November Leadership Circles

Find the room built around your real leadership question.

Each room brings a small faculty and a handful of participants into a focused, candid conversation. Explore the purpose and people before choosing where you belong.

Saturday, November 14, 2026 · Ottawa, Ontario

The Atrium, Nicol Building, Carleton University, Ottawa

6 circles · 19 faculty seats · 42 participant seats

Who am I becoming as a leader?

Leadership Identity

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What this circle is about

You're known for what you deliver, not yet for who you are as a leader. The book calls this identity lag: your thinking has outgrown your title and your habits. This circle helps you lead as the leader you've become, not the one who just gets things done.

Who it is for

For people taking on more responsibility or visibility who are tired of being known only for being reliable.

What you will work on

Who you're becoming as a leader, one habit of over-doing you'll drop, and a first move you make without waiting for permission.

Questions this room will sit with

Where do you over-function because it feels safer than being seen?
What leadership identity are you rehearsing under pressure?
What would change if your presence carried as much weight as your output?

Best for: professionals ready to lead from self-knowledge, not just performance.

How do I move from capability to visibility?

Strategic Visibility

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What this circle is about

Good work doesn't speak for itself. This circle is for people whose work is strong but whose name doesn't travel. You'll practise making your thinking heard while a decision is still open, so the right people know what you're ready for.

Who it is for

For people whose ability is clear but whose value is easy to overlook or credit to someone else.

What you will work on

The one room where being overlooked costs you most, what you need that room to hear, and who should be saying your name when you're not there.

Questions this room will sit with

Who knows what you are ready for before a role is posted?
Where is your career story too modest, too scattered, or too reactive?
What relationships, signals, and proof points should be working for you now?

Best for: professionals who need visibility, sponsorship, positioning, and career capital.

How do I become known, trusted, and remembered?

Career Influence

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What this circle is about

Being seen isn't the same as being trusted. This circle is the next step: building credibility, and the relationships that carry your name into rooms you're not in. You'll look at what people link to you now, where that's thin, and what would make your influence hold without you managing it.

Who it is for

For people advancing, reinventing, or making a move that needs sponsors, not just supporters.

What you will work on

What you want to be trusted with, the few relationships that should be backing you, and the track record that should follow you.

Questions this room will sit with

What do people currently associate with your leadership?
What are you under-communicating because excellence feels more comfortable than exposure?
What visible body of proof should follow you into every serious room?

Best for: leaders building credibility, executive presence, thought leadership, and trust.

How do I build, grow, and lead a venture?

Business & Entrepreneurship

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What this circle is about

A venture has no team to absorb your habits. If you can't stop being the most reliable person in it, you become the bottleneck, and being busy starts to feel like progress. This circle treats your venture as a leadership question: what to stop doing, and whether you're leading it or being consumed by it.

Who it is for

For founders, consultants, and intrapreneurs building something that needs structure and traction more than another idea.

What you will work on

Your real bottleneck, what only you should be doing right now, and one decision that moves the venture forward instead of just keeping you busy.

Questions this room will sit with

What is the real bottleneck: strategy, story, structure, market, or self-trust?
What kind of leader does this next stage of the venture require?
Where do you need traction instead of more ideas?

Best for: entrepreneurs, consultants, founders, builders, and professionals with a serious next chapter.

How do I make better money and career-capital decisions?

Finance & Career Capital

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What this circle is about

It's tempting to answer every stall with one more certification. But a qualification isn't credibility, and neither is money. This circle treats money and career capital as leadership decisions: how you price your value, what you invest in yourself, and where uncertainty has been shrinking your ambition.

Who it is for

For people making real decisions about income, negotiation, and long-term value who are done letting uncertainty make them small.

What you will work on

What your career is actually building, one pay or value conversation you've been avoiding, and the next investment that gives you leverage.

Questions this room will sit with

Where does financial uncertainty make you play smaller?
What career-capital decisions need more structure and less fear?
How do you think about value, negotiation, funding, and long-term confidence?

Educational only: this circle does not provide individualized financial advice.

How do I lead without burning out or hiding behind competence?

Leadership Health Check

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What this circle is about

Reliability gets rewarded fast, and then it traps you. Work finds you because you won't let it fall apart, and being needed starts to feel like proof. This circle is an honest look at your capacity, boundaries, and recovery, for the leader who can still perform, but at a cost they're tired of treating as normal.

Who it is for

For dependable high performers carrying too much or hiding strain behind competence.

What you will work on

The strength that's become expensive, the load that should become a system or a boundary, and what sustainable leadership looks like before burnout forces it.

Questions this room will sit with

What strength has become expensive under pressure?
Where are you carrying responsibility that should become system, boundary, or shared ownership?
What would sustainable leadership look like before exhaustion forces the conversation?

Supportive leadership reflection only: this is not medical or therapeutic advice.

Not sure which room fits? Either assessment can help you reflect. Both are optional and never block registration.

Competence Trap Wheel ↗ Ethical Drift Compass ↗