Today’s interconnected crises—climate change, social and geopolitical shifts, and the rapid pace of technological disruption—demand a new way of leading.

Our custom-designed Leading in Complexity programs equip leaders to build adaptable, resilient organizations—at scale—that prioritize people, society, and the environment.

This kind of leadership is no longer a ‘nice to have’. The future health of our businesses, government agencies, for-purpose organizations—indeed all organizations—depends on leaders ready to thrive in complexity.

Complexity calls for a new kind of leader—curious, adaptable, and ready to reimagine leadership for a rapidly evolving world.

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Leading in Complexity transforms how leaders think, act, and engage with the complexities of their world. Leaders learn to move beyond conventional models of control and prediction, embracing curiosity, experimentation, and collaboration.

Your leaders will learn how to shift from fixed ways of thinking to a more flexible, adaptive approach. 

They’ll become more effective in creating environments where their teams can thrive, engaging more perspectives, and making decisions that align with the evolving context around them.

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Your leaders might be wondering:

  • What steps can I take to lead with confidence in the face of uncertainty?
  • How do I lead effectively when the problems we face are constantly changing?
  • How can my organization balance immediate business needs with long-term social and environmental impact?
  • What does it take to create a culture where innovation and adaptability thrive?
  • How do I move beyond “control and predict” leadership models to inspire collaboration and experimentation?

Leading in Complexity teaches leaders to embrace uncertainty with confidence. Leaders will develop both the inner game (beliefs, perspectives) and outer game (practices, actions) of leadership, learning to:

  • Shift from knowing to learning, asking different questions to explore complex problems.
  • Learn to see systems, rather than isolated events, recognizing the interconnectedness of issues.
  • Value diverse perspectives, leading with empathy and collaboration.
  • Experiment with new approaches and solutions, adapting as they learn.

This shift allows leaders to navigate ambiguity, foster innovation, and guide their teams through change with greater resilience and adaptability.

Real Impact: Leadership Transformation in Action

One participant in our program, tasked with cleaning up a polluted river, initially relied on technical solutions. Progress was slow. By shifting her mindset to embrace the river as a complex system and engaging with the surrounding communities, she created a collaborative, community-driven effort that accelerated progress and built long-term sustainability.

This transformation—from focusing on technical solutions to including the engagement of stakeholders—demonstrates the power of complexity-based leadership. By creating environments where diverse voices contribute and small moves generate big results, leaders can drive faster and more impactful outcomes.

“Cultivating Leadership pushes the boundaries in many ways on what people have seen and heard previously. This is a great thing for an intellectually curious audience who think there’s not a lot more they can learn. As a result, leaders are engaged in the content and readily begin to consider its application to themselves. Over time, this leads to what our leaders refer to as ‘personal transformation’—no mean feat in a corporate context.

My colleagues and I have been truly thrilled by the partnership with Cultivating Leadership. We are bolder and braver together and have learned so much along the way. Cultivating Leadership walk their talk in a way that makes everyone around them better.”

Senior Leader, Learning and Development,
Global Tech Company

Case Study:
Equipping leaders for complexity at a global scale

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Organizational Benefits: Transforming Your Culture and Impact

Organizations that embrace complexity build a culture where people feel valued, engaged, and ready to contribute. Organizations that have invited us to co-create a Leading in Complexity program have seen:

  • Increased engagement and retention: Employees feel empowered to contribute their knowledge and try new things, rather than being bound by rigid plans and metrics.
  • Greater adaptability: Your organization becomes less rigid, able to flex and adapt to changes in the external environment—like a tree bending in the breeze.
  • Sustainable growth: A complexity-fit mindset helps leaders balance commercial outcomes with social and environmental awareness, driving long-term sustainability.

Through these outcomes, organizations strengthen their capacity to respond and innovate in an ever- evolving world.

Ready to Lead in Complexity?

Equip your leaders with the skills and mindsets they need to navigate complexity.

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Customized to Fit Your Organization’s Needs

Whether you’re looking for a two-hour workshop or a year-long engagement, we co-create a program tailored to your leadership challenges, organizational goals, and culture.

Let’s co-create a program that equips
your leaders to thrive in complexity.

Conventional leadership doesn’t solve complex problems.

It’s time to equip your organization with the awareness and tools to balance social, environmental, and commercial priorities—building a future-ready, complexity-fit culture.

Ready to take the next step?

Get in touch to start the conversation.

Discover other adaptive offerings

Leading in Complexity

We work at multiple levels, from scalable leadership development programs that support leaders throughout the organization to lead in complexity, to working with intact and cross-functional teams to be more adept and high-functioning.

Evolving Healthy Systems

We help organizations be fit for evolution and complexity, specifically in the areas of organization design and development, change management, and the challenges of becoming ever more inclusive workplaces amidst demographic and generational shifts.

Governance in Complexity

Many governance structures are outdated, given the permeability of organizational boundaries and new ways of relating and doing business. Previous strategies geared towards the predictable are insufficient. We build practices for new ways of governing and take a complexity-friendly approach to strategy.

Explore some of the examples of our adaptive offerings