Stage 2 · LEADER

The middle is where culture is carried.

Your leaders in the middle translate vision into work, hold the culture between the executive team and everyone else, and carry pressure from both directions. LEADER equips them to thrive now while building a legacy — not by adding more to carry, but by building the skillsets and mindsets that make the carrying lighter.

LEADER takes cohorts of 9 to 15 leaders through a guided journey of coaching, psychometric assessment, and coursework, built on the four skillsets and four mindsets of Human-Rooted Leadership™.

The Middle

Pressure from both directions.

Leaders in the middle are carrying more than ever. Three loads land on them at once.

From Above

Vision arrives as expectations. The executive team sets direction, and your leaders are the ones who turn it into work people believe in.

From Below

The next generation learns the job through them. With AI taking on the entry-level work that used to teach it, developing people is no longer optional.

From Inside

Most were promoted for being great at the work, then handed people, with nobody teaching them how to lead. That gap is what wears leaders out.

The middle is not where culture breaks. It’s where culture is made — when leaders have what it takes to make it.

The Curriculum · The Four Skillsets

What your leaders build.

The LEADER journey is built on the four skillsets of Human-Rooted Leadership™ — we call them A²BCD. Each one is taught in coursework, worked in coaching, and practiced on real situations. Tap any skillset to see what it looks like when it takes hold.

A²Awkward AuthenticityBe real with your people, including when it’s awkward.+

Authenticity and awkwardness go together. There’s no authenticity in comfort, because comfort is where we perform and protect an image. Leaders who practice it let their people watch them grow, delegate with trust, and name it when roles and relationships change.

You’ll see it when

A leader says “I’m still learning this” in front of the team.

A leader names the awkward thing in the room, like a mistake or a hard truth, instead of working around it.

People on the team say “I don’t know” or “I got that wrong” out loud, because the leader goes first.

BBuild Great TeamsKnow each person deeply, then build something greater together.+

Leaders use scientifically validated psychometrics and a real relationship to uncover each person’s unique abilities and leanings. Then they shape how those people come together, in a team where people feel safe and seen.

You’ll see it when

A leader can describe each person’s strengths and leanings in specifics, beyond job titles.

Team members can say what the others are uniquely good at.

People speak up, admit mistakes, and bring their real abilities, and the leader is the reason.

CCreate ClarityHelp people know the why, how, and what of everything they’re doing.+

Early in a career, clarity comes from others. Over time, leaders become the ones who provide it. Part of creating clarity is leaning into the one-on-one conversations where it gets made, including the hard ones: listen first to understand, then speak to be understood.

You’ll see it when

People can say why, how, and what for their own work without asking.

The direction holds up when the work gets ambiguous.

Conflict becomes productive, one-on-one and in groups: it’s handled directly and ends with a plan and follow-through.

DDevelop Greater LeadersDevelop leaders who surpass you.+

The next level of leaders surpasses the leaders who trained them, in skill and ability, and carries the mission, vision, and values forward. A Human-Rooted Leader measures success by being surpassed.

You’ll see it when

A leader can name who they’re developing and what each person is growing toward.

They’re glad when someone they developed does something they couldn’t.

People they developed now lead others, and some do it better than they did.

The Curriculum · The Four Mindsets

The default your leaders operate from.

Skillsets are what a leader does. Mindsets are the default they do it from — and they’re what keep the skillsets going after the program ends. PIE is the how, 4Gen is the who, Time Traveler is the when, and LIP keeps a leader practicing the other three.

1PIE · Present, Interested, EmpoweringHow you show up with a person.+

Present: give people your attention, listen to understand, and be available when it matters. Interested: be a student of your people, curious about their goals, strengths, and aspirations. Empowering: use your position to advocate for them, so they have the tools, support, and opportunities to succeed.

You’ll see it when

Phones are put away and laptops are closed when a leader meets with someone.

A leader knows what motivates each person and what they want from their career.

A leader removes obstacles and creates chances for their people to grow.

24GenWho you owe it to: the generation above you and the generation below you.+

Every person is connected to one generation above them and one below, so each is both being invested in and investing in the next. A generation here is a stage of development, not an age or how long you’ve been there. The mindset: I am always both a receiver and a giver.

You’ll see it when

A leader can name who is investing in them and who they’re investing in right now.

Development runs both ways. A newer person teaches, and a senior leader learns.

Leaders count the people they’ve moved up a stage as part of their results.

3Time TravelerWhat you do with the time you have: turn minutes into moments.+

Being present doesn’t take more clock time. It takes a different mindset. A Time Traveler lives in clock time while creating the moments that matter, so minutes become moments. The meeting lasts thirty minutes either way, and what differs is whether anything happens in them.

You’ll see it when

The phone is face-down and the laptop is closed, even for five minutes.

There’s room in the conversation for the thing that wasn’t on the agenda.

People walk away from a short conversation saying, “that mattered.”

4LIP · Leader in ProgressWhy you keep going: never done, always learning how to lead.+

A Leader in Progress treats leadership as a craft still being learned, not a skillset already mastered. They never settle into the skills they already have, and they value growth above the self-satisfaction of having arrived. They understand that their continual learning sets a tone for everyone to stay humble and keep growing.

You’ll see it when

A leader can name what they’re working on in their leadership right now.

They try things they’re not yet good at, in front of their people.

Their learning pursuit is an inspiration to others.

How It Works

A guided journey, taken together.

LEADER runs in cohorts of 9 to 15, so leaders build the same language and the same trust while they build the skillsets. The journey weaves three strands together:

Coursework

Modules from the Human-Rooted Leader™ Platform, each one building one of the four skillsets or four mindsets.

Psychometric Assessment

Scientifically validated psychometrics and 360 feedback, so every leader starts with self-awareness and the cohort starts with collective awareness.

Coaching

A coach who stays close and helps each leader apply what they’re learning to the team they actually lead.

It’s transformation, not training — practiced on real situations, with the people they’ll keep working beside.

The Results

What LEADER graduates tell us.

94%

of LEADER™ participants say it strengthened their network across the organization.

90% rated our facilitators’ knowledge “Excellent” · 89% rated them “Very engaging”

“

My experience changed the way I am building my team.

“

…more in depth and meaningful conversations as well as relationship building across the organization.

“

I feel like I am building more trust with my reports.

Source: participant follow-up surveys, 2025–2026.

Free Tool

See how your leaders show up now.

The PIE Leadership Self-Diagnostic is fifteen short statements, rated 1 to 6, that show how present, interested, and empowering a leader is with the people they lead. Take it on yourself, or put it in front of your leaders, and see where to grow first.

Start with a conversation.

Tell us where your leaders in the middle are carrying the most.

No obligation.