Conference of the Birds
An 8-session peer cohort for senior leaders who've started to sense that the strategies which built their career are now the things constraining it.
The precision. The drive. The need to have it all under control. Brilliant adaptations, every one. And now they are running you.
The Conference is where the pattern becomes visible. Once visible, you have a choice you didn't have before…
What this is
This is
- Identity work, not skills training
- Peer witnessing at senior level
- 8 sessions over 6 months, then graduation
- Intimate group: 8–12 people
- The expert-to-leader transition, held in a room of mirrors
This is not
- A workshop with external speakers
- A certification programme or credential
- Case study analysis of other leaders
- An open-ended ongoing group
- Something you can summarise in a slide deck for your team
The arc
Witness — Sessions 1–3
Arrival. Pattern recognition. You begin to see the strategy that has been running you — the performer, the fixer, the protector, the conductor. Named not as flaws but as brilliant adaptations. The group builds a shared language. You see how your pattern shows up differently than someone else's — and the root is the same.
Descent — Sessions 4–6
Going underneath the strategy into what it was built to protect. Somatic and reflective work. This is where the scales fall. The hardest phase. The most important. A participant described it as discovering he had been “so blind to myself — everything was clear, but you couldn't see it because of the fog.”
Return — Sessions 7–8
Integration. The same person, seeing more clearly. The civil war between parts quiets. Choice becomes available where before there was only reaction. You don't leave with a new identity. You leave holding the old one — and choosing rather than obeying.
What is included
Developmental profiling
You arrive already seen — not assessed, but understood. Your patterns, your edges, your starting point.
1:1 intake session
The first moment of the work. Ensures fit. Begins the naming before the cohort convenes.
8 facilitated sessions
90 minutes each, biweekly. Somatic practices, parts work, guided reflection, peer witnessing.
Between-session practices
15–20 minutes. Applied observation exercises in real leadership situations. The work lives in the days between sessions.
Peer connection
Structured dyad formats between sessions. A witness who holds you accountable to the pattern you named.
Alumni community
The container does not end at session 8. Monthly Return calls. The conversation continues at the new depth.
“I'm absolutely not where I'd like to be, but I think I've come quite a bit of a way.”
— Conference participant
Who this is for
Directors and above. Any industry — though I work most deeply in pharma, consumer goods, and financial services.
You've been in senior roles long enough to notice that the strategies which built your career are starting to constrain it. You've done development work before but sense there is a layer underneath that was never addressed. You are ready to sit with peers working at the same edge.
This is not for leaders in acute crisis. This is not for leaders seeking skills or action plans. And this is not for leaders who are not yet at the ceiling — if the strategies are still working, the work is premature.
From the coaching room
“Too valuable to promote. Too complex to replace.” — a leader who had become the integration point for everything her organisation couldn't name. Eight years of holding the whole picture alone.
She came to coaching for executive presence. The eye twitching. The dreams about work. The body running a parallel conversation nobody had asked her about.
Thirteen years. A department of sixty. Fourteen additional reports without a title change. He wasn't angry. That was the first thing I noticed.
Format
8 sessions. 90 minutes each. Biweekly, Thursdays. Over 6 months. 8–12 participants. One 1:1 intake. Developmental profiling. Between-session practices. Alumni community access.
Two cohorts per year: Autumn(October – January) and Spring(March – June).
€2,950
Single payment. Below the procurement threshold at most European corporates — the decision stays with you, not with a purchasing committee.
Two instalments available: €1,500 × 2.
Autumn 2026 cohort
8 sessions, biweekly Thursdays. October 2026 through January 2027. Onboarding in late September. Places limited to 12.
Applications reviewed on a rolling basis. I schedule a brief conversation with each applicant to ensure mutual fit — the programme works because of who is in the room.
If something here resonates — if you recognise the pattern and want to explore whether this is the right moment — the conversation itself is the first step.
Or explore the Seven Patterns Self-Assessment — the recognition work that often leads here.