Inspired Leadership Workshops
Better leadership behaviours → better contribution → stronger engagement, retention and performance.
Workshop 1:
The hidden cost of hierarchy
Get better decisions by making it easier for the right people to contribute, regardless of their title.
The woman next to you in the supermarket line could be the CEO interviewing you tomorrow. Would you treat her differently if you knew? At work this has a cost. We hire capable people for their judgement and capability, then we put them in meetings where they spend as much energy reading the room as contributing. Some actually go quiet. Others tend to dominate. The organisation can end up making decisions with some of the best ideas left unsaid.
In this workshop, we explore our own biases about rank and title, and how they shape who speaks. Your people will leave knowing how to bring every voice into the room.
Participants leave able to:
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Recognise how rank, status and meeting habits influence who contributes.
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Understand what happens when the most senior person speaks last.
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One question that invites challenge without conflict: "What am I missing?" People stay silent by following unspoken, self-protective rules about speaking up to people above them (Detert & Edmondson, 2011).
In Greek myth, Echo was cursed to speak only the last words of others (Ovid). Plenty of meetings run the same way: the senior voice speaks, and everyone else repeats it.
Research on employee voice and psychological safety, including Amy Edmondson's work, helps explain why interpersonal risk affects whether employees raise concerns, questions and ideas.
Business value: Better-informed decisions, earlier identification of problems and less wasted expertise.
Workshop 2:
Inspired leadership
- What Does Being Led by You Bring Out in People?
Great leaders help people discover what they're capable of. This workshop is about how to become the kind of leader who earns trust, develops judgement and brings out more in others.
When Vicki founded Kids Helping Kids With Shoes That Fit in Los Angeles, children were challenged to run the equivalent of a marathon to earn a new pair of shoes. Every pair earned, went to a child in need.
The initiative grew to more than 800 completed marathons and 800 pairs of shoes, with each pair connecting two children through achievement and paying it forward.
The children were given an opportunity to achieve something for themselves while making a difference to someone else.
The same principle of inspired leadership applies at work. Some managers get compliance. Others create the conditions for people to take ownership, develop confidence in their abilities and care about something beyond their individual tasks.
Takeaways:
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Understand the three psychological needs that support motivation: autonomy, competence and connection.
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Practise curiosity as a daily leadership habit: ask, listen and act.
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Learn to develop people's judgement and ownership so the work keeps going without you.
Self-Determination Theory identifies autonomy, competence and relatedness as three fundamental psychological needs that support motivation and wellbeing (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
Business value: Stronger management capability, greater employee engagement, commitment and contribution. Reduced dependence on the leader for every decision. Increased retention and profits.
Workshop 3:
Womens Workshop: Reflection, Connection & Fun
People Work Better When They Matter. How to build inspired relationships that make people want to contribute, collaborate and stay.
Vicki started an all-women, come-as-you-are swim programme at Piha as a six-week pilot after Covid. It is now in its fourth year, award-winning, and runs without her. It’s foundational success? Connection.
Two people can work alongside each other for years and barely know one another. A manager can ask about targets every week without once asking a question that makes someone feel genuinely understood. Connection doesn't require expensive team-building retreats. Often, it begins with thirty seconds of genuine attention.
Participants leave able to:
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Being seen and heard is a basic human need, and it drives motivation.
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Reflect on what it is like to be led by them
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Use curiosity and listening to create stronger everyday connections and contribution
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Introduce simple, enjoyable team practices that build trust without forced fun.
Self-Determination Theory, developed by Deci and Ryan, identifies relatedness/connection, autonomy and competence as fundamental psychological needs associated with motivation and wellbeing.
Business value: Stronger belonging, more cooperation and improved conditions for retention and therefore profitability
Workshop 4:
No Permission Required
How much talent is sitting in your organisation, waiting for permission to use it? Waiting for the right moment perhaps? More confidence. Absolute certainty. Or someone else to say, Go.
This workshop is about helping capable people trust their judgement, speak up and take action before they feel completely ready.
Someone has a useful idea in a meeting and waits for a better moment. Five minutes later, someone else says it and gets the nod. These small moments add up. Over time, capable people start to believe their contribution is optional. The real cause is a set of habits and assumptions, and habits can be reset.
This workshop helps capable people trust their judgement, speak up and act before they feel completely ready.
In her first job as a travel agent, Vicki asked no questions and waited to be noticed. Her results were average. Then she started trying the things that scared her, and within 18 months she was the top salesperson in the country.
Takeaways: The ACT model to use in real time back at the office.
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Awaken: spot the waiting habits that cost your people their voice.
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Curiosity: ask whose rule this is, and whether it still fits.
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Try: take the first step before feeling ready, and build confidence from there.
We overestimate how much other people notice us. People wearing an embarrassing T-shirt guessed 46% of the room would remember it. Only 23% could (Gilovich, Medvec & Savitsky, 2000). The room is watching far less than we fear, and we need our teams to know this too.
Customisable for: emerging leaders, middle managers, leadership pipelines and women in leadership.
BUILT FOR YOUR ROOM
Every workshop is customisable to your people, your company vision and your goals.
Formats:
120 minutes, half day or full day
Adapted for:
Executives, managers, women leaders, emerging leaders or all staff
Frameworks included:
The Sleepwalking Effect™, ACT Reset, The Courage Index and Curiosity Quotient. Matched to the challenge your team is facing
Measure the shift
Change is measured after the event, not just on the day. You choose three attendees. Each one receives a one-hour, one-on-one session 30 to 45 days after the workshop. We track what has changed, check progress on their commitments, and coach the next step. Included at no extra cost.
Beyond the workshop
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Emerging leaders: coaching and mentoring
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Emerging leader cohorts
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Small leadership cohorts
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Corporate wellbeing
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Speaker, presentation and pitch-ready training
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Women's leadership
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Offsites for women.
Tell me the challenge. I'll build the session around it. If I can’t, I will recommend a professional that can.
Leadership Coaching with Vicki
By Application. Limited places.
Vicki works with a small number of leaders and teams each year. She chooses people who are ready to act, not just talk about it. In person, in Auckland or Los Angeles, or online anywhere in the world.
Coaching and mentoring options
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One-on-one leadership coaching: for executives and senior leaders who want sharper judgement, a stronger presence, and a team that brings its best thinking.
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Emerging leaders coaching and mentoring: for high-potential people serious about growing their leadership prowess
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Emerging leader cohorts: a group programme that builds your leadership pipeline together.
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Small leadership cohorts: four to six leaders, a closed room, real problems.
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Corporate wellbeing: daily mental skills including front loading burnout, skills that come before performance.
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Speaker, presentation and pitch-ready training: for leaders who need to own the room, the boardroom or the stage.
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Women's leadership: for capable women ready to speak up with conviction, respect and fearlessly in any room.
Places open a few times a year. Enquire early.