EMERGING LEADERS ACCELERATOR
Grow the leaders you can’t afford to lose.
When you promote someone into leadership, they become responsible for people, culture and performance. But who taught them how to lead?
Purpose-built for professional services firms, the Emerging Leaders Accelerator helps high-potential professionals become confident, trusted leaders – before trial and error costs your organisation time, money and good people.
In Person
Collins St location, or at your office
3 Months
Weekly 90-minute sessions
Small Cohorts
Public (5-10 leaders) or private to your organisation
THE PROBLEM
Great performers don’t automatically become great leaders.
Hi, I’m Patty McDonald, founder of Apex Leadership. Over the last decade, I’ve coached leaders across corporate, government and community organisations.
One pattern keeps repeating: the people promoted into leadership are usually excellent at their jobs. They’re capable, hardworking and trusted. That’s exactly why they’re promoted.
But leadership is a different skill set. If nobody teaches them how to inspire people, create accountability, navigate conflict or lead themselves under pressure, they are forced to learn through trial and error.
THE HIDDEN COST
When leadership development is left to chance...
Difficult conversations are delayed.
Problems are escalated instead of solved.
Trust and accountability erode.
Senior leaders spend more time rescuing.
Good people disengage – or leave.
Performance quietly slips.
Difficult conversations are delayed.
Problems are escalated instead of solved.
Trust and accountability erode.
Senior leaders spend more time rescuing.
Good people disengage—or leave.
Performance quietly slips.
Your future leaders may have all the potential in the world. But talent needs development for potential to be fulfilled.
IMAGINE INSTEAD
A leader who brings solutions, not just problems.
- Has difficult conversations early and respectfully.
- Takes ownership and stays grounded under pressure.
- Builds a culture of trust, accountability and healthy conflict.
- Empowers others instead of looking to be the hero.
- Creates the conditions for everyone to do their best work.
LEADERSIP HAS A RIPPLE EFFECT
Develop one leader and you strengthen the team around them.
The impact doesn’t stop with them.
When a leader becomes more confident, capable and self-aware, the impact reaches far beyond them. It shows up in conversations, decisions, relationships and the way their team works together.
What is one better leader worth?
Develop an emerging leader and you are not investing in one person. You are investing in everyone they lead.
Worked example. A manager on $100,000 who leads 5 people on $90,000 is responsible for more than half a million dollars of salary every year.
The Accelerator costs around 5% of that manager's salary. Less than 1% of the payroll they influence.
Where you'll see the return on investment:
Retention
Teams people want to stay in.
Performance
Better prioritisation, delegation and accountability.
Leadership capacity
Fewer escalations. Senior time handed back.
Succession
Growing a leader costs less than hiring one.
Culture
One healthier leader changes the room.
The numbers don't need to be dramatic.
Keep one good person who was going to leave. Improve team effectiveness by 1%. Give a senior leader back a few hours a month. Any one of those can cover the cost of developing that leader.
Run your own numbers.
Start with how many leaders you want to develop. We will recommend a cohort, show you the payroll they influence, and split the value into what you can verify and what you cannot. The assumptions start conservative. Change them if you disagree.
Their own salary plus the salaries of everyone reporting to them, every year.
With 1 emerging leader, we would recommend the Public Cohort.
Where the value could come from
Estimate| Direct value Replacement costs you do not pay. The half a finance team can verify. | |
| Participant retention Keeping the leaders you just developed | $2,500 |
| Team retention Fewer people leaving the teams they run | $1,688 |
| Direct value subtotal | $4,188 |
| Performance capacity The value of small capability gains. Real, but harder to put an invoice against. | |
| Team effectiveness Capacity, not revenue. Faster delivery, less rework, less overtime | $4,500 |
| Leader effectiveness Better prioritisation, delegation and decisions. Less firefighting | $2,000 |
| Performance capacity subtotal | $6,500 |
| Combined potential annual value | $10,688 |
Does the value clear the cost?
Both bars on the same scale. The value bar is stacked by where it comes from.
Arithmetic from your figures. No assumptions applied.
Even on conservative assumptions, small improvements in retention, effectiveness and leadership capacity can outweigh the cost of developing one leader.
This is an illustration, not a forecast. It does not guarantee a financial return. Any quantified business case should use your organisation's own baseline measures rather than a universal uplift claim. Team and leader effectiveness are expressed as capacity, not additional revenue.
THE APEX LEADERSHIP MODEL
Three stages.
One leadership journey.
An immersive, in-person experience that develops the leader from the inside out.
Lead Self
Become someone worth following.
Before someone can lead others, they need to lead themselves. Participants shift from reactivity to ownership, examine the beliefs and fears shaping how they lead, and build the clarity and consistency real leadership demands.
- Ownership, responsibility and empowerment
- Mindset, identity and fear
- Emotional intelligence and self-awareness
- Prioritisation, decisions and focus
- Energy, habits and personal effectiveness
Lead People
Bring out the best in others.
Participants make the shift from managing work to leading people – learning to influence without relying on authority, and practising the conversations that build trust, accountability and performance.
- Leading versus managing
- Influence, empowerment and indirect leadership
- Listening, feedback and clear communication
- Healthy conflict and accountability
- Coaching, delegation and developing others
Lead Culture
Create environments where people thrive.
Participants learn to shape what happens around them: shared direction, trust, belonging and the simple structures that help teams thrive – while considering the longer-term ripple effects of how they lead.
- Vision, clarity and alignment
- Trust, belonging and psychological safety
- Effective meetings and group decisions
- Simple systems and metrics that matter
- Purpose, stewardship and legacy
Being Chosen Matters
Nominating someone for the Accelerator tells them you see their potential and you’re willing to invest in their growth.
That support can have a powerful impact on how someone sees themselves as a leader, and how they choose to grow within your organisation.
WHY IT WORKS
People Don't Change Through Information Alone.
They change through experience, practice and honest reflection. The Accelerator gives every participant the challenge, support and space to actually apply what they learn.
Real-World Application
Personalised support, real challenges, honest reflection
Small Cohorts (5 to 10 leaders)
Peer learning breeds trust, vulnerability and shared accountability
Optional 1:1 Coaching
One-to-one support, when it’s needed most
LEADERSHIP COACHING CLIENT FEEDBACK
What leaders say about
working with Patty.
Anthony Baldasso
We had the pleasure of working with Patty of Apex Leadership on our company’s Leadership Retreat. The retreat was very successful. The experience provided many moments that shifted us forward.Patty is an exceptional facilitator. His unique style enabled each of our leadership team members to share openly our own individual unique strengths and, on occasions, to share vulnerabilities. There was a sense of ‘stepping into who we are meant to be.’ We are very excited about the future and look forward to continuing our relationship with Patty and Apex Leadership.
Simon Fritsch
“Patty immediately made me feel comfortable with his warm manner and the way he set the tone for each session, starting with a meditation that helped me focus and be present. In our time together, we had several breakthroughs, particularly in gaining clarity on my true goals and how to align them with my leadership journey. The action items we identified pushed me out of my comfort zone and drove meaningful progress, both personally and professionally. Patty is an exceptional coach—his ability to listen deeply and hold space in an empowering way helped me step into my role as a more confident and effective leader.”
Hassan Mehmoodul
“A good coach can change the game; a great coach can change a life”. This realisation came to me when I started my coaching journey with Patty. I love the amount of attention he gives to my situation and putting himself into my shoes. The calmness with which he approaches the situations and the solutions that he comes up with are something that I would have never thought of. I will always be really grateful to Patty for all the efforts he has put in ultimately making me a better person.” It’s really amazing to find someone on the same wavelength and I could not recommend him more.”
Elizabeth Chackola
“I had the incredible opportunity to have some coaching sessions with Patty earlier this year. From the very first session, Patty created a safe and open space for honest conversations, his ability to listen deeply and ask thought-provoking questions helped me gain clarity on the opportunities and challenges in my path.
One of the most valuable aspects of the coaching process was how Patty combined actionable strategies with emotional intelligence, helping me develop my communication skills to get build better relationships with my toughest stakeholders. I left each session feeling inspired and equipped with tools that I could apply immediately. Perhaps the most significant change is in my confidence as a person which is a direct result of the mindset shifts Patty has helped me achieve.”
Darren Counsell
“I really got so much out of my session with Pat, I feel his perception and ability to grasp and process where I am in my life was amazing. He understands what I am trying to achieve and provided constructive, practical and useful methods with practical objectives to help me achieve my goals and ambitions. It’s really amazing to find someone on the same wavelength and I could not recommend him more.”
Paul Goff
“I’ve been coached by Patty for over 5 years now and we’ve covered a lot of ground both personally and professionally. What I love about Patty is his ability to bring those blind spots into light for me to unpack. He has such a unique, grounding, natural curiosity and a born skillset to support as an impactful coach. If you have an opportunity to speak with Patty, I couldn’t recommend him highly enough.”
Nowaki McQueen-Tokita
“Patty really helped me with some clouds in my head, helping me set the direction for my business and my family. After our meetings I feel really energised and clear, and it’s helped not only my business but my homelife and relationship. I really enjoy working with Patty because I feel like I can talk to him about anything, that span across business, leadership and deeply meaningful personal topics. I was a little skeptical at first but after a couple of sessions it was really good and I highly recommend Patty to any leader who wants to get support across any area of their life.”
Ricky Baldasso
“Before working with Patty, all of the big ideas and projects I had were a complete mess. Patty essentially brought order to the chaos inside of me and the chaos in my life. If you’re looking to have more harmony and balance in your life, in your business and your projects, Patty is the guy to help you.”
Guy Newman
“Pat’s coaching took me to a new level I never thought possible. I achieved inner peace, aligned my actions with my purpose, and built a team that’s performing at its best.”
Rachelle Sassine
“I’ve always known my purpose but felt stuck in my business. After a breathwork and meditation session with Patty, I came out with a sense of clarity and courage. Since then, my business has grown by 25% in just over a week. My energy shifted completely, and now I feel unstoppable. I hadn’t realized how much fear and failure were holding me back. This session was exactly what I needed. Highly recommend it to any business owner feeling blocked.”
DESIGNED FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Choose the cohort that fits your people.
Public cohort
Nominate one or more emerging leaders.
Your people learn alongside high-potential professionals from other organisations – gaining fresh perspective, a broader network and a confidential peer community.
Private cohort
An exclusive cohort built for your organisation.
Build a shared approach to leadership across your organisation, strengthen relationships and give your emerging leaders the opportunity to grow together.
WHO IT’S FOR
Built for the Leaders of our Future.
Designed for professional services businesses where technically strong people are increasingly being asked to lead teams, clients and culture, often for the first time.
EXAMPLE IDEAL INDUSTRIES
Financial Advisory
Accounting
Engineering
Architecture
Legal
Project Management
IT
Marketing
Consulting
Contact us to check alignment
WHAT YOU’LL NOTICE
You’ll See the Difference in Everyday Leadership.
For private cohorts, success measures can be agreed before the program starts and reviewed with sponsoring leaders
- Solutions are proposed, not just problems escalated.
- Difficult conversations happen sooner.
- Feedback is received with less defensiveness.
- Ownership replaces blame and rescue.
- Healthy conflict replaces avoidance.
- Senior leaders can refocus on higher priorities.
START THE CONVERSATION
Every organisation develops leaders.
The question is whether you leave that development to chance, or give your people the support to grow into the leaders they’re capable of becoming.
If you’re building the next generation of leaders inside your organisation, let’s find the right pathway for your people.
- Next Accelerator launches January 2027.
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