FWD Coaching

High Performing + Happy Teams: A Framework for Leaders

Adam Griffin

Founder at FWD Coaching (former Global VP @ CoderPad and Automattic)

There is an equation to great leadership. Learn the framework that turns interactions into opportunities.

Become the leader that transforms their team.

Use this framework for transformative leadership to create a culture of trust and accountability.

Build trust and accountability with your reports.

Walk away with clarity on how each individual on your team can do their best work.

Actionable insights you can execute on today.

Transform your management by driving stronger performance through direct and actionable feedback.

Developer of Managers & Leaders

Katie O'Brien Ceccarini

Certified Coach, led CS training Yelp, Head of L&D Opendoor, trained 1000s

February 2026

April 2026

Managers and leaders are not taught how to deliver feedback that changes behavior and drives performance. The result? Managers gets frustrated when people don't implement feedback and performance and business results suffer. It doesn't need to be this way. You can transform the way you manage and become the manager who shares direct feedback and drives results. You can get there in this course. You will become more confident and competent sharing feedback fearlessly. WHAT TO EXPECT:Tactics you can implement immediately.Sessions are loaded with lively discussion, breakout exercises, and a 27-page learning guide to both personalize and customize your learning experience.In just 3 sessions, you will have more tools in your tool belt to more effectively drive performance on your team.You can also expect:- A 27-page learning guide loaded with sample language, exercises, and reference materials to leverage well beyond the course- Videos modeling the Headline, Observation, Ask model- Video modeling how to navigate reactions to feedback- Video illustrating how to effectively kick off a feedback relationship with a new team member- Drafting feedback for real time situations you're facing

Drive stronger performance with actionable feedback.

How to speak candidly, and with care, using the Fearless Feedback Model

How to structure feedback using Headline, Observation, Ask

How to navigate emotional reactions to feedback

How to increase alignment on the feedback so people take action

How to be human while elevating excellence. 

You are a manager within a start-up &amp; pace of business can feel impossible to give real time feedback to both direct &amp; indirect reports.

You're a leader who finds yourself putting off feedback conversations out of dread, fear, or lack of confidence.

You are a manager wanting to elevate your career by distinguishing yourself as a developer of great talent.

Your job as a CEO or team leader is not to order your team around, but to conduct an orchestra of highly talented individuals in a way that elicits engagement, collaboration and performance, delivering upon company goals while ideally, creating something beautiful along the way. This cannot happen when your team is not aligned, team members are stressed or burnt out, or for one reason or another, are not performing at their full capacity.&nbsp; Peak team performance is not derived from feel-good activities or mandatory team building trips. It requires optimizing the human element in your business to achieve more. It requires that you are just as passionate and engaged in what you are doing as they are, and just as passionate and engaged in them as they are. This is not an easy feat, but it is achievable. This course will provide you with the tools, systems and frameworks to help you reignite your passion and elevate your conducting skills, 10xing you and your team’s productivity. When your team is aligned and engaged, you get to spend less time in the business and more time on the business - setting the vision, accelerating growth, and making it a place your team members don’t want to leave.

Turn your team into an elite force in business.

Course syllabus

Tuesdays & Thursdays

2 Modules Per Week; Optional 1:1 with Ali; 1 Final Integration Call

Sept 9-30

Course schedule

You are a new CEO or startup founder that wants to level-up your team's and your own performance.

You’re an ambitious team leader within a larger organization that knows your team is more capable than they are letting on.

You lead a team but you yourself are feeling burnt out or disengaged, and you know there must be a more elegant way of achieving your goals.

You are an executive at a rapidly growing company with a decentralized team, and are having trouble building alignment.

You're at an organization that has prioritized product-market-fit over culture, and you're starting to see the ramifications.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

Hundreds of exercises, templates, and curated resources to help you clarify your Massively Transformational Purpose, and ensure it aligns with your company goals and values.

Clarity and Renewed Passion for Your Mission - Rekindle Your Love for Your Work

Proven formulas, processes and best practices for outlining crystal clear goals and determining whether you have the right people in the right seats. If you don't - and chances are you won't - guidance and resources on handling changes gracefully.

Crystal Clear Goals and an Understanding of Your Team-Purpose Fit

Science-based exercises for getting buy-in from your team - aligning your "why" with theirs. Frameworks for empowering them to execute without constant oversight, creating a culture where failures are accepted on the path to mastery, and collaborative momentum drives you forward.

A Blueprint for Helping Your Team Manage Itself, So You Can Focus On Your Area of Genius

Use the latest in neuroscience and psychology to build resilience in yourself and your teammates, freeing you all up to do your best, most impactful work, and have fun along the way.

A Burnout Proofing Guide for High Performing Teams, Helping You And Your Top Performers Become Resilient and Adaptable

Peak team performance does not happen naturally. It requires artfully optimizing the human element in business to achieve more.

Ali Winkle

Founder, Advisor & Culture Builder

Cohort 2

Cohort 3

Whether you're finding your footing, resetting in a new context, or ready to break out — learn the Leadership Operating System to stand out.

18+ yrs leading teams at P&G & LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Procter & Gamble

Co-Active Training Institute

Sudha Ranganathan

18+ yrs leading teams at P&G & LinkedIn | Trained Coach and Workshop facilitator

Cohort 1

The Leadership Landscape has changed: Management layers are shrinking. The bar for team leaders is rising. And this is especially acute for leaders in new contexts (new role, new org, new leader) OR leaders who are ready to break out after years of stalling.What does it take to be indispensable? Leaders who are seen as indispensable in this landscape aren't just good at their craft. They've mastered the full Leadership Operating System — fluency across three critical types of acumen:<ul><li>Business acumen to understand what matters and adapt as priorities shift</li><li>Organizational acumen to build alignment, influence, and reputation with stakeholders that matter (including the most critical stakeholder — their manager)</li><li>Leadership acumen to activate their team and bring out the best in their people</li></ul>Most leaders piece this together through years of trial and error — or not at all. This course equips you with the complete Leadership OS in 4 sessions, with frameworks you can apply immediately, and depth on the moments that make or break your impact.You'll leave with clarity on what matters, who matters, and how to become the leader your company can't afford to lose.

The Three Types of Acumen That Separate Indispensable Leaders from Everyone Else

Build business acumen AND stay adaptive as context shifts around you

Prioritize: Set (or reset) your team's priorities to maximize business impact

Optimize stakeholder partnerships: Drive alignment, influence, and reputation

Manage your manager: Maximize value to and from your most critical stakeholder

Activate impact: Deploy yourself strategically to elevate outcomes that matter

Become a talent magnet: Build a reputation that attracts and retains top talent

This course is designed for people managers leading teams, not individual contributors without direct reports.

You manage a team with direct reports

Expect real work: Conversations with stakeholders and synthesizing insights into templates to apply concepts to your actual context

You're willing to do the work between sessions

This isn't for leaders already thriving at the top. It's for those who see room to level up—and are ready to do the work.

You believe you have room to grow, and WANT to

Finding Your Footing: 3-12 months in a new leadership role. Build credibility fast and become a leader they can't afford to lose.

Experienced Leader, New Context: New leaders, manager or org structures around you? Reset and prove impact in unfamiliar territory.

Ready to Break Out: Doing the work, getting decent feedback, still getting passed over. This course helps you change that.

Redefine your role as a leader and learn practical, people-first tools to create clarity, accountability, and empowered teams.

Apple University | Plumeria | Rethink

Apple

adidas

Universal Destination and Experiences

JD POWER

ServiceNow

Cody Wright

Plumeria founder, former Apple, focused on practical, people-first leadership

March 2026 Cohort

You were promoted because you're good at the work. Now you’re expected to lead others, clarify expectations, build trust, manage performance, and deliver results, often without clear guidance or time to figure it out.Most leadership programs explain what good leadership looks like. They don’t show you how to lead in the conditions you’re actually working in.Leadership Accelerator helps you move from doing the work yourself to leading the work through others. You’ll use practical, people-first tools and apply them directly to your actual team each week.This program is for people managers who:👉 Feel stuck as the primary doer👉 Want clearer expectations and better follow-through👉 Care about both people and performance👉 Want tools they can actually useHow it works:☑️ 12 weeks. Two live sessions per week (kickoff + reflection)☑️ Real work, not simulations. Apply the tools to your actual team☑️ Cohort support. Learn with peers with similar leadership challenges☑️ Behavior change over theory. Practice, reflect, adjust, and repeatBy the end of the Accelerator, you’ll have a repeatable set of leadership tools, and the confidence that comes from using them in practice.

Practical tools for leading teams, applied in real time

Redefine your role as a leader

Create clarity across roles, priorities, and working models

Build accountability through care and trust

Apply leadership tools immediately

Best for current people managers. Weekly projects involve working directly with your team.

People Manager

Managers stuck in the workYou lead a team but still do too much yourself. You want clarity, focus, and a healthier team dynamic.

Newer managersYou’ve stepped into a leadership role and want to do it well, but most guidance feels vague, outdated, or overly corporate.

Leaders preparing for growthYou lead a team and want practical tools to build trust, accountability, and momentum as your scope grows.