Leadership Development

Putting the development in leadership development

At the core, our approach to leadership development centers on deepening self-insight and self-awareness, leveraging personal values and purpose, and opening executives’ minds to new or different ways of responding when they face challenges. Our goal is to help leaders achieve lasting breakthroughs that will serve them well in a range of testing and uncertain situations.

Leadership development with MindsOpen

We take a learner-centric approach to leadership development, guiding leaders to make sense of their typical behaviors so they have a more nuanced and profound understanding of themselves, their impact, assumptions, and self-limiting beliefs. We then help leaders identify and practice alternative responses and actions to real-world scenarios.

Our leadership development offerings

Learning workshops

Based on an identified organizational need, often related to a desired change in company culture, we facilitate topic-specific learning sessions with cohorts of leaders.

Small group leader development

We provide leaders with a confidential space for collaborative, active learning to make breakthroughs on specific leadership goals.

Leadership development programs

We partner with you to design and facilitate customized programs for your leaders and executives. We utilize experiential learning, individual coaching, and peer learning.

Accelerated development

Focusing on your high-potential, emerging leaders, we deliver a tailored program to help accelerate the speed of their development and growth.

Let’s talk more about leadership development

What steps should we take before launching a leadership development program?

You’ll get the greatest value and lasting return on your investment if:

  • You’ve determined the mindset and behaviors your leaders need to be successful
  • You’ve already defined and aligned leaders on your vision and strategy
  • You’ve made or are making changes to the culture, systems, structures, and processes so leaders can implement their new learning with fewer barriers
  • You’ve addressed inconsistencies and contradictions between your espoused leadership principles and the actual leadership behaviors of your most senior executives
  • You’ll minimize the lag time between any leadership development interventions and leaders being able to apply the learning
Can you also help us define our leadership principles?

Leadership development doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Our work has its greatest impact when we can spend time with you at the outset thinking through the real needs for leadership development, the organizational context and culture, the current myths and stories about leadership, and power and decision-making rights in your business. If you haven’t yet identified the mindset and behaviors your leaders need to be effective or if these need refreshing, we can partner with you to deliver this work.

What are the benefits of leadership development with MindsOpen

The way we learn and how much we retain is impacted by the method of learning. Group discussions, practice by doing, and using learning immediately improve retention. We use approaches that help the learning stick. In turn, leaders are more self-aware, more in control of their behaviors, and better equipped to address business and organizational challenges.

What do clients say about our leadership development work?

The workshops heightened our leaders’ and managers’ awareness around how to foster an environment where people speak up when others say or do things that fall below our collective standards. Our leaders and managers now utilize the strategies they learned to create an environment that enables others to find their voice. The lessons from the workshop have become ongoing tools that we utilize over and over again, with some of the terms and concepts from the MindsOpen workshops having become part of our vocabulary, especially when we work through challenging people issues. HR leader, Financial Services

The workshop was great. There is a self-awareness I was lacking. I left the workshops with a lot of questions on humility: How humble am I really? Why did I think I was so good when I really am not? How did that come to be? I also left with the notion that the gap I have in inclusion is greater than I realized. Business Executive, Financial Services

What our clients
say about us

MindsOpen takes the time to understand the root issues. The coaches have a way of connecting with different types of leaders to get the most out of them in a group and in individual interactions. They approach their work in an authentic way that draws even the strongest naysayers in. During a complex engagement with a team in the business I support, our MindsOpen coach had a way of eliciting the participation of a couple of people I was not sure would open up to the process. They knew how to push people just so. The assessment tools they utilize offer a round understanding of the individual and help to push forward interesting dialogue and insight about other team members. MindsOpen is a fantastic partner. Our coaches are always available to offer insight/suggestions and they have helped me in my approach significantly. You feel like you are working with the very best when engaging MindsOpen.

D.G., HR Executive, Real Estate Investment

They understand nuance, organizational difference, and don't try label individuals or companies, or define people as a "type" in relation to what or who they are. Their approach is a journey. It does not feel like you are being led to a certain point but are facilitated in finding your way. They are clear on objectives but very agile on how you get there. For the first time, I enjoy my coaching sessions. My coach has a very good style. He is challenging but empathetic; listens and understands well; is highly astute; and brings people out of themselves to create an open and candid, but safe environment for teams to engage. I also just felt a connection, trust, and liked him. He is very human in his approach and creates space for me to be vulnerable and honest.

K.S., Chief Operating Officer, Global Law Firm

Their direct style is appreciated. They see into your soul. Other providers are too fluffy compared to MindsOpen. They deliver feedback in a concise and calm way. They see through all the barriers to get to the essence of a person or team. They make a meaningful difference to individuals and teams that go through the rigor of the customized plan. The best I have seen at cutting through the BS and identifying the core of the issue(s). Hence, people learn and grow quickly.

M.T., CEO, Beverage Industry

Leadership journeys today are incredibly complex, intensely demanding and ever evolving. Neil’s style - rooted in enduring principles and concepts; challenging yet caring; highly personalized - is well suited to this environment. His coaching has transformed the way I think about and practice leadership. It’s benefited me in innumerable ways, professionally and even personally. More importantly, it’s benefited the organization I lead and the next generation of leaders coming through it. That ‘multiplier effect’ is priceless. We would not be the organization we are today without him.

Martin Whittaker, CEO, Just Capital

After working with MindsOpen, our leaders have been much more aware of their blind spots and are more self-aware in general. They have improved in their leadership abilities and have also built their confidence. It's been great that our leaders can choose from a few different professionals to ensure they are comfortable with their coach. We have really appreciated the rigor of the psychological insight being taken into consideration. We also love the balance of the customization for each individual with the consistency we are able to gain across leaders. The MindsOpen coaches keep in mind the different needs, skills, and abilities of each of our leaders. That’s been really wonderful for us.

M.K. Head of HR, non-profit sector

MindsOpen is a great way to summarize my coaching experience. My coach’s ability to combine psychological rigor with significant global experience across a broad range of industries has unlocked my leadership potential and significantly accelerated my personal development. Senior executives and mentors recognized this evolution and promoted me from a high potential “diamond in the rough” to a successful leader leading a multi-billion spend, global transformation program. My leadership brand became visible to others through a clearly defined set of characteristics that guide my behaviors every day, resulting in me successfully engaging the wider organization to act and create value for the business. My coach helped me identify and shape these characteristics in line with my past, present, and future, which makes it very natural for me to include them in the way I lead.

J.V., Global procurement executive, Food Industry