Leadership Academy: The Series
An evolving series — one post per session of the Exaze Leadership Academy, plus a quick-reference for every framework covered so far.
I’m going through Exaze’s Leadership Academy — Batch 1, Beginner to Intermediate, running July–August 2026. Rather than let each session fade the way most training does, I’m writing up what was actually taught after every session: the frameworks, the reasoning behind them, and the examples that made them land.
This post is the index — it gets updated as new sessions happen. Each session is its own post, linked below, and every framework covered so far is summarised at the bottom for quick lookup.
Sessions
- Session 1 — Management vs. Leadership, and the Trust Equation (10 July 2026)
- Session 2 — Personal Commitments, Team Operating Rhythm, and SBI Feedback (17 July 2026)
- Session 3 — Psychological Safety, Stakeholders, and Managing Expectations (24 July 2026)
- Session 4 — Communication Modes and Difficult Conversations (31 July 2026)
- Session 5 onward — added as they happen
Quick reference
Every framework covered so far, in one place.
Trust Equation Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) ÷ Self-Orientation. Lower self-orientation is always better — it’s the denominator.
Team Operating Rhythm Weekly 1:1 (30 min, their agenda) · Team Standup (15 min, blockers only) · Monthly Check-in (60 min, the bigger picture, as a group) · Quarterly Review (2 hrs, honest retrospective + next priorities).
SBI Feedback Situation (specific context) → Behaviour (observable fact, not interpretation) → Impact (concrete effect) → Pause (let them respond).
Stakeholder Power/Interest Grid High power + high interest = manage closely. High power + low interest = keep satisfied. Low power + high interest = keep informed. Low power + low interest = monitor.
SCOPE Success (defined by them) · Constraints (real ones) · Ownership (who decides) · Progress (their preferred format) · Escalation (threshold + channel).
Four Communication Modes Up: headline first, confident, no hedging. Across: collaborative, “we” language. Outward: warm, professional, never silent. Down: context-rich — always explain the why.
COIN (difficult conversations) Context (about the issue, not the person) → Observation (video-provable, not interpreted) → Impact (on the work, not a threat) → Next step (specific, then pause for their response).
Project Aristotle — what makes teams work, in order
- Psychological safety 2. Dependability 3. Structure and clarity 4. Meaning 5. Impact.