Staging environment

How to Ask for What You Want Effectively in Work and Life

4 Weeks

·

Cohort-based Course

Master tools to pursue your wildest dreams with confidence. Be proud of what you want, how you ask for it, and how you handle the response.

Previously at

Adobe
Slack

Course overview

Cultivate confident communication and genuine relationships in work and life.

Wish it wasn't so stressful asking for what you want?

Feeling stuck? Want change but not sure where to start?

Want to make a big ask but not sure how to mitigate the risks?

Frustrated that others aren't responding the way you want to your asks?


This course equips you to confidently and effectively advocate for your desires every day. Ask for What You Want (AFWYW) is a framework of proven tools drawn from my decades of experience as a founder, operator, and executive coach. These tools help you pursue your dreams and face the fears you'll inevitably encounter along the way. They work for any ask you might have in work or life: from asking your boss for a raise, to asking your report for better results, to asking your partner to load the dishwasher properly.


You'll learn how to:


    1. Cultivate confidence and soften fear of rejection by finding the right ask for right now

    2. Be a strong advocate without being a jerk by eliminating entitlement, righteousness, and blame

    3. Build your influence via genuine relationships by handling rejection graciously


Asking for what you want boils down to answering a few simple yet essential questions. What do you want? How will you pursue it? What impact do you make? The AFWYW framework answers life's big questions with science, not mysticism. Those answers are out there. They're not unknowable mysteries, they're scientific discoveries—ones you alone can uncover. AFWYW will help you avoid the major pitfalls with its proven best practices. But the only way to be sure what works is to test your asks in the real world! So find an ask you're willing to make today to keep learning. Just follow the scientific method: hypothesize, experiment, analyze your results, and try again. Or when it comes to asking for what you want, I put it this way:


    1. Articulate what you want

    2. Ask for what you want intentionally

    3. Accept the response graciously

    4. Try again!


That's Ask for What You Want in a nutshell. It makes pursuing your dreams sound so easy! But the reality is we give up on our dreams all the time. We just get busy with other things that feel less risky or frustrating. So let's name the obvious: our dreams are important and worth pursuing—whether or not we succeed. Don't let distraction keep you from your pursuing your dreams, big or small. Consider how to pursue them effectively, not whether to pursue them at all. That's why I created Ask for What You Want.


In this course, each week you'll apply one step of the AFWYW process (articulate, ask, accept) to a real desire in your work or life. You'll practice the tools for each step via group discussions, breakouts, and weekly experiments in the real world. As with any scientific experiment, you won't always get the results that you want. But you'll learn from them either way: discovering your true desires, how to confidently advocate for them, and how to cultivate the genuine relationships you'll need to make an impact. You'll face your fears gradually, and prove you can Ask for What You Want anyway.


Read more about Ask for What You Want on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7188592481599479808/

Who is this course for

01

Founders, executives, and emerging leaders who struggle to speak up for what they want effectively while maintaining genuine relationships.

02

Do you hesitate to take a stand for what you want? Unsure how to mitigate all the risks? You can do it. Make it easy with the right tools.

03

Are you fed up with people not seeing the beauty of your glorious plans? Build the relationships you need to change their minds.

What you’ll get out of this course

Clearly articulate your desires so they feel inspiring and actionable—and ready to share with the people that matter.

Do you want to feel calm and confident when you speak? Never worry about money or status? Do work that lights you up? Build trusting and respectful relationships? Maybe even change the world? It all starts with embracing and sharing your true desires.

Make more effective asks by expanding your toolbox and proving what works for you in the real world.

Struggling to speak up, unsure how to ask effectively? Stuck making asks that aren't working? Try the proven best practices from the AFWYW toolbox to avoid looking like a jerk. Don't wait! Accelerate your learning by experimenting with new ways to ask on a daily or weekly basis.

Build your influence via genuine relationships: graciously accept when others say “no” and incorporate their feedback into your next move.

Want to influence others? Learn how to handle rejection! Most asks get a lukewarm response, and in practice anything short of a "hell yes!" is a no. You'll create priceless relationships by working together to align your incentives instead of blaming them for saying no.

Cultivate confidence and soften the fear of rejection by finding the right ask for right now. You'll expand your comfort zone over time.

Asking is easy. What makes it hard are our fears: hurting our relationships, losing our financial safety net, failing at our goals, making the wrong choice. So look for asks you can make today, not someday. You'll face your fears gradually, and prove you can AFWYW anyway.

This course includes

4 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

3 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

3 projects to apply learnings

Guided feedback & reflection

Private community of peers

Course certificate upon completion

Maven Satisfaction Guarantee

This course is backed by Maven’s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.

Course syllabus

Week 1

Oct 8—Oct 13

    How to Articulate What You Want with Curiosity

    • Oct

      8

      Articulating What You Want

      Tue 10/85:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
    2 more items

Week 2

Oct 14—Oct 20

    How to Ask for What You Want with Pride

    • Oct

      15

      Asking for What You Want with Pride

      Tue 10/155:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
    2 more items

Week 3

Oct 21—Oct 27

    How to Accept the Response with Grace

    • Oct

      22

      Accepting the Response with Grace

      Tue 10/225:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
    2 more items

Week 4

Oct 28—Oct 29

    Working Through Discomfort and Resistance

    • Oct

      29

      Working Through Discomfort and Resistance

      Tue 10/295:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)

Course schedule

3 hours per week

  • Live sessions Tuesdays 10am – 12pm

    October 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th 2024


  • Weekly projects

    ~1 hour per week


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What people are saying

        Partnering with Kenneth led to a deeper understanding and improvement of my whole life experience, and I was fortified to show up more fully in the workplace. All of my relationships, including the one with myself, improved with Kenneth's astute, direct, compassionate style.
Natalia Villalobos

Natalia Villalobos

VP Inclusion at The New York Times
        When I initially sought a coach to work on my communication style and organizational skills, I had envisioned transforming into a more assertive and decisive manager, akin to "Workzilla." Kenneth provided a deeper perspective shift, helping me understand that true transformation lies in how we respond to life's challenges.
Fanette Jobard

Fanette Jobard

Demand Generation at Sentry
        Getting coached by Kenneth changed my life. Kenneth taught me lifelong skills to use as my career transitions and progresses, which can often be scary. Kenneth helped be go from an individual contributor, writing code all day, to a full time engineering manager with many direct reports.
Ryan Warner

Ryan Warner

Engineering Manager at mmhmm
        Kenneth really puts you in the driver seat, challenges you, helps you remove personal barriers and tackle challenges with the skills you already have—you don't have to become someone else. He has a ton of tools to teach you. His process might be genius and will definitely help you redefine your future in the best way possible!
Deep Datta

Deep Datta

Product Director at JuliaHub
        Kenneth is an amazing coach that will not take you where you expect him to, but where you need to go. My journey with Kenneth has been one of going to the basics and growing from there, stopping to create good answers to foundational questions I didn't have clarity on. I would definitely recommend him and will probably engage again in the future.
Pau Minoves

Pau Minoves

Former CTO, Typeform
        I wholeheartedly recommend Kenneth. In our time together, he has significantly impacted both my professional career and personal life. His curiosity, ability to refine aspirations, and insight into what was always within me have unlocked a truer version of myself that I didn't believe existed.
Jaymes Downer

Jaymes Downer

VP of Product at FM

Meet your instructor

Kenneth Berger

Kenneth Berger

Executive Coach and Author of "Ask for What You Want"

Kenneth Berger coaches startup leaders to fend off burnout, take a stand for the life they want, and leave their unique mark on the world at large. After 20+ years in the tech industry, he’s a trusted confidant to startup CEOs, a former founder backed by top investors, and one of Slack’s earliest key hires. His mission is to help people change the world by learning to ask for what they want effectively: finding the answers to life's big questions through science, not mysticism. These days, he's working on a book (and course!) to share his framework with the world at large.

Get to know him on Lenny’s Podcast

Why not asking for what you want is holding you back | Kenneth Berger

Learning is better with cohorts

Learning is better with cohorts

Active hands-on learning

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Interactive and project-based

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Learn with a cohort of peers

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Frequently Asked Questions

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How to Ask for What You Want Effectively in Work and Life