In times of change, innovation isn’t just an advantage—it’s a necessity. This workshop equips participants with practical tools and strategies to embrace uncertainty, reframe challenges as opportunities, and foster a culture of creative problem-solving. Using principles of design thinking and adaptive leadership, teams will explore new ways to generate ideas, test solutions, and drive meaningful change, ensuring they stay agile and future-focused in an ever-evolving landscape.
Leaders Aren’t Born – They’re Made.
We architect specialized team + leadership development workshops tailored specifically for high-potential talent and leadership development cohorts. We understand that future leaders represent your organization's most valuable investment, requiring sophisticated development experiences that accelerate leadership readiness while building strategic thinking capabilities. Our approach focuses on cultivating succession planning excellence through collaborative learning, peer mentorship, and advanced leadership competencies that prepare emerging leaders for executive responsibilities.
From cross-functional high-potential cohorts and leadership pipeline participants to succession planning candidates, future department heads, and fast-track professionals, our strategic, cohort-designed methodology creates powerful peer networks while delivering measurable leadership advancement. We recognize that high-potential employees bring exceptional performance records, innovative thinking, and strong technical expertise – our workshops channel these outstanding qualities while introducing executive-level leadership frameworks that bridge individual contributor success with organizational leadership impact. Our leadership cohort workshops leverage peer learning dynamics, creating lasting professional relationships and shared accountability systems that extend well beyond the workshop experience. This cohort approach mirrors the collaborative leadership environment these future executives will navigate, providing authentic preparation for senior leadership roles.
Suggested Leadership Workshops: High-Potential Talent
Shift Happens: Innovation in Times of Change
Leveraging Design Theory for Strategic & Creative Transformation
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
Learning Objectives:
- Differentiate between the concepts of COACHING and MENTORING in our leadership style
- Experiment with coaching methodologies to enhance our skill set, and determine the strategic questions that inspire others to feel empowered to act
- Develop an action + implementation plan for positive, long-term behavior change
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Coaching for Empowerment
- Asking Strategic Questions + Active Listening
- Talent Development
Coaching to Full Potential
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.
Bouncing Back from a F**k Up
Approaching Setbacks with a Learning Mindset
F**k ups may be inevitable, though staying stuck doesn’t have to be. This workshop helps participants break free from the mental traps that keeps us dwelling on past mistakes, learning how to shift our focus toward growth, resilience, and action. Through a mix of cognitive reframing techniques and practical action-oriented strategies, participants will learn how to bounce back with confidence, reignite our motivation, and turn failures into fuel for future success.
Learning Objectives:
- Explore the five common THINKING TRAPS where individuals get stuck, and discover the ESCAPE ROUTE strategies to help ourselves and others to break free
- ILeverage positive psychology to move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset
- Inspire a culture of resilience, trust, and psychological safety
Key Themes & Leadership Behaviors:
- Confidence
- Emotional Intelligence
- Effective Communication
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
Thanks For The Feedback
Inspiring Performance through Effective Feedback
We are constantly receiving feedback. Through formal and informal words and actions, each dinner invitation, speeding ticket, book recommendation or annual performance bonus says something about who we are and how we are perceived by others. This workshop introduces us to key strategies for both giving and receiving feedback, taking a deeper dive into understanding the types of feedback, discovering why and how we react, and how to more effectively deliver feedback in the future.
Why Executive Leadership Teams Choose The Leadership Laboratory
High-potential leadership development requires sophisticated approaches that match the caliber and ambition of your organization's future leaders. Emerging leaders need advanced frameworks, strategic thinking tools, and executive presence development that positions them for accelerated career progression. The Leadership Laboratory delivers succession planning workshops that are intellectually stimulating, strategically focused, and designed to unlock the leadership potential within your most promising talent.
Our data-driven high-potential workshops blend the art and science of leadership development to create engaging, cohort-based experiences – accelerating leadership development and organizational bench strength. We understand that high-potential participants demonstrate exceptional analytical abilities, strong relationship-building skills, and natural leadership instincts. Our expertise lies in amplifying these existing capabilities while introducing strategic leadership competencies that enhance executive decision-making, organizational influence, and transformational leadership capacity.
Whether your cohort includes emerging leaders from different departments, cross-functional high-performers, or identified succession candidates, The Leadership Laboratory creates intensive, research-backed workshops that maximize leadership potential, strengthen peer connections, and generate enhanced strategic thinking, executive presence, and organizational leadership readiness. Built on leadership development research and organizational psychology principles, our methodology emphasizes talent acceleration over skill gaps, focusing on leadership excellence and future organizational impact.
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, Seattle, and Austin.
Strategic Considerations for High-Potential Development
Leadership development cohorts create unique opportunities for peer learning, cross-functional relationship building, and shared leadership challenges that individual development cannot replicate. Our cohort-based approach recognizes that future leaders learn best when challenged alongside equally ambitious peers, creating natural mentorship networks and accountability partnerships that support long-term career advancement.
The Leadership Laboratory's workshops integrate advanced leadership theory with practical application, ensuring participants develop both the strategic mindset and tactical skills necessary for executive success. We focus on building leadership confidence, strategic communication abilities, and the emotional intelligence required to lead complex organizational initiatives while managing diverse stakeholder relationships.
Our high-potential leadership training workshops utilize proven methodologies developed specifically for accelerated leadership development, creating meaningful improvements in leadership presence, strategic thinking, and organizational influence to inspire sustained leadership excellence throughout their career progression.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Typical Size of High-Potential Talent Leadership Development Workshops?
At The Leadership Laboratory, we customize each learning experience to align with your team and culture. Traditionally, we recommend between 20 – 30 participants per workshop, though often work with groups as small as 5 to as large as 5,000+. Knowing your audience size can help us to design a workshop partnership to maximize engagement and participation, and honor each participant at their respective knowledge and experience level.
Are High-Potential Talent Leadership Development Workshops Available Both In-Person and Virtually?
Yes! All of our programming can be facilitated on-site, virtually, or in a hybrid format (virtual facilitation to an in-person audience). For both on-site and virtual workshops, we traditionally recommend a lead time of 6 – 8 weeks to get your top choice of date for a facilitated partnership.
How Do We Choose High-Potential Talent Leadership Development Workshops?
When working with a new partner, we leverage a process called backwards design theory to curate a tailored learning experience. One of the first questions that we ask is “what would you like this audience to do differently as a result of this collaboration?” – in other words, what are the skills or behaviors you’d like this group to have, or the knowledge they want to possess?
Once we know and define these learning objectives, we can work backwards and partner with you to determine what content can support in making those goals a reality. For a sample list of workshops, feel free to check our Workshop + Experiments pages, or browse the Workshop by Industry or Workshops by Role pages for additional recommendations.
How Long are High-Potential Talent Leadership Development Workshops?
Each of our workshops is designed to be approximately 2.5 – 3 hours in length. For on-site partnerships, most groups opt for two back-to-back workshop topics to create a full day of learning. For teams looking for sessions outside of the standard length, please contact The Leadership Laboratory to discuss more customized options.
Can We Customize High-Potential Talent Leadership Development Workshops?
Yes! At The Leadership Laboratory, we leverage a process called backwards design theory to curate a tailored learning experience. As we collaborate with you to learn more about your goals, we can incorporate information about your team’s culture, organizational strategy, and industry trends to design an experience that truly resonates, with easy-to-apply concepts that lead to long-term, positive behavior change.
We know that each participant has their own unique learning goals, and have designed our leadership development experiences to customize our content to each person in the moment. We kick-off each workshop with an opportunity to learn more about the goals of each participant in the room, and align the experience to what is most top-of-mind for them. This differentiated learning allows us to adjust to each unique participant, as well as honor the diverse perspectives, roles, and experience in the room.
Does The Leadership Laboratory Work with Individual High-Potential Talent Professionals?
At The Leadership Laboratory, most of our workshops are designed for teams or groups of leaders within organizations. As we focus on customizing each leadership development experience to the unique elements of each organization’s culture and team’s communication style, our work is focused on sessions that departments or groups within the same organization can participate in together, as opposed to sessions that individuals can sign up for on their own.
For individuals looking for one-on-one development, The Leadership Laboratory offers select executive coaching and thought partnership opportunities. Feel free to reach out directly for more information.