Who is it for?

This mastermind is for seasoned formal and informal leaders operating in high-stakes, disrupted environments who want to move beyond acquiring new skills and instead fundamentally expand their internal capacity to navigate uncharted systemic terrain with integrity and a non-anxious presence

What will I gain?

You will develop capacity for emotional maturity: the ability to remain a non-anxious, ethical presence even when the system around you is panicking. Potential outcomes:

• Decision Accuracy: Reduction in reactive, fear-based pivots through enhanced systemic sight and emotional regulation.

• Risk Mitigation: Strengthening ethical autonomy to protect organizational integrity and compliance under high-pressure cycles.

• Leader Well-Being: Shifting from chronic over-functioning to a sustainable "Self-in-System" presence, preserving the leader's mental and emotional health.

• Reduced Turnover: Differentiated leaders act as "circuit breakers" for systemic anxiety, directly lowering the high costs of team-wide burnout and talent flight.

• Systemic Regulation: Modeling a "non-anxious presence" that fosters psychological safety and stabilizes department performance during disruption.

• - Six 90-minute virtual sessions (11:45 – 1:15 EDT on May 8, 15, 29 and June 5, 12, 26, 2026)

• - Small cohort of 6-12 practicing leaders who desire to learn to lead through uncharted territory

• - Includes a 50-minute individual coaching session to make sure you get the maximum value from the program

• - Guided evidence-based activities that will be debriefed in session

• - RIT Saunders College of Business Leadership Certificate

Is this for me?

This capacity-building experience is specifically designed for leaders who meet any of the following markers:

• - The "Linchpin" Position: You occupy a role in an environment that is both highly structured (or regulated) while simultaneously being disrupted by outside forces such as technology or the current political/economic situation.

• - The Identity Friction: You are transitioning from a technical or clinical expert (e.g., Physician, Engineer, Professor) to a systemic leader and feel the "pull" of your old identity.

• - Systemic Exhaustion: You find yourself "over-functioning"—doing the emotional or tactical work of others to soothe the anxiety of the department.

• - Navigating the Unmapped: You are currently leading a project with no precedent, such as an AI integration or a cultural merger, where traditional "maps" have failed.

• - A Hunger for Autonomy: You feel a "fusing" with the organization where your personal well-being is dictated by the latest crisis, and you are ready to reclaim your ethical and emotional independence.

Who This is NOT For:

• - New supervisors looking for basic leadership skills (which are important, but not what this experience provides).

• - Leaders in stable, low-anxiety environments where traditional "command and control" maps still work.

• - Individuals looking for a passive lecture series; this is an active laboratory for the Self.

What will I learn?

"Dr. Palanski flipped the concept of leading on its side "

"Something that really stuck with me was the focus on changing yourself...rather than changing your team"

"Focusing on ones’ self is counter to what a 'textbook leader' is taught to do"