THE LEADER CHALLENGE
Expertise Brought You This Far. Here's What Takes You Further.
Here's the truth: companies often promote you for your technical expertise, then expect you to lead through complexity, build alignment across silos, and drive innovation—skills nobody actually teaches.
Facilitative leadership is that missing link. It's what makes you stand out in meetings, turn chaotic discussions into decisive action, and demonstrate you're ready to multiply impact through others, not just your own performance.
Without it, you remain as an individual performer. With it, you become the leader people want to follow and organizations need to succeed.
What most people think leadership is
Setting the Direction. Making Decisions. Providing the Answers. Smartest Person in the Room.
What facilitative leadership actually is
Asking Powerful Questions. Guiding Groups to Decisions. Leading By Example and With Humility.
THE LEADERSHIP LAB APPROACH
This Isn't Leadership Theory.
It's Leadership-In-Action.
Most leadership programs teach concepts you'll forget by Monday. The facilitative leadership lab focuses on skills you'll put into practice immediately—and builds the capabilities that will get you to the next level.
1
BEFORE THE SESSION
The Work Nobody Sees
This is where the real leadership starts. You'll learn to do the one-on-ones beforehand, build trust with stakeholders, surface what won't get said in front of the boss, and walk into the room with starter ideas instead of blank slates.
When you show up this prepared, people notice.
2
DURING THE SESSION
Leading in Real Time
You're not running activities — you're framing problems, creating productive tension, forcing connections between ideas, and guiding groups to decisions.
Every technique gets practiced in small cohorts with real-time coaching from faculty who've done this hundreds of times.
3
AFTER THE SESSION
Making It Stick
Anyone can run an energetic session or workshop. The difference is what happens next.
You'll learn to build momentum, create accountability, and ensure that what happened in the room translates to results — because that’s what takes your work to the next level and makes leadership remember your name.
THE APPROACH TO TRAINING
The 5 Things That Make This Training Different and Awesome
01
Make it fun and purposeful
Learning doesn't have to feel like a root canal. When people are energized AND challenged—that's when real skill-building happens.
We use games, creative exercises, and unexpected prompts as tools to unlock the kind of thinking you can't get from a PowerPoint deck.
02
Improvement happens when no one else is watching
You don't get good at facilitation by sitting in a classroom—you get good by doing it over and over in real situations.
That's why we give you weekly homework assignments that apply to your real life. The sessions teach you what to do. The reps between sessions make you great at it.
03
Design for how humans actually pay attention
Let's be honest: no one learns from 3 hours of lecture. That's why our sessions follow a deliberate rhythm: Teach → Model → Experiment → Debrief.
We introduce a concept, show you what it looks like in action, put you in the hot seat to try it, and then unpack what worked and what didn't.
WHO IT'S FOR
Built for the people who are ready but haven't been given the chance
This program is for professionals — typically 5+ years experience — who are doing great work but haven't found the right vehicle to demonstrate leadership capability.
Whether you are searching for a way to demonstrate that you are leadership material or you are a new leader trying to find your way, the Facilitative Leadership Lab is for you.
You know you can lead. You just need the opportunity, the method, and the confidence to do it in the situations that matter.
Senior Scientists & Engineers
Doing excellent technical work, ready to be seen as more than a subject matter expert
Program & Project Managers
Coordinating across teams but not getting credit for the leadership it takes
Technical Leads & Analysts
Expected to influence decisions but only invited to present, not to lead
Directors & Innovation Leads
Handed "innovation" with no playbook and no authority to match
PROGRAM DESIGN AT A GLANCE
How It Works
Format
10 live sessions over 6 weeks — twice per week, 2.5 hours each
Participants
Small cohort of likeminded professionals with the same goals as you
Application
Weekly assignments and bonus materials that apply directly to your real work
Faculty
Led by seasoned experts who have walked a mile in your shoes and know what it takes to get to the next level
Access
6 months of post-program access to all recordings, tools, and templates
Community
Ongoing membership in the Facilitative Leadership network
THE PERSONAL IMPACT
They were doing the work. Now they're getting the credit.
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My problem wasn't my data — it was my inability to facilitate stakeholders to co-own the insights. I learned to run co-creation sessions where leaders built solutions with me instead of just receiving my recommendations. Eight months later, I was promoted to Director of Analytics Strategy.
Priya N.
Lead Data Scientist → Director, Financial Services
Every decision escalated to me and every meeting spun in circles. After seeing how expert facilitators structured our most contentious debate without solving it themselves, I started applying those techniques immediately. Within a year, my VP told me I'd stepped into the leader role.
Michael T.
Technical Program Manager, Medical Devices
I used to solve every problem myself instead of facilitating my team to solve them together. Within three months of applying what I learned, I was promoted to Associate Director. My technical skills didn't change. My ability to unlock collective intelligence did.
Dr. Sarah C.
Senior Scientist → Associate Director, Top-10 Pharma
The real goal wasn't just thinking differently — it was learning how to facilitate like a leader. The power of harnessing the collective smarts of my peers was much more valuable than acting alone. Years later, I'm using those skills almost every day.
Jason B.
Senior Technical Leader, Guardian Glass
THE PROGRAM
Learn from practitioners, not theorists
Every faculty member has made the exact transition this program teaches — from being the expert with the answers to being the leader who makes everyone in the room better. They've done it hundreds of times, across the Fortune 500, and they'll coach you through doing it yourself.
Dan Seewald
Founder & CEO, Deliberate Innovation
Former Head of Pfizer Worldwide Innovation. Led 1,000+ innovators. TED Talk speaker. Trained thousands of facilitative leaders.
John Klick
Corporate Innovator & Expert Facilitator
20+ years leading teams through applied creativity and design thinking. Master of digital facilitation and interactive tools.
Mary Wells
Scientist & Innovation Leader
25+ years spanning bench science to innovation facilitation. Expert at co-creation with cross-functional teams.
Cal Austin
Corporate Leader & Strengths Coach
30+ years in commercial strategy and organizational innovation. Certified StrengthsCoach for leadership development.
Jennifer Hirsch
R&D Executive & Org Systems Designer
30+ years in senior R&D leadership roles. Expert in transforming how leaders/teams work together to build adaptive capabilities and deliver breakthrough results.
Your work won't speak for itself.
But you can.
The spring 2026 cohort has limited spots. Join the waitlist and you will get early access to a free preview session.
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