The PG24814 Certificate in Work-Related Leadership, Teamwork and Change Management sits on Level 9 of Ireland’s NFQ. It’s a small but demanding award that pushes experienced workers to think more deeply about how people actually lead and collaborate in real workplaces. The aim is not just to memorise theories but to connect them with the daily realities of Irish organisations that are constantly changing—public bodies under reform, community projects with tight budgets, or SMEs trying to steady themselves after sudden market shifts.
Across the modules, learners unpack how leadership styles influence morale and productivity. They explore how trust is built inside teams that might meet half online and half on-site. The course encourages participants to notice how emotions, habits, and even local culture shape decisions more than policies sometimes do. It’s quite practical in that sense; students are urged to link readings with their own work settings—maybe a hospital unit, a local authority, or a private consultancy in Dublin or Cork.
At its heart, the award expects mature reflection. It recognises that leadership in Ireland today sits somewhere between professional expertise and human connection. The programme’s purpose is to help people become steadier, more adaptive, and ethical in guiding others through uncertainty.
The continuous assessment counts for a fifth of the total mark and focuses on understanding and comparing major ideas in leadership, teamwork, and organisational change. Instead of pure theory, the assessment looks for reasoned discussion—how the concepts hold up when placed against what actually happens in workplaces.
Transformational leadership, drawn from the work of Burns and Bass, gets a lot of attention. It describes leaders who inspire others through vision and trust rather than control. In many Irish public offices, that approach feels both necessary and challenging. A department head may speak of innovation, yet staff still wait for detailed approval from higher up. Balancing that visionary tone with clear boundaries—what Bass would call the transactional side—remains a daily tension.
Emotional intelligence, popularised by Goleman, also plays a big part in Irish management training. To be fair, it sounds simple on paper—self-awareness, empathy, social skill—but in practice it can mean knowing when to step back during conflict or how to read a colleague’s silence in a meeting. In hybrid teams spread between Galway and Dublin, empathy often travels through tone and timing more than body language, so leaders have to tune in carefully.
Culture underpins all of this. Schein wrote about deep assumptions inside organisations, and that rings true here. In some Irish companies, especially long-established family businesses, the unspoken rule is still “don’t question the boss”. That habit can quietly block collaboration. Recognising such cultural layers helps leaders open small spaces for dialogue instead of forcing change from the top.
Tuckman’s stages of team development—forming, storming, norming, performing—remain useful, though they rarely unfold neatly. Teams in Irish public projects often linger between storming and norming because procedures slow everything down. At the same time, Belbin’s idea of complementary team roles gives managers a way to see strengths that might otherwise be missed. A quiet finisher who keeps details right can be as vital as the bold shaper who drives deadlines.
Still, theory only goes so far. In real Irish settings, the atmosphere of safety matters most. Edmondson’s notion of psychological safety—where people feel they can speak up without ridicule—has reshaped how some HSE units run their review meetings. When staff admit small errors early, bigger issues rarely escalate. That reflects Herzberg’s idea that recognition and growth motivate far better than fear or tight supervision.
Change has become almost constant. Between digitalisation, policy reform, and the lingering effects of COVID-19, Irish organisations move from one transition to the next. Lewin’s model—unfreeze, change, refreeze—offers a starting point, yet life inside organisations rarely freezes long enough. Kotter’s eight-step framework feels more alive to current realities, especially his focus on building urgency and celebrating short-term wins.
Take, for instance, an education board rolling out new learning software. The early stage is messy: some teachers resist, others adapt quickly. A leader who communicates the “why” clearly and involves small pilot groups, as Kotter suggests, often secures broader acceptance later. What counts is persistence and steady feedback, not a single grand plan.
All the same, emotional steadiness plays a quiet role here. In Irish health services and councils, staff look to leaders not only for direction but for calm during yet another restructure. That calm comes from reflective habits, something this course tries to cultivate.
The continuous assessment aims to connect theory and evidence with what learners already experience. It pushes them to see leadership as a living system of relationships rather than fixed models. For Ireland’s workforce—shaped by EU directives, equality legislation, and a culture that values fairness—effective leadership involves technical know-how and moral awareness in equal measure.
In reviewing these frameworks, one realises that no single model fits every context. A transformational style can motivate, yet sometimes staff simply need transactional clarity about procedures. Emotional intelligence helps, but without structural support it fades. The art lies in blending methods, drawing from research while keeping sight of human texture—the laughter at the coffee dock, the mild sarcasm that softens tension, the Friday rush that reminds everyone they’re still human.
The continuous-assessment element, though smaller in marks, sets the intellectual tone for the rest of the award. It lays down the theory, but also invites each learner to question it—gently, critically, and with awareness of how Irish workplaces truly operate.
The skills demonstration forms the heart of this Level 9 award. It requires learners to step into complex, sometimes awkward organisational realities and show how leadership and teamwork actually unfold rather than how they are supposed to.
During a simulated workplace exercise based on a change initiative in an Irish public-service context, I was asked to coordinate a cross-departmental team that had to streamline internal reporting. At first, the group appeared motivated, yet as we dug into the detail, territorial behaviour surfaced. To be fair, each unit had its own way of doing things, shaped by years of local routine.
I noticed that my initial instinct—to push for fast consensus—only deepened resistance. After reflecting later that evening, I drew on Goleman’s emotional-intelligence model. Instead of lecturing, I started the next meeting with small acknowledgements: recognising effort, asking people what part of the process they most wanted to protect. That simple pause shifted the tone. The group began offering ideas rather than defending turf.
This experience reinforced something Kotter often stresses: progress relies on trust built step-by-step. At the same time, I saw Lewin’s “unfreezing” in practice—it wasn’t about policy documents but about emotional permission to imagine a new routine.
Over the weeks, as the team stabilised, I rotated roles slightly following Belbin’s guidance. A quiet analyst became the de-facto “monitor-evaluator”, while a creative but impatient colleague took the “plant” role. That balance, though accidental at first, made the team more rounded. When deadlines tightened, people naturally supported one another rather than retreating into silos.
What struck me most was how culture in Irish workplaces—informal humour, coffee-break conversations, gentle teasing—acts as social glue. Leadership here is often relational before it is procedural. The skills demonstration allowed me to practice being both task-focused and emotionally tuned, something theory rarely captures in full.
Objective: To examine key leadership and management theories and evaluate their relevance within contemporary Irish organisations.
In reviewing advanced frameworks, it became clear that leadership sits at the intersection of influence and responsibility. Transformational and distributed leadership styles are commonly cited, yet their success depends heavily on organisational maturity. In the Irish Civil Service, for example, formal hierarchies can limit distributed leadership, while in community enterprises or NGOs, shared authority thrives because people already operate collaboratively.
Analysing theory through Schein’s cultural lens revealed that leadership effectiveness rises when values and symbols align with spoken mission. A manager may talk inclusion but if promotion patterns favour insiders, credibility collapses. Thus, theory without authenticity falls flat.
Overall, the critical takeaway was that leadership cannot be detached from ethics and context. It is less about charisma, more about constancy under pressure.
Objective: To demonstrate advanced capacity in creating and managing support structures that respond flexibly to organisational challenges.
During a hybrid-team pilot in Cork, a support framework was designed using regular peer-check meetings rather than top-down monitoring. At first, participation lagged, but introducing short reflective segments—what went well, what still confuses—helped surface quiet frustrations.
Drawing from systems theory, I learned that feedback loops matter more than control charts. People want to feel heard before they accept direction. At the same time, formal mechanisms such as mentoring and micro-coaching sustain morale when work intensity rises.
Responsive solutions, especially in Ireland’s small-organisation settings, tend to rely on relational capital. A phone call from a trusted colleague often unblocks an issue faster than an entire policy memo. That observation linked well with Argyris and Schön’s concept of double-loop learning: organisations evolve when individuals reflect on their assumptions, not just their actions.
Objective: To critically appraise and advance multi-layered organisational engagements using research-informed evidence.
Evidence-based leadership demands both data and discernment. In one project, I reviewed absenteeism trends across three regional offices. The numbers looked clear—one unit showed lower absence—but qualitative interviews revealed the reason: staff were reluctant to record short illnesses for fear of being seen as unreliable. The evidence, therefore, was incomplete.
This reminded me that data must always meet narrative. By combining HR metrics with anonymous focus-group notes, the full picture emerged, leading to a more compassionate attendance policy. The practice reflected the essence of evidence-based management—triangulating information, judgement, and stakeholder experience.
Progressing complex engagements often means living with ambiguity. To be fair, managers want neat conclusions, but leadership at Level 9 demands tolerance for grey areas while keeping people steady through them.
Objective: To demonstrate leadership across professional boundaries that promotes capacity building and well-being.
In the final stage of the module, our mixed team—health, finance, and community-development professionals—had to draft an integrated wellness strategy for employees in a medium-sized Irish organisation. Coordination was messy; jargon clashed and priorities pulled in different directions.
Acting as facilitator, I applied elements of Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership model. Some members needed directive guidance, others only light support. What united us was shared purpose. We adopted a rotating-chair system, which diffused hierarchy and encouraged ownership.
When tensions surfaced, emotional-intelligence techniques again proved vital: listening first, summarising concerns, then reframing. Gradually, the group produced a workable plan linking staff training with mental-health supports.
The reflection after completion showed something subtle but significant—leadership in transdisciplinary teams is less about being the expert and more about being the connector. In Ireland’s cross-sector initiatives, that connector role holds real value.
If you’re currently managing this Level 9 workload and juggling work commitments, you’re not alone. Many professionals across Ireland seek essay helper services simply to organise thoughts and meet strict academic standards without losing their own voice.
Our platform connects learners with Irish experts who understand local workplace realities—from public-sector reforms to SME innovation—ensuring guidance that actually fits the assignment brief. Whether you’re interpreting Kotter’s change model or analysing Belbin’s team roles, the support remains practical and ethical.
For those needing deeper assistance, our dissertation writing services in Ireland bring structured help with research methods, analysis, and presentation—always within university integrity policies. We respect your authorship; the goal is clarity, not shortcuts.
And if time pressure mounts, reliable assignment writing assistance can make the process manageable. Skilled Irish academics help refine arguments, align references with QQI expectations, and maintain your authentic professional tone so every submission feels truly your own.
Aoife Kelly is a skilled academic writer and subject expert at IrelandAssignmentHelper.ie, contributing since 2015. She holds a Master’s degree in Health and Social Care Management from Dublin City University and brings over a decade of experience in healthcare and social sciences. Aoife specializes in supporting students across a range of disciplines, including Healthcare, Childcare, Nursing, Psychology, and Elder Care. Her practical understanding of these fields, combined with strong academic writing expertise, helps students craft well-researched essays, reports, case studies, and dissertations that meet Irish academic standards.
Get Free Assignment Quotes
