Cracking the C-suite: Cohort 1

Actionable skills for VP, SVP, & CXO roles: Strategic Influence, Scale Culture, Develop Talent, Executive Presence in context of the AI Era

 Former Amazon VP; 70+ patents; led 800+

Amazon

Ethan Evans

Former Amazon VP; 70+ patents; led global teams of 800+

Executive Coach & CEO/Founder

Mariposa Leadership

Sue Bethanis, Ed.D.

Executive Coach & CEO/Founder, Mariposa Leadership; coached 400+ tech executives

Cracking the C-suite in the AI Economy

Learn actionable skills for VP, SVP, & CXO roles: Strategic Influence, Scale Culture, Develop Talent, Executive Presence (w/new AI content)

Google

Microsoft

Apple

Stripe

Each cohort is limited to 50 seats. October 2025 is the last live cohort for the year and is now closed. COURSE CONTENT:6+ hours of live online class taught via Zoom, combining lecture with real-work case studies in small groups and peer networking. In addition, you will be invited to alumni reunions with leaders from all cohorts so you can expand and continue deepening your network. We've added new content on AI across all four modules. You will learn and discuss how to best be a change manager regarding AI adoption and workforce issues as well as integrating Responsible AI (RAI). TOPICS: You are already someone who has a track record of great results. Many of your peers also do. So how do you shine so your boss and your boss’s peer notice? And further, how do you make the most impact for your company. Four ways: (1) STRATEGIC INFLUENCEThe mindset of being a steward of your company. Moving up to the C-suite means going beyond strategic planning. Strategy and influence go hand in hand. You must develop strategies, vision, and thought leadership that make the business better. Explore/know the market, outside forces, and ecosystem like no other, translate this information so it aligns with your company’s needs, and effectively sell your message to your peers, boss, and team. (2) SCALE CULTUREScaling to large numbers - how do you lead when your team is too big to even know names, let alone what people are doing? Use the skills of principles, processes, and people engagement to demonstrate the mindset of a conductor for your company. (3) DEVELOP TALENTAn emphasis on guiding/coaching a high-performance team. How do you select high-level leaders and make them great in only the small bits of time you have? How do you teach your directs how to coach their team? (4) EXECUTIVE PRESENCEA particular focus on navigating through the highly political world of the top.&nbsp;Leaders who make it to the C-suite are excellent communicators. They are clear and inspiring, and they have a particular kind of confidence and gravitas that sets them a part. What are the best ways for you to upskill both your formal and informal speaking? How do you best cultivate your network and inspire your followers with impact? AI questions we will explore together:(a) Skill Adoption: How do your employees best adopt AI skills? And best integrate them into each functional area? And best work alongside the AI agent to discern, interpret, and think critically?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(b) Responsible AI (RAI): What are your AI governance policies and who determines them?&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(c) Workforce: How do you best manage the (massive) change to the workforce? What jobs are needed? Which jobs are changing? What are the new criteria for hiring? (plug: critical and creative thinking!) High emphasis on case studies:Ethan and Sue built cases based on real-work examples. Example: “How do you shift your knowledge-base toward what your CEO values most?”&nbsp; Dive deep group discussions:- Illuminate your executive presence with “Pick your moments, NOT your battles.”- Optimize your coaching with your directs with “Stop solving all your leaders’ problems.”&nbsp; Learn what it takes to break through and succeed in VP, SVP, &amp; CXO roles:&nbsp;- How to think strategically and be seen as an influential leader who enhances the whole company in 3 ways: Explore/Know, Translate, Message- How to influence and optimally lead large teams in 3 ways: Principles, Processes, People Engagement- How to teach your directs how to coach in 3 easy steps: Rapport, Assess, Re-frame- How to develop and demonstrate executive presence and confidence in 3 ways: Gravitas and Grace, Humor + Stories, Superpower- How to see around corners (e.g. think long-term and have a multi-year approach)- How to become a scaled deep leader, change agent, and trusted decision maker- How to manage your organization to execute with little oversight, take calculated risks, and deliver results- How to cultivate peer relationships and inspire your followers Scope, organization size, and consistent high-impact results are important...But are not enough. We will teach you specific actionable steps on how to prioritize the things that matter most to top-level executives. Bonus material:- Video recording of all live sessions available via Maven platform- 120 minutes of prework content, specifically, a 60 minute prework video recording from Ethan &amp; Sue plus another 60 minutes of prework articles and actions.- 100+ page electronic “Living” Resource Guide from Mariposa Leadership- Class slides as a PDF- 20% off all career development on-demand courses- $1000 off 1-1 executive coaching from Mariposa Leadership Proven ROI for leaders getting to and succeeding in top executive roles: Together Ethan and Sue have worked with over 500 executives in operational and coaching contexts.&nbsp;Many of Ethan's executive team members at Amazon have now moved on to either their own VP roles at the company or to SVP/EVP roles across the tech industry, including as VCs, startup founders, and executives at Oracle, Google, Toyota, and more.&nbsp;Sue has worked with over 400 VPs+ who have boosted their effectiveness and results for their companies, including presidents at two $10 Billion+ companies, CEOs at 8 start-ups, and SVPs/VPs at numerous tech companies like: Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Credit Karma, eBay, GoFundMe, Guru, HPE, Intel,&nbsp;LinkedIn, Microsoft, MongoDB, Monite, Paypal, Pinterest, Roku, Twitch, Yahoo!, Zuora, and Zynga. Alumni reunions:You will be invited to alumni reunions with leaders from all cohorts so you can expand and continue deepening your network. Alumni testimonials:-&nbsp;"A well balanced course from exceptionally well calibrated leaders."&nbsp;— Vice President &amp; General Manager, Red Hat -&nbsp;"This is the most condensed set of leadership advice I’ve ever seen in any format (books, classes, articles - you name it). I will re-read the course materials a lot because it really gives you everything you need to succeed as an exec."&nbsp;— SVP Product Management, Stellantis - "Loved the presenters and found the content, discussions and frameworks to be highly applicable to my current and future leadership roles." — Vice President - Global Product Marketing, Visa - "This course was fantastic! Actionable frameworks, tools, and sage advice from both Ethan and Sue. Highly recommended!" — Executive Director of Product Management, Disney - "Uplevel yourself with the skillsets and framework to make the jump into the C-Suite. This course gets straight to the point while providing ample time for coaching, questions and networking among a group of highly successful leaders across the industry. Walk away with actionable next steps to get you from here… to there." — Head of Sales, AWS - "Wealth of knowledge gained from real-world experiences, unexpected curveballs, and people issues shared in 2 days! Super productive course with a ton of learnings and actionable tips. Highly recommended!" — Group Engineering Manager, Microsoft - "This two-day course distilled over 50 years of collective leadership experience from Ethan and Sue into a concise 6 hours of content. Packed with practical frameworks condensed into easily digestible segments, it provides immediately applicable tools for daily leadership growth. I emerged with fresh perspectives on conveying executive presence through intentional awareness of how my actions shape others’ sense of value and belonging." — Senior Director of Product Management, Workday - "Excellent class. I liked to have all the content I've been reading or listened in one place." — VP Engineering and Research, LILT - "Ethan and Sue's course exceeded my expectations! The value far outweighs the cost. It's an investment you won't regret."&nbsp;— Director of Software Engineering, Crown Castle

Cracking the C-Suite: How to get and master key executive roles

Directors, Sr. Directors, &amp; VPs from all disciplines who have the ambition and confidence to crack the C-suite.

Managing large groups and multiple organizations. Seeking top roles Amazon and Google L10, Microsoft 70/80, Meta D2+.

Startup Founders and anyone in CXO roles wanting to maximize their leadership impact with the right skills.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

Learn how to stand out strategically so you can influence the direction of your company.

How to stand out and influence

Scale up and coach your team and make them great in small bits of time.

How to scale up and develop talent effectively

Upskill your communication style and messages to inspire your organization.

How to demonstrate Executive Presence

AI material will cut across all four modules. You will learn and discuss how to best be a change manager regarding AI adoption and workforce issues as well as integrating Responsible AI (RAI).

How to be a change manager with AI Adoption

Content is developed by Ethan's experience as an Amazon Vice President with input from Ethan &amp; Sue's network of executives, coaches, VCs, army officers, and startup founders. You will get specific examples from Sue’s coaching clients.

Optimized actionable advice for Directors & VPs who want to get a higher executive role, internally or externally

Hear Ethan's break through experience first hand and learn from the specific actions Ethan took with his direct reports to help them break through to the C-suite.

Learn from Ethan's personal stories (not theory)

Hear how Sue helped executive clients succeed and how she demonstrates executive presence leading her Mariposa team.

Learn from Sue’s real examples (not theory)

Ethan and Sue built cases based on real-work examples. Example:&nbsp;“How to you shift your knowledge-base toward what your CEO values most?”&nbsp;

High emphasis on case studies

- Illuminate your executive presence with “Pick your moments, NOT your battles.”- Optimize your coaching with your directs with “Stop solving all your leaders’ problems.”&nbsp;

Dive deep group discussions

Network and cultivate peer relationships with other high-performing leaders. Join alumni reunions with leaders from all cohorts.

A powerful network with alumni reunions

Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.

Lifetime access

Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.

Community of peers

You will be invited to alumni reunions with leaders from all cohorts so you can expand and continue deepening your network.

Alumni reunions

Added new content on AI across all four modules. You will learn how to best be a change manager in AI adoption and workforce issues.

New AI Content

Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.

Certificate of completion

Provide a brief description for each module as a way to sell the value of what students will be learning throughout the course.

First Module

Second Module

Third Module

Course syllabus

Watch the Course Introduction & Overview to see what you get (this is 17 minutes of a 6+ hour live online class)

Principal Technical Business Development Manager, Amazon

Head of Commercial Med-Tech Product Management, Johnson & Johnson

Testimonials from Ethan’s other courses on Maven

Ethan & Sue Breakdown Executive Presence (video recording)

Amazon Vice President, retired after 15+ years; 70+ patents; led global teams of 800+; Executive Coach currently

Executive Coach & CEO/Founder, Mariposa Leadership; has coached 400+ tech executives + has led the Mariposa team for 27+ years

Meet your instructors

<ul><li>Strategic Influence &amp; Stewardship: Explore, Translate, Message - How to best utilize this framework to understand the ecosystem, align to your company, and shape audiences.</li><li>Scale Culture: Principles, Processes, People Engagement - How to influence and optimally lead large teams.</li></ul>

Saturday, March 8 - Strategic Influence & Scale Culture

<ul><li>Develop Talent &amp; Effective Coaching: Rapport, Assess, Re-frame - Coach your directs with little time. Coach them how to coach.</li><li>Executive &amp; Top Presence: Gravitas + Grace, Humor, Superpower - Master the tools of projecting executive influence. Cultivate peer relationships.</li></ul>

Sunday, March 9 - Develop Talent & Executive Presence

An emphasis on real-work case studies, dive deep group discussion, and interactive Q&amp;A.

Each session includes case studies, group discussion, and interactive Q&A

The last 30 minutes of each day is dedicated for peer networking for you to discuss key takeaways, share your immediate actions, and meet other high performing peers.

Dedicated peer networking

You will get a 60 minute prework video recording from Ethan &amp; Sue plus another 60 minutes of prework articles and actions.

Bonus — Prework Video Recording, Articles, and Actions (120 minutes of content)

All live sessions will be video recorded and made available to watch/rewatch at your own pace via the Maven Student Portal. Thus, if you cannot attend the full time or need to drop off at any point, you can catch up and watch the video recording.

Important — Video Recordings will be Available

Course schedule

Class is focused on four growth areas for C-suite success

High emphasis on real-work case studies and dive deep group discussions

Ethan and Sue have worked with over 500 executives in operational and coaching contexts

EVP at Capital One (Ameesh Paleja) on what he learned from Ethan (video recording)

Read what Gagan Biyani, CEO and Co-Founder of Maven, said about the value of Ethan and Sue's course

Former President and CEO, Ixia; 
Chair of the Board, Box

Former SVP of Sales/Alliances, Ericsson; EVP & Founder, JLittle Group

Testimonials from Sue’s executive clients (CEOs, SVPs, VPs):

Frequently Asked Questions

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