As conversations surrounding psychological safety continue to grow, a leader’s role takes on even greater significance in fostering that culture of trust. Research indicates that the most impactful style of trust is socio-emotional trust, or relational trust – I trust you because of the relationship we have, and the emotional intelligence that’s brought to the conversation. In this session, leaders review the psychological safety communication strategies of high-performing teams to allow for new ideas to succeed, diversity + inclusion initiatives to prosper, and the important, vulnerable conversations to happen effectively.
Development Training
Leaders Aren’t Born – They’re Made.
We develop mission-driven team + leadership development experiences that extend far beyond standard training models. We support non-profit teams in strengthening collaboration, creating lasting trust, and building purpose-driven leaders who thrive through community engagement, program innovation, and social impact growth. From teams of program coordinators and development officers to volunteer managers, advocacy directors, and aspiring non-profit change-makers, our impactful, mission-aligned methodology ensures deep engagement and sustainable growth.
Suggested Leadership Workshops: Non-Profit
The Art + Science of Psychological Safety
Designing A Culture of High Trust & Emotional Agility
Learning Objectives:
- Define the concepts of EMOTIONAL AGILITY and PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY, and explore the building blocks that allow this to prosper in an individual level and within a team environment
- Explore the five common “THINKING TRAPS” that get people stuck, and practice five communication and trust-based “ESCAPE ROUTE” strategies to help yourself and others break free
- Empower team members to speak their minds, and encourage emotional openness from others
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Psychological Safety
- Building Trust
- Effective Communication
Learning Objectives:
- Determine personal approach to conflict conversations, and discover the five differing conflict styles
- Identify benefits and potential obstacles for each style to clarify effective conflict communication strategies
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Effective Communication
- Adaptability + Assertiveness
- Consensus Building + Alignment
We Can Work It Out
An Experiment with Conflict & Consensus Building
While frequent conflict can certainly be taxing or uncomfortable, disagreements can often lead to enhanced respect, open-mindedness, and innovation. In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to understand various reactions to conflict, and discover which response is most appropriate for a given situation. Participants leave this session with a deeper understanding of their natural communication style during times of conflict, and a refreshed outlook on how to approach these conversations in the future.
Thanks for the Feedback
Empowering Others through Coaching Conversations
In making the transition from individual contributor to leader, we rely on a new skill set that focuses on inspiring and motivating the people we work with. In this series, participants will focus on people and project leadership skills, specifically as it relates to the topics of coaching and motivating to inspire those we work with to take action. Through knowledge-sharing and discussion based learning, and an opportunity to directly experiment with coaching methodologies, participants will have the opportunity to learn from and alongside each other, and connect these practices to specific action plans to retain and grow their top talent.
Learning Objectives:
- Leverage feedback conversations to transform and inspire performance of peers, direct-reports, and other frequent collaborators
- Identify the theories behind three common negative reactions when receiving feedback
- Discover the three types of feedback to more effectively inspire peak performance
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Giving + Receiving Feedback
- Navigating Conflict Conversations
- Positive Psychology + Trust
Learning Objectives:
- Define the CURRENT STATE and FUTURE STATE of the team’s collective goals and objectives
- Experiment with design thinking methodology to begin ideation of creative, implementable action plans to fully realize your team’s ideal future state
- Leverage positive psychology to create future-focused, behavior-based outcomes
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Strategic Thinking + Goal Setting
- Creativity + Innovation
- Positive Psychology & Growth Mindset
Mission Possible: Strategic Design Sprint
Designing the Future State of our Team & Organization
As a team, determining key long-term goals and objectives of our vision for the future is the crucial first step to more accurately inform the look and feel of our day-to-day responsibilities. Through this workshop, participants will leverage the foundational principles of positive psychology and design thinking methodology to determine the team’s goals and objectives for an ideal future state, and begin to develop the roadmap to make that vision a reality.
Why Choose Us for Non-Profit Leadership Training?
Looking to strengthen connection, clarity, and collective impact within your non-profit organization? The Leadership Laboratory delivers team + leadership development workshops that are fun, grounded in research, and built to reflect your organization's unique culture. Our data-driven workshops are carefully developed and participatory, elevating your team and leaders to the next level.
Non-profit leaders possess incredible passion and dedication, and we're committed to channeling those qualities into even greater effectiveness. Whether your team includes program directors, grant writers, community outreach coordinators, or executive leadership, The Leadership Laboratory creates purposeful, data-informed workshops that build on organizational strengths, increase leadership confidence, and drive enhanced collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and mission advancement. Anchored in positive psychology principles, our approach emphasizes growth, not gaps, to foster meaningful, lasting transformation across your organization. Our data-driven non-profit leadership workshops utilize purpose-built methodologies designed specifically for mission-driven professionals to inspire long-term, positive behavior change.
The Leadership Laboratory operates nationwide with both in-person and virtual healthcare leadership development workshops. We proudly serve healthcare organizations around the world and throughout the United States across the country, including Chicago, New York, Toronto, and Austin.
Building tomorrow's leaders today.
The Leadership Laboratory works across multiple industries - including start-up and established technology firms, non-profit and government agencies, finance companies, healthcare organizations and more. We are proud to collaborate with individuals and teams of all sizes.
Contact us and say hello! We're excited to get to know you and share our ideas on learning + leadership development.
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Collaborating Partners
“I laughed harder than I have in a while!”
Our workshop was engaging, informative, rejuvenating and pure fun. I laughed harder than I have in a while! This was a phenomenal way to get more comfortable as a team.
— Director of People, SpotHero
“You made this easy to apply and implement”
You listened to our needs and adapted on the spot to incorporate leadership lessons. Every element was backed up by research, and you made this easy to apply and implement.
— VP / HEAD OF PEOPLE, WARBY PARKER
Meet Jacob Goldstein
Jacob Goldstein is the founder of The Leadership Laboratory, and leverages his experiences in education, the performing arts, and corporate learning & leadership development to his work. As a performer, Jacob has sung as a backup vocalist for musical artists such as Josh Groban, Idina Menzel, and Patti LuPone, as a recording artist for Netflix series Sense8, and at venues including The United Center, The Chicago Theater, and Chicago Symphony Center. In the education space, Jacob has served as an educator for high school, undergraduate and graduate students, and has been a Guest Lecturer at Northwestern University since 2016. As a Learning & Leadership Development Consultant, Jacob has worked as a one-on-one coach and group workshop facilitator to organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies in diverse industries, including technology, healthcare, non-profit, and fashion/apparel. Jacob holds a Bachelor’s degree from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master’s of Science in Communication from Northwestern University.