Adaptive Leadership
Facilitator Development Program
Level 4
Master the Art
of Adaptive Leadership Facilitation
The need for effective leadership facilitation is increasing as our global community and organizational challenges get more complex, less certain and simply harder to manage. “Facilitation” in these contexts often extends beyond simple training facilitation to holding—and even leading—competing stakeholders through a process of creative disequilibrium to undergo a deep experiential learning process.
For the facilitator, as for a leadership practitioner, a guiding question is therefore how do I prepare people to tolerate the pressures, heat and ambiguity that develops as we work toward resolving tough and seemingly intractable (adaptive) challenges? Facilitators take part in a well-tested and refined onsite and offsite development process that includes a range of experiential, didactic and results-oriented activities based on established adult-learning principles. Specific consideration will be given to differing levels of experience and perspectives.
Learn to Train Future Leaders
Case in Point Facilitation
Practice experiential learning using the CIP (Case in Point) facilitation method developed at Harvard Kennedy School to master the X-factor of the adaptive pedagogy.
Access to Proprietary Material
Our Adaptive Leadership (TM) materials evolved from years of practical experience. Includes workbooks, slide decks, guides and other resources.
Adaptive Balcony Coaching
Master the practice of coaching individuals and groups by asking the right questions and empowering others around you to step into their own leadership moments.
What is Adaptive Leadership Facilitation?
Adaptive Leadership facilitation builds facilitator capacity by shifting the training “classroom” to become a space to practice leadership rather than to simply study it. The cornerstone of Adaptive Leadership facilitation is a belief that, to facilitate well, the facilitator needs to internalize the very capacities that they seek to create in the individuals and teams they’re facilitating. This includes managing self and role, understanding their relationship to authority, surfacing factions, managing frustration and discomfort in the face of intractable challenges, navigating disappointment and orchestrating productive conflict. To do that, facilitators must develop a keen eye for seeing the system as it reveals itself, generating multiple interpretations and then crafting activities and interventions to help people engage purposefully. In essence, it is expanding their scope of facilitation from delivering content to shaping transformation.
Specific, practical skills the facilitator can expect to learn include:
- Reading dynamic situations and designing interventions in the moment
Making hidden issues, assumptions and interpretations transparent and testable - Depersonalizing conflict
- Directing attention to systemic, rather than personal, interpretations
- Resisting the urge to provide premature closure to conversations
- Holding steady when participants express discomfort or hostility
- Making conscious choices about which lines of inquiry to pursue and which to let pass
- Refashioning participants’ expectations that they can rely on the facilitator for answers
Course Structure and Schedule
This Level 4 program is offered in two Pathways.
Pathway 1
Adaptive Leadership™
Facilitation I Foundations (Standalone)
Develop the art and craft of facilitating adaptive conversations and group learning.
Dates: November 24–25, 2025 | 9:00am – 12:00pm ; 2:00pm – 5:00pm
- Format: The Foundation Program is a 2-day immersion providing a grounding in the principles and practices of Adaptive Facilitation. The program offers an experiential learning space grounded in reflection and dialogue. Participants will explore how to frame adaptive challenges, manage group dynamics, and hold productive disequilibrium in the room. This foundational experience builds confidence and skill in leading adaptive conversations. It also serves as the first step toward certification in Adaptive Leadership Facilitation.
- Requirement: Participants for the Foundation Program should have completed ACA’s Adaptive Leadership Introductory Workshop, or have demonstrated knowledge and experience in the Adaptive Leadership Framework
- Ideal Audience:
- L&D and OD professionals building adaptive capacity across teams
- HR and talent leaders shaping culture and leadership pipelines
- Consultants, coaches, and facilitators supporting systems-change efforts
- Change agents, strategists, and innovation leads working across boundaries
- Managers and team leads navigating diverse stakeholder environments
- Anyone seeking to strengthen their ability to diagnose adaptive challenges, guide group learning, and hold productive tension.
- Individuals exploring whether to build in-house adaptive facilitation capacity or pursue full certification.
- Serves as a stand-alone skill-building immersion or preparation for Certification.
Pathway 2
Adaptive Leadership™
Facilitation II Certification
Become a certified Adaptive Leadership facilitator equipped to design and lead programs.
Dates: November 24–25, 2025 | 9:00am – 12:00pm ; 2:00pm – 5:00pm and February 13, 16, 17, 2026 | 9:00am – 12:00pm ; 2:00pm – 5:00pm
- Format: This 5-day program is spread over 3 months (2-day Introduction in November plus 3-day Teach-In in February). After receiving a grounding in the principles and practices of Adaptive Facilitation on November 24-25, participants engage in a three-month field and community practice phase, applying their learning in real contexts while staying connected through structured peer coaching groups, virtual reflection sessions, and a shared learning platform. This culminates in a 3 day ‘teach-in’ in February, where participants return for advanced skill-building in designing and delivering Adaptive Leadership programs.
- Requirement: Certification participants must complete all 5 days of the program and participate in the asynchronous sessions between November and February
- Ideal Audience:
- Professional facilitators and workshop designers seeking to enhance their adaptive toolkit
- Educators and trainers integrating experiential and transformative learning methods into their teaching
- Leadership development consultants looking to deliver Adaptive Leadership programs with depth and fidelity
- Senior L&D and OD professionals seeking certification to credential their expertise
- Internal leadership faculty or academy leads building institutional capacity for Adaptive Leadership
- Change and transformation specialists who design or convene large-scale learning processes
- Independent consultants and trainers seeking access to ACA’s licensed frameworks and materials
Certification
Upon successful completion of the program, facilitators receive ACA certification in Adaptive Leadership (TM) along with access to proprietary materials, trainer assets and the Adaptive Leadership learning platform.
Workshop Fees
Introduction to Adaptive Leadership Facilitation | Certification in Adaptive Leadership Facilitation | |
Corporate | $4,000 | $12,000 |
Academia/ Government | $3,000 | $10,000 |
Nonprofit/CBO | $2,500 | $7500 |
Please inquire for limited scholarships.