Celebrating Excellence: How action learning helps improve resilience
A new study has shown that an Estia Centre development programme significantly improves resilience among leaders, with benefits also being transferred to their team members. The training and research were led by Mike Bloodworth , Head of Education and Training at the Estia Centre , in the Mental Health in Learning Disability Team at South London and Maudsley.
Leaders in health and social care face complex pressures, making resilient leadership essential for sustaining team wellbeing and ensuring high-quality patient care. The Estia Centre’s ‘ Developing Your Team’s Resilience ’ programme comprises five sessions over five months, and brings together taught sessions, peer learning groups and structured reflection, with a foundation in ‘action learning’. It addresses a leadership development gap identified across a range of learning disability and autism social care support providers in London.
Mike Bloodworth said: “ The programme recognises that many of the challenges faced by health and social care leaders are complex and which can’t be resolved by straightforward, ready-made solutions. It therefore focuses on creating space for leaders to come together, reflect on real issues, and learn through action, questioning, and shared experience. By supporting collective sense-making and ongoing reflection, the programme aims to develop resilience through how leaders work with others, make decisions, and respond to uncertainty in practice. In doing so, it responds to the sector’s tendency to de-prioritise formal leadership development and uses action learning to reduce manager isolation by creating opportunities for cross-organisational, cross-disciplinary, and cross-sector peer learning.”
Significant improvements in resilience
As part of a mixed methods approach, quantitative measures were collected using the Employee Resilience Scale. The study showed significant improvements in overall resilience among participating leaders, as well as among their team members (who did not take part directly in the course).
These changes were noted across several areas, including collaboration, resolving crises, learning from mistakes, re ‑ evaluating performance and responding constructively to feedback. Leaders also became more confident in seeking resources and approaching senior managers, while supervisees showed a marked improvement in managing workload - highlighting how changes in leadership practice translated into everyday team experience.
“Your course has been one of the most profound and inspiring courses I have been to this year. The requisite knowledge I have gained within this short period of time will live in me. [Its] positive impact … has built a strong confidence in me”. - Programme participant
Explainer: What is ‘action learning’?
‘Action learning is a structured, cyclical process of inquiry, reflection and action, in which small groups of peers work on real-life challenges. Through attentive questioning and shared reflection, participants generate insight, commit to practical actions between sessions, and learn from their attempts to improve things. This iterative process develops individual and collective capability, enabling participants to address complex challenges and bring about meaningful change in real-world contexts, within a supportive peer-learning environment.’ (Bloodworth, 2026)
Mike said: “What makes action learning so powerful is that it doesn’t try to give leaders the answers. Instead, it creates the conditions for them to find their own solutions by thinking differently about their real challenges, reflecting on how they lead, and learning with and from each other. In complex health and social care environments, where there are no simple solutions, that ability to question, adapt, and take considered action is what really builds sustainable leaderful practice.”
Research active staff in South London and Maudsley
One of the core principles of research in the Trust is that staff are research aware; we support staff getting involved in research, including a network of over 80 Research Champions. Some clinicians might decide to become ‘research active’, by leading a research project or working with the Trust’s Research Delivery team; they may also pursue ‘research leadership’ such as doing a NIHR Clinical Fellowship (to find out more, visit our internal Maud R&D pages ).
Reflecting on the process of publishing research, Mike said: “I have previously undertaken and published research, but this was my first experience of submitting to a peer-reviewed journal. It was a steep learning curve, and at times I experienced a sense of imposter syndrome, questioning whether I was ‘clever enough’ to be writing at this level.
I would encourage anyone with even a slight interest in writing or research to give it a go. It can feel uncomfortable, and at times a challenging process, but it is important to work through this, as confidence and capability develop through continued, determined effort. The journal reviewers’ feedback was constructive and supportive, helping me strengthen the quality and clarity of the paper. The process itself became a clear example of learning through action, taking action, receiving feedback, reflecting, and refining over time, mirroring the principles of action learning that underpin this study. In fact, I am now leading a new action learning-based Positive Behaviour Support Culture and Practice Improvement programme, which I am determined to write up into a further article next year.”
About the Estia Centre
The development programme is part of the training and research opportunities offered by the Estia Centre, in the Mental Health in Learning Disability Team at South London and Maudsley. The courses are designed to support health and social care staff to deliver high-quality, person-centred care for people with a learning disability and autistic adults. They are grounded in the latest evidence, and co-produced and delivered in partnership with clinical experts, subject specialists and people with lived experience.
To find out more about the Developing Your Team’s Resilience Programme visit the Estia Centre website here: https://slam.nhs.uk/estia-module-3-developing-your-teams-resilience
Read the paper: Mike Bloodworth (08 Apr 2026): Developing resilient health and social care leadership; an action learning approach and its impact on leaders and teams, Action Learning: Research and Practice, DOI: 10.1080/14767333.2026.2653488
