Master Class Leading from the Middle

This Master Class elevates you beyond traditional strategy execution roles, preparing you for future leadership challenges with a focus on innovation and adaptability. It offers a personalized development track, including peer learning and reflective assignments, tailored to your unique context. The curriculum is built on evidence-based frameworks, taught by experts across diverse domains, ensuring a comprehensive leadership education.

Leaders in the middle are actors of strategy. They align for strategy execution, reinforce the strategy from the bottom up and/or break it somewhat open by being creative and innovative. It requires a strong connection to the strategic dynamics and any changes in the organization. Exactly what a leader in the middle should do, is defined by context, time, and dynamics. Is there any need for discipline or innovation? Is the strategy credible or rather dangerous? Do employees need breathing space, clarity, or political support?

After completing this module, you will:

• have a sharpened understanding of your role and position within your organization's strategic narrative.
• understand the dynamics of exploitation and exploration, and recognize your critical role in navigating this 'ambidexterity';
• have strengthened your self-awareness and authenticity as a leader in the middle;

This involves making strategy explicit and aligning people and resources to execute on the strategy.

Day 2 we zoom out to have a look at you as leader in the middle. How do you deal with the tensions between the top and your team, between aligning and diverging? And, What’s your story in the middle?

After completing this module, you will:

• have acquired knowledge and tools to optimally align people and resources to strategy;
• understand the dynamics of exploitation and exploration, and you will recognize your critical role in navigating this 'ambidexterity.';
• have a sharpened understanding of your role and position within your organization's strategic narrative;

Leaders in the Middle embody "ambidexterity", adeptly balancing performance with innovation. They foster innovation through structural flexibility and a culture of entrepreneurship, experimentation, and learning, while also enhancing or reshaping strategy from the bottom up, either by integrating internal insights to strengthen it or by challenging and revising it for improvement.

After completing this module, you will:

• understand the criticality of an entrepreneurial mindset and how to apply it;
• have tools to structurally empower your teams;
• know how to enhance your team's psychological safety and learning capabilities;
• be able to navigate stakeholder relationships politically in order to take on upward roles;

Only the people in the middle can assess what position to take. It is up to them to write the plot of their story. During the lift-off, you'll present your leadership journey and along with it, your lessons learned.

Throughout the program, you work on your own growth and development as a leader in the middle, This track is the backbone of your leadership journey. Through carefully designed assignments, structured reflection, and online check-in moments, you deepen your self-awareness and develop the mindset and skills needed to lead effectively from the middle. By connecting personal insights to real-world challenges, you don’t just learn about leadership — you embody it. The result is a tangible shift in confidence, how you make decisions, and influence others across your organization.