A leadership development course built around a custom conversation planning framework. Teaching managers to initiate and navigate the uncomfortable-but-necessary dialogues that most leaders avoid.
Leaders avoid hard conversations—performance issues, disengaged employees, sensitive feedback. Not because they don't care, but because they lack a framework for navigating emotionally complex dialogue without making things worse.
A 5-module ILT course built around the GUIDE model—a custom conversation planning framework I developed with research backing from behavioral psychology, adult learning theory, and leadership science. Practical skills, not abstract concepts.
Every leader has a conversation they've been avoiding. The underperforming employee they keep hoping will "figure it out." The tension with a peer they've been dancing around. The feedback that could help someone grow—if only they knew how to deliver it without triggering defensiveness.
These aren't conflict situations (that's a different course). These are the proactive, uncomfortable-but-necessary conversations that shape team culture, employee development, and leadership credibility. Most managers know they should have them. Most don't know how.
The existing training landscape is full of abstract advice: "Be empathetic." "Use active listening." "Create psychological safety." All true—but none of it tells you what to actually say when you're sitting across from someone who's about to get defensive.
Leaders don't need more theory about emotional intelligence. They need micro-moves: specific phrases, reset strategies, and a structured approach that works when their heart rate spikes and their brain wants to retreat.
I designed this course end-to-end: learning objectives, module structure, the GUIDE framework itself, scenario scripts, interactive activities, and the Storyline 360 facilitation presentation. This isn't a course I'm building from someone else's content—the instructional approach and core framework are original work.
A structured planning framework for emotionally complex, high-stakes conversations. Original in construction, grounded in established research.
Each step integrates evidence-based practices from behavioral psychology (Bandura, Gollwitzer), adult learning theory (Vygotsky), and leadership research (Edmondson, Locke & Latham).
Five modules delivered weekly, each building on the last. The pacing allows for reflection activities and real-world application between sessions—learners come back having tested what they learned.
Unpacking emotional, identity-based, and relational dynamics. Mapping your own spectrum of difficulty.
Real-time trigger recognition, regulation techniques, and demonstrating empathy without overstepping.
Applying the GUIDE model. Building a real plan for a real conversation you've been avoiding.
Navigating surprise emotions, listening through defensiveness, redirecting while protecting dignity.
Meaningful follow-up, trust-building behaviors, and knowing what closure actually looks like.
This course is built on a core principle: leaders don't learn difficult conversations from lectures. They learn by doing—in low-stakes environments before the high-stakes moments arrive.
Each module opens with learners mapping their own workplace moments—not generic scenarios. Module 3 has them write out a conversation they've been avoiding. That becomes the case they prepare throughout the session.
We don't tell learners to "be emotionally intelligent." We give them reset strategies, redirect phrasing, and reflection prompts. They walk away with phrases and cues—not concepts.
Skill development through optional roleplay with guardrails, scenario analysis for those who don't like live practice, and individual journaling. Capacity through reps, not tests.
Every module generates something the learner keeps: a GUIDE planning document, a reset strategy map, a follow-up message rewrite. The course doesn't tell you what to say—it helps you build your own voice.
I've built courses in both spaces. Here's how they're distinct:
Initiating uncomfortable dialogue before it becomes conflict. Performance issues, disengaged employees, sensitive feedback. How do you identify when a conversation needs to happen, and how do you navigate it without making things worse?
Handling tension that's already surfaced. Outbursts, friction between team members, de-escalation. How do you identify when conflict is brewing and resolve it before it damages the team?
The Storyline presentation serves as a facilitation aid—interactive models, discussion prompts, and modular scenario content that can be layered by difficulty. Custom web objects extend native Storyline capabilities for interactions that wouldn't otherwise be possible.
Frameworks need research backing. The GUIDE model isn't just a catchy acronym—each step maps to established theory (Edmondson on psychological safety, Gollwitzer on implementation intentions, Bandura on self-efficacy). This matters for stakeholder buy-in and instructional integrity.
ILT isn't dead—it's misused. Leadership development benefits from facilitated discussion, live roleplay, and peer reflection in ways that async WBT can't replicate. The key is making the facilitator a guide, not a lecturer.
Personal application beats generic scenarios. When learners work on their avoided conversations instead of hypothetical ones, engagement transforms. The stakes feel real because they are.
Practical frameworks, not just theory. Skills that work when the pressure is real.