Leadership Essentials

Leadership development program for managers

For new and experienced managers: six sessions over three months in which they work on their real situations: feedback, meetings, priorities and decisions. Between sessions they try what they learned in daily work and build on what works.

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30 min · free · no obligation

See the six sessions
Andre Ottlik in a Leadership Essentials session with a leadership team at a table, the Digital Leader Canvas on the screen behind him

We have worked with leadership teams at

  • meteocontrol
  • JKM
  • Future Energy Ventures
  • adidas
  • HelloFresh
  • Melitta
  • EGYM
  • Mister Spex

Who it is for

For companies with 50 or more employees and scale-ups that develop their leaders together, as one group from one organisation.

  • New managers

    Stepping into a leadership role for the first time, often leading former peers. They learn what is expected of them and how to act on it.

  • Experienced leaders in a new context

    A new team, a new company or a new task. They reflect on their style and get tools that fit the new situation.

Ideally 7 leaders take part, up to 12.

What your managers take away

  • Confidence in the roleA clear picture of what leading means for them and their team.
  • Clear prioritiesBetter focus, delegating well and saying no when it matters.
  • Meetings that move thingsShorter meetings with clear decisions and next steps.
  • Feedback that landsGiving and receiving feedback, and well-prepared one-to-ones.
  • Conflicts addressed earlyTensions solved before they get expensive.
  • Peers to learn withA group of fellow leaders who share what works.

Six sessions over three months

A session about every two weeks. In between, your leaders try one or two steps at work, and the next session opens with what happened.

  1. 1Manager or leader?
  2. 2Leadership styles and change
  3. 3Self-management and priorities
  4. 4Meetings and focus
  5. 5Communication
  6. 6Feedback and one-to-ones

The six sessions

Each session lasts three hours. We meet about every two weeks and adapt the examples to what your managers are dealing with. In a hybrid series the first and the last session take place on site and run longer, so the series has five sessions instead of six.

  1. Manager or leader?Expectations, the role of a leader and how much of the week is there for leading. We take stock and set goals for the series.
  2. Leadership styles and changeWhen to tell and when to coach, how people learn and change, and what is different in remote and hybrid teams.
  3. Self-management and prioritiesMethods such as Eisenhower and Pareto, delegating, saying no and setting boundaries.
  4. Meetings and focusClear structures for shorter, better meetings, from the stand-up to the decision, and time protected for focused work.
  5. CommunicationFour levels of listening, rapport and questioning techniques for conversations that land.
  6. Feedback and one-to-onesGiving and receiving feedback, and preparing and structuring conversations with employees.

How every session works

Strict timeboxing for introductions, takeaways and the stand-up keeps the energy up and teaches participants to get to the point. That is feedback they rarely get at work.

Stand-up

What has worked since last time? What could be better? Where can the others help?

With AI: What did you try with AI since last time, and what did it take off your plate?

A stand-up board with three columns, worked well, could go better and how my colleagues can help, filled with colour-coded sticky notes
Stand-up board from session 4 of a real series. Each colour is one participant, names removed.

Reflect, input, practise

The middle of every session works on one topic in a loop, once or several times:

  1. Discuss and reflectHow do you handle this today, and where does it get stuck?
  2. InputA model or method, short and to the point.
  3. PractiseOn your own cases, on online whiteboards with strict timeboxing. From about eight participants in small groups.
  4. QuestionsAsked and answered before we move on.

With AI: For every topic we work out how it goes better with AI.

A whiteboard on meetings with the columns bad meetings, good meetings and to-dos for your organisation, sorted into before, within and after
Twenty minutes of brainstorming on meetings, from the same session.

A task until next time

Each session ends with one or two steps for the weeks until the next one. What ends up on the board stays within the team.

With AI: Where it fits, one of the steps is something to try with AI.

A wrap-up board where each participant notes what to start, stop and continue after the session
Wrap-up of session 4: every participant notes what to start, stop and continue. Names removed.

At a glance

Format
6 sessions of 3 hours
Duration
About 3 months
Group
Ideally 7 leaders, up to 12
Where
Remote, hybrid or on site
Language
English or German
Price
EUR 15,000 per group
Book a call

We talk about your managers and your goals, and you get an offer afterwards.

Keep learning between sessions

The series is only the start. Participants keep working with the canvas, the framework and the exercises from the blog, and the session boards are full of book tips and further reading. Enough for months of development on their own.

  • A slide from the Digital Leader Framework: Andre Ottlik's update of situational leadership, with single task delegation and handover

    For clients

    Digital Leader Framework An interactive tour through the leadership models that matter: vision and culture, processes from hiring to development talks, the human being, communication and change, with book tips and talks. Included when you work with us.
  • The Digital Leader Canvas on a laptop next to a video call on a tablet

    Free

    Digital Leader Canvas A working tool to develop yourself as a leader, alongside a series or on your own, together with the blog exercises. Download the canvas

  • Free

    117 blog articles On leadership, human skills and AI since 2021, many with exercises to put into practice. Read the blog
  • Cover of the podcast 3 minutes max. Human Skills in the Age of AI, with Andre Ottlik and Jules

    Free

    48 podcast episodes “3 minutes max.”: human skills in the age of AI, one idea per episode, in English and in German. Listen to the podcast

What clients say

Portrait of Tom Tinel

What stood out most was Andre's ability to get the whole leadership team genuinely engaged. […] The lasting impact has been a much stronger sense of shared ownership across the leadership team: clearer on each other's styles, more aligned on priorities, and more intentional about how we collaborate.

Tom TinelHead of People, Bitstackex Monzo
Portrait of Anica Alla

As an HR professional, I particularly value his ability to translate complex leadership challenges into sustainable behavioral change.

Anica AllaHR consultant and interim HR leadex Just Eat Takeaway.com, REE, Keller Sports
Portrait of Thibault Durand

We had great workshops! Thanks for this, we all have appreciated it.

Thibault DurandGeneral Manager, adidas

Questions about Leadership Essentials

Who is Leadership Essentials for?

For managers who are new in their role and for experienced leaders in a new context: a new team, a new company or a new task. We work with leadership teams in companies with 50 or more employees and in scale-ups across Europe. All participants come from one organisation.

How long is the program and how often do you meet?

Leadership Essentials has six sessions of three hours each. We meet about every two weeks, so the program runs over roughly three months. Between sessions participants try one or two concrete steps in their daily work.

Does leadership training work remotely?

Yes. Remote sessions run on video calls and online whiteboards with strict timeboxing, and from about eight participants we split into small breakout groups. Hybrid and on-site sessions work the same way. In a hybrid series the first and the last session take place on site and run longer, so the series usually has five sessions instead of six. The program runs in English or German.

How many participants make sense?

Ideally seven leaders, at most twelve. Small enough for everyone to bring in their own situations, large enough for real exchange between peers.

What does Leadership Essentials cost?

EUR 15,000 per group for six sessions, which is EUR 1,500 per person with ten participants. For on-site sessions, travel costs are added. After a 30-minute call you get an offer for your team.

A series or a single training day?

A single day works for one topic, for example an offsite on feedback or meetings. If you want new habits in the team, a series is the better choice: six sessions over three months, with practice in daily work in between and a stand-up at the start of each session on what held up. That is why Leadership Essentials is a series.

How do you know the program works?

Every session starts with a stand-up: what has worked since last time, what could be better and where the others can help. That way your leaders report every two weeks what held up in their daily work, and you see progress during the program, not only at the end.

How soon can we start?

After a 30-minute call you get an offer within a week. A series can usually start three to four weeks later.

Is Leadership Essentials right for your team?

In a 30-minute call we talk about your managers, your goals and the right setup: remote or on site, English or German. Free and without obligation.

Book a call

After the call you get an offer within a week. A series can usually start three to four weeks later.

Download the program overview (PDF, one page)