When a Capable Leader Is at Risk, There Is a Window to Act.
The Athena Leadership Recovery Sprint™ is a focused 90-day intervention for capable leaders whose effectiveness, credibility, relationships, or ability to succeed in the organization are at risk.
It is designed for situations that have moved beyond normal leadership development and require focused, time-sensitive intervention.
90 days | $18,000 CAD | Confidential
When the Sprint Makes Sense
The Sprint is designed for situations where the organization believes the leader is capable of succeeding, but something significant has changed and waiting is creating additional risk.
Confidence is deteriorating.
The leader was once trusted and successful, but confidence in her effectiveness is beginning to erode.
Relationships are becoming strained.
Problems with the boss, peers, direct reports, or key stakeholders are interfering with the leader’s ability to succeed.
Performance concerns are becoming serious.
Expectations are being missed, results are declining, or concerns have reached senior leadership or HR.
Something in the environment has changed.
A new boss, larger role, restructuring, changing expectations, or organizational politics has altered what success requires.
The organization is still open to recovery.
There is still sufficient confidence in the leader to justify intervention, provided meaningful change can occur.
Time is no longer unlimited.
The situation needs to improve within a defined window before options narrow further.
The Sprint is designed for the Recovery Window: serious enough to require intervention, but early enough that there is still something meaningful to recover.
What the Sprint Addresses
Leadership Recovery is not one problem. A struggling leader may need to change, but the nature of that change depends on what is actually driving the problem.
CAPABILITY
The role now requires knowledge, judgment, or leadership capability the leader has not yet developed.
BEHAVIOUR
The leader has the capability, but specific behaviours are damaging trust, relationships, credibility, or results.
TRANSITION
The leader succeeded at one level but has not successfully changed how she leads at the next.
CONTEXT
The environment changed, but the leader’s operating approach did not change with it.
The Sprint begins with diagnosis because treating the wrong problem wastes valuable recovery time.
How the 90-Day Sprint Works
The Sprint moves through three phases, with the work shaped around the specific leadership situation and what recovery requires.
1. REFOCUS
Understand what changed and stabilize the situation.
Clarify the problem, identify immediate risks, establish expectations, and determine what needs to change first.
2. REBUILD
Restore leadership effectiveness and credibility.
Address the behaviours, relationships, leadership practices, stakeholder dynamics, and contextual issues contributing to the problem.
3. REIGNITE
Restore confidence, momentum and sustainable effectiveness.
Reinforce the changes, rebuild confidence with key stakeholders, and establish the leadership practices needed to sustain the recovery beyond the 90-day Sprint.
What the Organization Can Expect
The objective of the Sprint is not simply to help the leader feel more confident. It is to produce meaningful, observable improvement in the leadership situation that caused concern in the first place.
Depending on the circumstances, that may mean:
Greater clarity about what needs to change
A clearer understanding of what is affecting the leader’s effectiveness and what must change for recovery to occur.
Visible changes in leadership behaviour
Changes that the boss, peers, employees, and other stakeholders can recognize, not simply increased self-awareness.
Stronger critical relationships
Focused work on the relationships, trust, communication, or stakeholder dynamics that are affecting the leader’s ability to succeed.
Improved leadership effectiveness
Better alignment between what the role now requires and how the leader is actually operating.
Greater confidence in what happens next
At the end of the Sprint, the organization has a clearer basis for determining what has improved, what still requires attention, and what should happen next.
Recovery does not mean returning the leader to who she was before. It means helping her become effective in the environment she needs to lead in now.
What the Sprint Includes
Every leadership recovery situation is different. The specific work is determined by the diagnosis, the risks involved, and what needs to change for the leader to regain effectiveness.
The 90-day Sprint typically includes:
Targeted leadership assessment
Selected assessment tools may be used where they will provide useful insight into personality, behaviour, relationships, conflict, or other factors contributing to the situation.
Intensive work with the leader
Regular one-to-one sessions focused on the specific behaviours, capabilities, relationships, and operating practices that need to change.
Progress review and recalibration
Progress is assessed throughout the Sprint so the intervention can be adjusted as new information emerges and circumstances change.
Direction beyond the Sprint
At the conclusion of the Sprint, the leader and organization have greater clarity about progress made, remaining risks, and what is needed to sustain effectiveness beyond the 90 days.
Focused diagnostic work
Early conversations with the leader, organizational stakeholders, and others as appropriate to understand what has changed, what is driving the situation, and where intervention is most needed.
Real-time application
The work is applied to situations the leader is actually facing, including difficult conversations, stakeholder relationships, performance challenges, organizational dynamics, and critical decisions.
Stakeholder alignment and involvement
Appropriate involvement of the leader’s boss, HR, or other key stakeholders to clarify expectations, address organizational factors, and support visible progress.
The Sprint is deliberately adaptive. Not every situation requires the same assessments, stakeholder involvement, or interventions. The work is concentrated where it can have the greatest impact on recovery.
What the Sprint Is Not
Leadership Recovery sits between normal leadership development and the point where an organization has concluded that a leader cannot continue in the role.
The Sprint is not:
Executive coaching as usual
Coaching can be valuable, but the Sprint begins with an organizational problem to solve, not simply the leader’s development goals.
A leadership development program
There is no standard curriculum. The work is determined by the specific conditions affecting the leader’s effectiveness.
A performance management process
The Sprint does not replace the organization’s responsibility to set expectations, manage performance, or make employment decisions.
A guarantee that every leader can be recovered
Sometimes the work determines that recovery is unlikely or that the role is no longer the right fit. The objective is meaningful improvement where recovery is viable, and greater clarity when it is not.
Leadership Recovery is appropriate when the organization still sees value in the leader, but continuing without intervention carries too much risk.
Is This the Right Situation for a Sprint?
The Leadership Recovery Sprint is designed for situations where the concern is serious, the leader is worth trying to retain, and there is still a realistic opportunity to change the trajectory.
A Sprint may be appropriate when:
- The leader has demonstrated capability or value in the past.
- Something material has changed in her performance, behaviour, relationships, credibility, or organizational context.
- The consequences of allowing the situation to continue are becoming significant.
- Normal feedback, coaching, or development has not been enough, or the situation is too serious to rely on those approaches alone.
- The organization is prepared to participate in the recovery process, not simply send the leader away to be “fixed.”
- There is still sufficient trust, time, and organizational willingness for recovery to be possible.
When the Assessment May Be the Better Place to Start
If there is concern about the leader but you are not yet sure what is causing the problem, whether recovery is viable, or what kind of intervention is warranted, begin with the Athena Leadership Recovery Assessment™.
The Assessment provides a focused three-week diagnostic before the organization commits to a larger intervention.
A Capable Leader Is at Risk. What Happens Next Matters.
When the organization believes recovery is still possible, waiting can reduce the options available.
The Athena Leadership Recovery Sprint™
90 days | $18,000 CAD | Confidential
A confidential initial conversation to understand the situation and determine whether the Sprint is the appropriate next step.