&D and people leaders
- Line managers supporting early-career talent
- Young professionals with emerging leadership responsibilities
What is The Leadership Recharge?
The Leadership Recharge is a week-long series of member-exclusive masterclasses designed to recentre, refresh, and strengthen your leadership for the year ahead.
From Monday 26 to Friday 30 January, join an inspiring expert each lunchtime as they share fresh ideas and practical strategies to set you up for your most successful year yet.
Is this event CPD recordable?
Yes. This event is CPD-recordable for IoL Members.
After attending, any CPD hours you've earned will appear in your dashboard via myportal.
Belinda O'Neill MIoL
Event Host
Darrell McLennan Fordyce
Founder, FEED Leadership Consulting
Hosted by award-winning best-selling author, speaker, event facilitator, podcaster, content creator, educator and the founder of Be Inspired To Be®, Belinda O’Neill. Belinda is a vibrant member of our community and the much-loved host of our monthly webinar series, Meet The Author.
Darrell McLennan Fordyce is the founder of FEED Leadership Consulting and is a passionate advocate for making leadership development a foundational part of every career journey—especially for those just starting out—so that high-performance and human-centred leadership becomes a shared standard, not a privilege.
With a career spanning the military, corporate and sporting worlds, Darrell brings a unique mix of experience, energy and empathy to the individuals and organisations he supports.
Before founding FEED, Darrell spent 12 years as a British Army officer, where he developed his leadership foundations both on operations and as a specialist instructor. He went on to hold senior roles in global organisations including telecoms giant Orange, international marketing group WPP and the global US sports league, the NBA. He has also led fast-growth start-ups in the consumer and finance sectors and delivered high-profile projects around the world, including Camel Trophy in Mongolia, the BT Global Challenge and America’s Cup in Bermuda.
As a Fellow of The Institute of Leadership, qualified coach, NLP practitioner and Associate of the Compassionate Leadership Academy, Darrell brings his commercial and leadership experience to design coaching and development programmes for clients and organisations from a range of sectors, such as The Professional Cricketers Association, HCA Healthcare and West Sussex NHS Trust to sports teams, senior executives and emerging leaders.
Belinda O'Neill MIoL
Event Host
Hosted by award-winning best-selling author, speaker, event facilitator, podcaster, content creator, educator and the founder of Be Inspired To Be®, Belinda O’Neill. Belinda is a vibrant member of our community and the much-loved host of our monthly webinar series, Meet The Author.
Darrell McLennan Fordyce
Founder, FEED Leadership Consulting
Darrell McLennan Fordyce is the founder of FEED Leadership Consulting and is a passionate advocate for making leadership development a foundational part of every career journey—especially for those just starting out—so that high-performance and human-centred leadership becomes a shared standard, not a privilege.
With a career spanning the military, corporate and sporting worlds, Darrell brings a unique mix of experience, energy and empathy to the individuals and organisations he supports.
Before founding FEED, Darrell spent 12 years as a British Army officer, where he developed his leadership foundations both on operations and as a specialist instructor. He went on to hold senior roles in global organisations including telecoms giant Orange, international marketing group WPP and the global US sports league, the NBA. He has also led fast-growth start-ups in the consumer and finance sectors and delivered high-profile projects around the world, including Camel Trophy in Mongolia, the BT Global Challenge and America’s Cup in Bermuda.
As a Fellow of The Institute of Leadership, qualified coach, NLP practitioner and Associate of the Compassionate Leadership Academy, Darrell brings his commercial and leadership experience to design coaching and development programmes for clients and organisations from a range of sectors, such as The Professional Cricketers Association, HCA Healthcare and West Sussex NHS Trust to sports teams, senior executives and emerging leaders.