Influence by Design
Strategic leadership. Stronger organisational coherence. Better positioning to influence.
"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
James Clear, Atomic Habits
A six-month leadership development program for senior NGO leaders in health, community and human services.
Why this program exists
Most NGOs do stakeholder work by personal habit. Different parts of the organisation talk to the same funder differently. Trust depends on one or two people. The CEO ends up being the single point of trust on every important relationship.
The cost shows up in places it shouldn’t have to. A funder briefing that didn’t land the way it was meant to. A senior leader who avoided a hard conversation, or over-promised to keep someone happy. A relationship that has cooled before anyone could act on it. Time spent chasing attention instead of investing in the relationships that enable outcomes.
What is in the program
A six-month program for senior NGO leaders in health, community and human services. One full-day workshop in Brisbane, three virtual labs across the six months, and reinforcement throughout.
One full-day workshop in Brisbane. The senior team works the method against their own live stakeholder relationships.
Three 90-minute virtual labs across the six months. Practice clinics where participants apply the method to current work and learn from each other.
An online course library, accessible for the full six months. Short explainer videos, downloadable templates, sample position statements and worksheets. Used between workshops and labs, so participants can move at their own pace.
Fortnightly emails to keep the momentum going. A cohort WhatsApp group for peer support, shared learning and the live conversation between sessions.
Pre and post diagnostic assessments at the participant and organisation level. CEO sponsor observer input before and after.
A peer cohort of senior leaders across organisations.
Who comes
Senior leaders in NGO health, community and human services accountable for strategic stakeholder relationships. Whether you lead a function, a service, a major program of work, or a smaller NGO where you are the senior leader on stakeholder conversations yourself. Participants take what they learn back to their senior team and apply it across the organisation.
Where do your senior leaders sit on stakeholder leadership?
Where do you?
What participants take back
A method for strategic stakeholder leadership they can keep using.
Sharper preparation and follow-through on strategic stakeholder conversations.
A documented organisational positioning the team can use.
A mapped view of the strategic stakeholder relationships, with clear ownership.
Three to five strategic relationships in active repositioning by the end of six months.
Peer connections across organisations that continue beyond the program.
What the organisation gets
Over time, trust accumulates and reputation compounds.
The organisation protects its position when pressure rises.
The CEO is no longer the single point of trust on every important relationship.
Program at a glance
About Susanne
Leadership that holds when everything shifts.
Author of Centred: How to Lead with Confidence in Times of Complex Change. Susanne works with boards and executive teams to keep decisions moving and delivery on track when conditions will not sit still. More than three decades across government, health and community services in Australia.