How it worksEvery session follows the same rhythm.
A predictable structure means less time on logistics and more time practicing. Each 90-minute session runs like this:
| Minutes | Segment | What happens |
| 15 | Field report | Each person shares what they tried since the last session: what worked, what didn’t and what they noticed. |
| 20 | The framework | One practical model, explained with tech-world examples and the exact language to use it. |
| 30 | Live practice | Role-plays in pairs and trios on your own scenarios, with feedback from me and the group. |
| 20 | Peer case clinic | One participant brings a live situation. The group asks questions, offers options and challenges assumptions. |
| 5 | Commitment | You name one specific thing you will do at work before the next session. |
Between sessionsField work
One short assignment applied at work, about an hour over two weeks.
In sessionsReal cases
Every role-play and case uses situations participants are facing now.
ThroughoutConfidential
What’s said in the Circle stays in the Circle. Sessions are not recorded.
The curriculumFive sessions, three phases.
Phase 1 · Foundations: how you show upWeeks 1–4
Understand your leadership style and how others experience it.
| Session | Theme | Framework & practice | Field work |
| S1 · WK 1 | Your leadership baseline | Working styles and how they clash across teams and cultures. Communicating with the Pyramid Principle: lead with the answer, then the reasons. Everyone delivers a two-minute update and gets feedback. | Ask three colleagues for one strength and one blind spot |
| S2 · WK 3 | Executive presence & influence | Credibility, relationships and visibility as the three levers of influence. How to speak so senior people listen: brevity, a clear point of view and calm under questions. | Draft your three-minute leadership story |
Phase 2 · Leading others: the hard conversationsWeeks 5–8
Handle the conversations most managers postpone.
| Session | Theme | Framework & practice | Field work |
| S3 · WK 5 | Stakeholders & managing up | Stakeholder mapping: decision-makers, influencers, blockers and champions. How to bring your manager a problem, a recommendation and a decision to make. Practice pitching an idea to a skeptical executive. | Map the stakeholders of one current initiative |
| S4 · WK 7 | Difficult conversations & feedback | Feedback with Situation–Behavior–Impact, and coaching conversations with GROW. Three role-plays that get progressively harder, from a missed deadline to a disagreement with a peer. | Hold one feedback conversation you’ve been avoiding |
Phase 3 · Leading at scale: across cultures and changeWeeks 9–10
Lead people who work, disagree and decide differently from you.
| Session | Theme | Framework & practice | Field work |
| S5 · WK 9 | Leading across cultures & your action plan | Direct and indirect feedback, how decisions get made, and what silence means in different cultures. Practice announcing an unpopular decision. Then each person presents a five-minute plan: two or three development areas, the actions behind them and how they will stay accountable. | Your leadership action plan, reviewed by the group |