The Vanguard Network: What Happens When 27 Leaders Commit to 24 Weeks of Leveling-Up.

Sylvie Carr
11 hours ago
6 min read

We are living through one of the most significant shifts in leadership our generation has ever seen. New technologies, ever-changing workforce expectations, hybrid culture, global uncertainty… everything is evolving at record speed.

“The rate of change affecting businesses has risen steadily since 2019, increasing by 183% over the past four years and by 33% in 2024 alone.” (Accenture 2024)

And organizations are being forced to ask a new set of questions:

How do we prepare our leaders for what’s next?

How do we equip them to think strategically, communicate clearly, and adapt confidently?How do we create leaders who don’t just manage, but actually move organizations forward?

Our answer for the future is this:

Help leaders modernize their leadership, one intentional step at a time.

And the vehicle for that transformation? Level-Up™ Leadership.

Twenty-four weeks.
Twenty-seven leaders.
One immersive, multi-layered leadership journey designed to move beyond “checkbox training” and into real capability building.

Take the next five minutes to explore a behind-the-scenes look at how the program works and the powerful, practical capstone projects developed by our most recent cohort.

Why Our Programs Work

1. There are online modules, but not the kind you’re used to.

Our digital learning is built intentionally: short, gamified, practical, and tailored to what leaders actually need in their day-to-day. No filler. No fluff.

2. Learning isn’t passive: it’s applied immediately.

Every mission includes a real-world application task. Leaders test new concepts, communication styles, and problem-solving approaches right away, long before they “feel ready.” Because that’s how mastery is built.

3. Weekly live sessions connect leaders across industries.

In our virtual meetups, leaders dive deeper, troubleshoot challenges, and learn alongside professionals they’d never otherwise meet. This mixed-cohort approach creates cross-industry insight that is rare and powerful.

4. And then, everything culminates in the Capstone Project.

The capstone is where all the learning snaps together. Leaders are placed into cross-functional groups and challenged to solve a real organizational problem using tools from the Level-Up™ Leadership Framework. The result is not a hypothetical assignment but a polished, practical solution.

what we learned from our vanguards

Before we get into the capstones, here are a few truths this cohort reinforced:

Hesitation is normal and welcome.

Our pre-interviews revealed a shared concern: time. Leadership development takes commitment, and “one-and-done” training simply doesn’t create change. Growth requires repetition, reflection, and practice. Once leaders leaned in, the results followed.

Leaders still value structured learning when it’s done well.

Many participants shared that even familiar concepts felt new again when presented concisely or applied through scenarios. Leaders don’t need MORE information. They need the right information at the right time.

Learning & development isn’t a checkbox, it’s an investment.

What organizations invest in leadership directly shapes performance, safety, communication, culture, and retention. In fact, organizations worldwide spend more than US $370 billion annually on leadership development (DDI, 2024).

Do you know what your organization is investing in? Have you ever paused to evaluate it?Start by using our Training Audit Tool. What was your score and more importantly, what will you do with it?

Introducing the vanguard capstones

The four capstones from this cohort demonstrate exactly what happens when leaders are given structure and space to innovate. Each team tackled a real organizational challenge and transformed it into a usable solution.

Here’s a closer look at the work they produced.

pod 1: Creating the Blueprint for a Tight-Knit Company Culture

Award: Best People-First Innovation

Group Members: Amy, Paul, Saj, Dave

"Growing organizations often lose the magic that made them great in the first place. This team set out to prove that culture doesn’t need to be one of the casualties of growth."

The Challenge

As companies scale, connection fades. “Startup energy” becomes difficult to maintain, turnover rises, people feel less seen, and engagement drops. The group recognized that culture usually falls apart not because leaders don’t care but because growth adds complexity no one is prepared to manage.

The Solution: A Culture Blueprint Leaders Can Actually Use

They created a practical, step-by-step framework - grounded in recognition, connection, leadership engagement, and inclusive decision-making - that leaders can use to intentionally build and protect culture.

How it works:

Diagnose cultural strengths and gaps
Introduce rituals that reinforce belonging
Use DiSC insights to deepen relationships
Implement transparent feedback loops
Align culture goals with business metrics (turnover, engagement, brand reputation)

Why It works

Because culture thrives when people feel seen, supported, and connected. Leaders have concrete systems to reinforce those behaviors.

Highlights & Outcomes

Delivered a SMART goal example linking culture directly to business outcomes
Proposed a phased implementation plan so leaders can roll out cultural changes authentically
Reinforced one central truth: Teams thrive when people feel they belong

pod 2: Employee Dashboard – Fixing the Top-Down Communication Breakdown

Award: Best Operational Problem-Solving

Group Members: Jesse, Rob, Salim, Nicole, Mike

“Where do we actually find the information leadership sends us?”

The Challenge

When communication is scattered across email, Slack, SharePoint, drives, and hallway conversations, employees waste hours searching and leaders struggle to ensure messages are consistent, timely, and understood.

The Solution: A Complete Communication Ecosystem

The team designed a centralized Employee Dashboard supported by four key systems:

✔ A corporate communications calendar: Ensures updates are scheduled strategically, not reactively.

✔ A reusable asset library: Eliminates duplication, inconsistent messaging, and messy shared drives.

✔ A team directory: Helps staff find the right people quickly and understand who’s responsible for what.

✔ A communication decision matrix: Removes emotion from “What should we share?” by giving leaders a shared prioritization tool.

How it works:

Employees get one single source of truth for policies, memos, updates, announcements, and leadership messages, updated on a reliable cadence.

Why It Works

Because communication clarity reduces confusion, strengthens culture, and increases operational efficiency.

Highlights & Outcomes

Mapped out update frequency, ownership, and maintenance workflows
Demonstrated how stale content kills adoption and how the calendar prevents it
Provided a ready-to-deploy directory structure and implementation plan

pod 3: The Change Compass – Guiding Leaders Through Change With Confidence

Award: Most Innovative Use of Leadership Frameworks

Group Members: Kristen, Laura, Gary, Cory, Melanie

Imagine if every leader had a compass for navigating organizational change: clear, reliable, and built around human behavior. This team made that vision real.

The Challenge

Without a clear process, change becomes chaotic. Leaders rush decisions, communication suffers, resistance increases, and employees become disengaged. The group wanted to eliminate the guesswork that causes change to fail.

The Solution: The Change Compass Tool

What it does:

Diagnoses the size and type of change
Identifies stakeholders and alignment gaps
Guides leaders through communication planningAnticipates resistance before it happens
Helps map roles, impacts, messaging, and timelines

How it works:

Leaders answer guided prompts. The tool adapts, offering resources, frameworks, and templates at each step. It creates structure where most leaders operate on instinct.

Why It works

Because change succeeds when leaders slow down, assess accurately, and communicate intentionally.

Highlights & Outcomes

Incorporates DISC communication strategy into change planning
Built entirely from scratch using AI-assisted prototyping
Can be scaled into a full organizational change management platform

pod 4: AI in the Workplace – A Human-Centered Change Journey

Award: Most Strategic & Future-Ready Vision

Group Members: Mora, Mark, Riley, Melissa, Karine

While the world rushes to adopt AI, this team asked a more important question: How do we help people feel safe, supported, and excited about it?

The Challenge

AI implementation often fails because of fear, not technology. People worry about job loss, accuracy, privacy, bias, workload changes, and “What if I get this wrong?” Organizations need a structured, ethical way to implement AI that builds trust, not resistance.

The Solution: AI Adoption Using Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model

This group adapted Kotter’s globally trusted framework to create a human-first roadmap for integrating AI.

What it includes:

A strategy for urgency without fear
A cross-functional guiding coalition
A clear vision for how AI enhances - not replaces - people
Short-term wins that build adoption
Governance, ethics, and transparency systems

How it works:

Leaders follow Kotter’s phased approach to move from awareness → alignment → adoption → culture integration.

Why It Works

Because AI is not a tech rollout, it’s a culture shift. And people adopt what they understand and feel part of.

Highlights & Outcomes

Identified ethics, privacy, accuracy, and overreliance as major risks
Outlined a post-implementation roadmap (KPIs, risk management, retraining)
Reinforced the leadership skills needed: communication, motivation, delegation, and conflict resolution

Final Thoughts

Today’s leaders are being asked to navigate a world that looks nothing like it did even five years ago. Level-Up™ Leadership, trialed by our Vanguards, exists to help them rise to that challenge with confidence, clarity, and modern leadership tools that actually work.

This cohort proved just how much is possible when development is thoughtful and rooted in real workplace impact. If you're curious about joining the next wave of future-ready leaders, click HERE to learn more about our upcoming mixed cohort.