Organizational Physics 

High-Leverage Leadership

Lex Sisney

Top business coach to CEOs and Leadership Teams. $10B+ in value creation.

Learn the core principles that govern every system so you can instantly spot where performance is breaking down.

See the System

Discover how to read your company, find the friction, and apply leverage where it counts.

Know What to Do

Get practical tools to cut through noise, align people, and focus energy on what actually moves the business forward.

Drive Results

COURSE CONTENT:8 Hours over one weekend, and 2 bonus hours before and after, combining presentations and case studies, interactive exercises in small groups and self reflection time. OVERVIEW: You are already comfortable managing others, but to get to the next level of leading large teams, you are aware that you need to be able to identify and drive transformative opportunities for the business, assess and lean into the risks associated with them, overcome your own fears of putting your ideas on the line, and inspire followership from others. You also know that this level of leadership can be exhausting - and require resilience in the face of push back or results taking longer to achieve than you hoped. Its tempting to "put off" the time it takes to work on these topics, but if you can invest the time now, it will make your leadership impact, visibility and effectiveness significantly stronger, by not having your own fears, or perceived weaknesses getting in your way. KEY TOPICS INCLUDED: 1. Establish your leadership advantage.- How to stop comparing yourself to others and instead lean into your own unique strengths as a leader- How to overcome imposter syndrome and tap into your courage to be confident leading at a higher level- How to get comfortable admitting what you don't know - and inviting others in to help as your support system to grow your confidence- How to get comfortable leading others on a larger team who's functional skills are outside your own knowledge and/or who have more age/experience than you- How to inspire and influence others to come along with ideas you are championing 2. See the opportunities that others won't. - Finding the gap - how to leverage foresight instead of hindsight in the pursuit of breakthrough strategies- How and when to tap into your instincts, when data isn't available for decision making- How to understand when a breakthrough opportunity is achievable with your team and your resources 3. Overcome your fears.- How to understand what holds you back from making bold moves- How to understand your tolerance for risk in relation to others to get confident to make more transformative moves- How to bounce back and recalibrate when things do not go as you expect 4. Navigating the politics. - How to get the confidence to invite dissent and assess the input and feedback from others who do not support your bold moves- How to go from trying to "convince" others, to "co-creating the future" with others.- How to read the room and ensure peer and team discussion is transparent and constructive- How to react when you know colleagues are not supporting your plans- How to make decisions when your team are disagreeing with each other and need you to break the tie 5. Fuel your endurance. - How to understand your unique energy needs to ensure that you prevent burnout during times of great stress- How to understand the different energy needs of others on your team so that you can work together to meet the collective team's needs 6. Build a culture of high performance fun.- How to leverage your own unique style to inspire others and build authentic followership- How to set your team "house rules" to establish a culture of high expectations and high results- How to build an inclusive team that is comfortable with dissent This is a course that is designed to get you out of your comfort zone. To get to the senior levels, it is not enough to deliver on your own existing KPIs, it requires you signaling that you are the kind of leader that is proactive and has courage, conviction and the ability to influence. This course will get you out of the text book and in to real life examples to "road test" how you would react. Course material and advice is based on real life case studies from Sarah's business experience moving from a manager of a small team of 5 individual contributors at one company, and then moving her way up to leading the complete transformation and turnaround of the $5Bn global Gatorade business less than 10 years later. Sarah is a proven coach and developer of talent, having managed teams as small as 5 and as large as 15,000. She led the reinvention and turnaround of the $5Bn Gatorade business as its global president, before leading the digital transformation of Equinox Fitness Clubs as president. Sarah has also taught workshops to over 500 young professionals, with an average NPS rating in the 60s. TESTIMONIALS FROM STUDENTS WHO HAVE TAKEN SARAH'S IN PERSON WORKSHOPS "It was a really fun two days taking the time to reflect on really important "stuff" that I normally don't make time for. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the day to day grind of work without pausing to take that time to check in with yourself. I'm also rarely surrounded by such an inspirational group of people who have relevant complementary skillsets and experiences to my own. I find that hearing others' goals pushed me to think bigger and take on even more. Thank you!Head of Client Services for an Innovation Agency "Loved this! Will definitely recommend to friends. Loved the interactive exercises - especially the debate one and the compliment one. The discussion about my blind spots (figure out weaknesses and the anti-you) was SO helpful. The group made me think about things I never would have realized. Exercise about pain training was so helpful and almost therapeutic to hear others fears and commiserate."Product Leader "I loved it. Great format with lots of variety. I came away feeling motivated to make change, supported by those around me, and inspired by everyone in the room. I would be most likely to recommend this to someone who has been considering a leap, or who has tangible goals in mind."Director of Strategy "This was a great experience. It flew by, which doesn’t happen with these types of workshops. I really liked the layout of content and the perfect combination of case studies and larger group talk. You created a safe space for everyone to be vulnerable, supportive, encouraging and excited."Director Programming and Operations "Very challenging, ahead of the game and awe-inspiring workshop."IT Strategy Consultant

An interactive weekend immersive, that  uses real situations to teach students.


Course syllabus

Pre course meet n greet session for students

Friday July 11th

<ul><li>All sessions are recorded</li><li>Students have lifetime access</li></ul>

Saturday July 12th and Sunday July 13th

Post course office hours for students

Friday July 18th

Course schedule

You have 8-10 years of experience and aspire to, or have landed your first leadership role with a large team and want to assert your vision

You are shifting from managing individual contributors to leading through managers and you want to create a culture of high performance fun

You need to step onto a bigger leadership stage and want to know how to establish your vision to make transformative high impact moves

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

By reviewing insights from personality inventories and peers, you'll establish a clear framework that you can turn back to that articulates your most confident leadership style so that you can cultivate courage to lead others with skills and experiences beyond your own.

Confidence and strength to lead. Identify your competitive advantage as a leader to leverage your strengths and support your weaknesses.


Through an interactive exercise, you will explore the differences in your unique style for thinking and sharing your ideas, so you can develop your plan to create a culture of high performance with others, to help you drive high impact results.

Insights on building a high performing team. Understand how your style best plays, to improve your ability to get results through others.


Through an interactive case study based game, you will learn how to hone your instincts, and when to use them to see opportunities that others can't so that you are able to break through and add value to the business that others may not.

Strategies for identifying opportunities for growth. How to find the gap - and see opportunities for yourself, your team and your company.


Through a framework for group discussion, you will develop an understanding of your tolerance for risk in relation to others, and you will develop a personal strategy for overcoming your fears of making mistakes, which is critical when leading at the senior level.

Methods for facing your fears. Analyze what holds you back and establish strategies for risk taking, that enable you to drive change.


Through real life case studies you will learn how to navigate politics, influence others, turn to team mates for support when your fears kick in, and develop a willingness to admit that you don't have all the answers - a requirement for creating followership of large teams.

Techniques for top down and bottom up communication. How to get buy in, navigate politics and influence stakeholders to support your vision.


You will participate in an interactive case study assignment to teach you how to assess the long range viability of your greatest transformational moves, as it is critical at the senior level to understand how to evolve and sustain your biggest ideas.

Clear understanding of social cues. Apply a framework to know when to play harder, to pivot or to walk away from ideas you have championed.


You will spend time understanding your own needs around health, wellbeing and energy management so that you can prevent burnout. You will develop a framework to create a set of commitments to yourself that ensure you're endurance for the long leadership road ahead.

Strategies for sustaining yourself. How to establish the unique rituals that you will need to prioritize your own health and wellbeing.


Learn to lead boldly, assess risks, and drive change. Gain confidence to inspire large teams and seize breakthrough leadership opportunities


Sarah Robb O'Hagan

Cohort 2

Cohort 4

Take your leadership to the next level through curated advise and methods from an experienced leader. The course covers the basics of leadership role : people management, delivery management, stakeholder, business acumen, decision making, project management and lot more. Think of it as a time-boxed version of everything you need to bootstrap or ramp-up your leadership career. Whether you are a people leader (managing individuals or teams), individual contributor leader (senior most contributor) or someone who is curious and thinking about getting into this role over time - you all will be benefited. Leadership cannot just be taught, it needs to be practiced and learnt. Like any muscle, you can train on aspects of leadership if you have limited exposure and experience in that aspect - ensuring delivery on time, handling conflicts, communicating to wide variety of audience, dealing with uncertainty and fuzziness, handling performance management, influencing other leaders etc. There are thousands of books on leadership and management out there, with over hundreds being written every year. There are countless podcasts, articles and workshops in this space. Yet, you find bad leadership in all disciplines leading to varied outcomes often bad. Bad leadership does not just affect a particular team or organization, it creates a long term negative impact to many people directly or indirectly. Hence, I say that we need effective leaders, not just good. Good leadership is about self awareness, being outcome driven, making effective decisions and being people oriented. I believe all of us can learn to be good leaders. This cohort is one tiny contribution to that learning process.

Leadership stripped down and reduced to the essence

Get to know your cohort, understand your role as a leader and learn techniques to lead your team and organization

Saturday

Learn how to build business acumen, make decisions - when to go fast and when to go slow, Leading yourself through self awareness and a special AMA (Ask me Anything)

Sunday

Folks who just got promoted or moved to leadership role (Team lead, manager, Head, Director etc).

Those who are thinking to move in the leadership role, but are undecided. You are not sure if a formal leadership role is for you.

Experienced leaders who want to sharpen their skills and acquire new ideas and methods to accelerate their career.

Understand the different dimensions of leadership role and how to use situational leadership methods to be effective in your role

In-depth view of all aspects of leadership

Whether its about leading people, process, decisions, stakeholder, and complex project - there are practical advise that you can apply and learn from

Practical advise that meets the real world

Get first hand accounts for hard parts of leadership and how to navigate such situations.

First hand account for hard parts of leadership

Beyond the course curriculum, you hear from other experienced leaders through their stories and how they navigated leadership challenges. You also get to have moderated Q&amp;A sessions with these leaders

Learn from experts and peers

Each cohort members become part of a community that supports each other. You get to ask questions or share your challenges to get practical advise from the group. Periodically you will get to participate in community events to connect with other leaders

Ask questions and get advise from community

Vivek Juneja

Engineering leader and Podcaster

July 2025

December 2025

MtL is a hands-on, case-based learning experience where your own organization serves as the case. You’ll apply each tool and method directly to real challenges your team faces, making every session immediately relevant and actionable. Delivered in a flipped-classroom format, MtL combines asynchronous preparation with ten, two-hour weekly live sessions featuring instruction, practice cases, role plays, and guided application to your organization—reinforced by real-time feedback from teammates, peers, and instructors. You’ll come away with real solutions to real problems—and with initiatives ready to implement that drive performance and growth. MtL Tools and Methods make doable what is otherwise hard to do, through actions grounded in seven disarmingly simple truths that leaders often overlook.

Your own organization is the case: 

An organization.
Its leader.
The leader’s team.

To maximize your experience, bring:

Clarify or define an important initiative. 
Accelerate growth and improve performance. 
Engage openly and actively for meaningful impact

Come prepared to:

Ahead of our first live session, open and work through the Get Started and Ramp Up modules.

Course Opens

Plan on at least:<ul><li>40-minutes prep for live sessions</li><li>20-minutes post live sessions</li></ul>

Weekly Assignments

Weekly 2-hour live sessions on Thursdays

Your work in MtL culminates with a management presentation that you prepare and run through with at least one outside executive, factor input into your final submission, and that you turn in one week after the last live session for evalution and grading.

Management Presentation

Schedule

Professionally financed management teams driving to complete value creation initiatives.

Organization, unit, and function leaders driving change initiatives to grow faster/perform better.

Owner-Operators who are ready to transition but whose organizations are not transition ready.

Leaders and their team with a change in mind to accomplish a mission, leave a legacy, or get promoted.

Startup Entrepenuers looking to go from Powerpoint to Profits.

Manage to Lead is for:

An integrated system of tools & methods that gets leadership teams clear & aligned to architect, build, govern & change their organization.

Your mandate defines what you aim to achieve by when—it’s the game you’re playing. MtL teaches you how to always know:<ul><li>Where things stand now</li><li>Why things must change</li><li>What success looks like</li><li>How to get there</li></ul>

Master the Change Framework

Most leaders agree alignment is key, yet <a href="https://www.spiceworks.com/tech/innovation/articles/the-importance-of-organizational-alignment-and-how-to-achieve-it/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fewer than one-third say their top team is fully aligned</a>. MtL helps surface disconnects and build alignment using tools honed by leaders who have built and scaled successful organizations.

Discover Disconnects and Align Your Team

Identify which of five common operating models best fits your organization, then draft a DO–SELL–GROW process map for the area most limiting growth and performance.

Map, Manage, and Mature Your Core Processes

Learn how to track performance using key metrics—financial and otherwise—relative to past performance, future plans, and peer benchmarks.

Know What to Watch and How to Measure It

Discover how to prioritize initiatives, align your team around them, and lead them to completion—on time, on target, and on budget.

Conceive, Launch, and Guide Strategic Initiatives

Most people think you either lead or manage. The truth is you need to do both. The first thing a good leader needs to manage, is themself!

Cohort 16

Unison

Compusult Limited

Aquilent

Oracle

SAIC

Peter DiGiammarino

Professional CEO, Strategic Advisor, and Creator of Manage to Lead (MtL).

Joyce Reynolds Ph.D.

MtL Course Designer and Co-Instructor

Cohort 15

Cohort 17

An advanced-level course for senior and rising design leaders ready to address the most common challenges Design Leaders face. Learn how to build your durable design operating system to withstand scale, restructuring, evolution, and growth. Establish mechanisms and high-leverage activities that maintain quality and effectiveness for your teams and for the business. Course Topics + Content Build and activate high-impact teamsApply effective organizational design, strategic planning, and performance measurement Define and optimize your operating systemEstablish rhythms and rituals, shape a positive design culture, streamline processes and workflows, and build a robust reporting and communication strategy Identify the most effective design team structuresLearn how to choose the right team structures for your organization Activate your team’s strengths through organizational designAnticipate common challenges within and across teams and learn strategies for effectively addressing them Create your organization’s ideal design teamTogether, we’ll design and build your design team and organization 7 Live, Interactive Sessions, with timezone-friendly options for most APAC/EMEA/AMER locales - One Welcome Kickoff Session- Three Live, Interactive Learning Sessions including Q&amp;A sessions with guest experts- Two Office Hours / Q+A sessions with Kristin for personalized guidance- One Reflection/Wrap-up Session

Design Your Organization's Operating System 

Directors+ of Design and Operations leading teams across a portfolio of products and services.

Senior Leaders and Practitioners who are establishing, evolving, and leading a Design Organization or Operations practice.

Operations leaders who want to sharpen skills, learn new approaches and methods, and accelerate their organizations.

You'll learn how to establish mechanisms, routines, and high-leverage activities that maintain and enhance culture, quality, and community as you grow.

Best practices to build infrastructure that scales

<ul><li>Design and structure a high-performing design organization.</li><li>Effectively prioritize and plan work to maximize impact.</li><li>Utilize visual staffing tools to manage resources efficiently.</li><li>Implement accountability measures to maintain high-quality standards.</li></ul>

Build and activate high-impact teams

<ul><li>Establish effective rhythms and rituals that enhance team productivity and alignment.</li><li>Shape a positive design culture that fosters innovation and collaboration.</li><li>Optimize processes and workflows for greater efficiency.</li><li>Develop and implement robust reporting and communications</li></ul>

Define and optimize your operating system

<ul><li>Learn approaches and tactics that address common organizational and team challenges</li><li>Mitigate these challenges via a fixed vs. flexible framework</li><li>Gain new strategies to keep your team focused and thriving</li></ul>

Identify and anticipate the most common team and organizational challenges 

Guest Experience: Experienced leaders will join to share their stories and give examples of how they navigated similar challenges Instructor Experience: You'll learn directly from Kristin's first-hand experience establishing and leading multiple large-scale global design orgs

Access to first-hand experience and guidance customized to your unique situation

Included are multiple, moderated Q&amp;A sessions with Kristin and other industry leaders so that you can get expert advice on your unique challenges and aspirations.

Lightning Lessons

High-Leverage Leadership