2-day Workshop in Kobe
Advancing Team Leadership: Strategies for Experienced Middle Leaders
Dates: May 8-9, Friday-Saturday, 2026
Time: May 8, 8:30AM-4:30PM / May 9, 8:30AM-2:30PM
Location: Canadian Academy, Kobe
Date & Time
May 8-9, Fri-Sat, 2026
May 8, 8:30AM - 4:30PM. May 9, 8:30AM-2:30PM
Location
Canadian Academy
Kobe, Japan
Post-workshop Support
Includes 3 post-workshop online Accountability Sessions
Pricing
USD400 pp
Audience
Experienced Middle Leaders,
e.g. HODs, Subject Leaders, Grade Level Leaders
Certificate Program
18 Hours of Professional Development will be Awarded.
The Pivot: From Task Management to Strategic Impact
This course is tailored for Experienced Middle Leaders (2+ years in role) looking to elevate their practice, reinvigorate team culture, and navigate the complexities of sustained leadership.
While new leaders focus on establishing norms and defining roles, experienced leaders face the challenge of maintaining momentum, managing entrenched behaviors, and aligning established teams with evolving school-wide strategies. Participants will examine how to move beyond merely "running a department" to becoming strategic architects of collaborative cultures that drive student learning.
Essential Question
Over-Arching Goal
Target Audience
How can I leverage my experience to shift my team from "cooperation" to "interdependence", focused on quality teaching and learning?
By the end of the workshop, participants will possess the advanced strategies needed to diagnose team dysfunction, navigate resistance, and foster a culture of collective efficacy that directly impacts student outcomes.
This workshop is designed for leaders managing established teams who need to refine their strategy, including:
Heads of Department / Heads of Faculty
Grade Level Leaders / Heads of Year
Curriculum, IB, or Program Coordinators
Student Support & Pastoral Leaders
Workshop Outcomes
During this advanced learning experience, you will refine your skills in the following areas:
Situational Leadership
Moving fluently between transactional and transformational approaches based on context and team maturity.
Strategic Alignment
Crafting data-informed team goals that bridge the gap between departmental needs and school-wide strategic plans.
Advanced Communication
Mastering the "hard conversations" to build psychological safety and address performance gaps.
Managing Resistance
Strategies to convert passive compliance into active ownership and interdependence.
The facilitator will survey each participant to identify specific, high-level challenges they are currently facing to tailor case materials.
Every participant will be given a copy of Michael Iannini’s online self-guided book study: Hidden in Plain Sight: Realizing the Full Potential of Middle Leaders. Participants will reference this text to deepen their theoretical understanding of the practical challenges discussed in the modules.
Emotional Intelligence
Leveraging self-awareness to manage complex interpersonal dynamics and conflict.
Feedback Loops
Utilizing accountability measures not just for compliance, but for continuous improvement and professional growth.
The speaker will facilitate the workshop as a high-level consultancy session. Learning will be activated through critical analysis of current team dynamics, case studies, and strategic planning.
Workshop Preparation
Program Agenda
This program is divided into 4 modules. 2 modules will be covered on each day.
Module 1
Revitalizing Team Leadership
Even established teams can drift or stagnate. This module moves beyond setting initial norms to diagnosing the current health of your team culture. We will focus on re-calibrating the team’s vision to ensure it remains relevant and aligned with the school's evolving strategic direction.
Essential Question
How do I re-engage an established team and align our shared vision with school-wide strategic goals?
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Audit Leadership Impact: Critically reflect on your evolution as a leader and identify where your management style may need to pivot to unlock further team growth.
Re-calibrate Vision: Learn how to update and refine a compelling team vision that combats complacency and renews commitment.
Deepen Engagement: Move beyond "getting along" to "getting ahead" by auditing current team norms and rebuilding them to support higher levels of professional vulnerability and accountability.
Module 2
Advanced Facilitation & Managing Resistance
Experienced leaders know that meetings are often where culture is tested. This module focuses on the nuances of consultative communication to manage entrenched behaviors and "parking lot" conversations. We will specifically address how to manage resistance and navigate the "five difficult personalities" that can derail established teams.
Essential Question
How do I navigate complex group dynamics and chronic resistance to ensure meetings result in action?
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Master Consultative Communication: Apply advanced techniques to navigate friction, clarify ambiguity, and dismantle defensive behaviors during discussions.
Manage Group Dynamics: Identify and neutralize toxic meeting behaviors while ensuring diverse viewpoints are synthesized effectively.
Facilitate for Outcome: Move meetings from information dissemination to decision-making forums where accountability is shared.
Module 3
Leading Instructional Change
As experienced leaders, the goal is no longer just "sharing resources" but "deprivatizing practice." This module focuses on the heavy lifting of instructional leadership: engaging veteran teachers in critical conversations that challenge assumptions and result in measurable changes to pedagogy and student learning.
Essential Question
How do I influence established teaching practices to drive measurable improvements in student learning?
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Surface and Test Assumptions: Learn protocols to uncover the "undiscussables" and hidden assumptions that block instructional innovation.
Facilitate Professional Dialogue: Move from "nice" conversations to "necessary" conversations that challenge professional practice constructively.
Lead Inquiry: Develop strategies to shift the team focus from teaching inputs to learning outputs.
Module 4
Workshop Reflection - Professional Inquiry
In this final reflective session, participants will assess their team’s current "Change Readiness." You will design a professional inquiry that is not just a project, but a strategic intervention designed to push your team to the next level of interdependence.
Essential Question
How do I design a strategic inquiry that leverages my team’s strengths to solve a complex problem of practice?
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Assess Capacity: Evaluate your team's readiness for change and identify specific leverage points for growth.
Design Strategic Inquiry: Formulate a high-impact professional inquiry that integrates individual expertise, team goals, and school priorities.
Action Planning: Create a roadmap for implementation that anticipates obstacles and plans for sustainability.
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Pricing
USD 400 pp
Facilitators
Michael Iannini
Co-founder of PeerSphere
Managing Director of PD Academia
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Michael Iannini is ACAMIS’s Leadership Development Facilitator, a Search Associates Partner supporting its members in China to improve Recruitment, Induction, and Retention of Overseas Teachers, and a Council of International Schools (CIS) Affiliated Consultant with the following areas of expertise:
Appraisal and Professional Development
Leadership Training
School Governance
Strategic Planning
Michael’s first book, Hidden in Plain Site: Realizing the Full Potential of Middle Leaders, is the foundation for all his leadership development work. Since writing this book he launched www.middleleader.com where he is regularly posting articles on school leadership and interviews with school leadership influencers.
TBD
Continued Support & Development
Accountability Sessions
60-min Virtual Coaching Calls
Real change requires sustained focus. To ensure the strategies developed during the in-person pivot workshop translate into action, registration includes 3 post-workshop Accountability Sessions.
These sessions are designed to move beyond theory and support you as you pivot your team's culture and performance. They provide a structured environment to troubleshoot implementation challenges and maintain focus on your strategic inquiry.
Session 1
Feedback Loops
Review the immediate actions taken following the workshop. Present your refined strategic approach for feedback and identify early wins or unexpected roadblocks from various stakeholder responses to your proposed direction.
Session 2
2026-27 Vision
Working with your accountability partners, working plans for 2026-27 will be reviewed and feedback given. Finish the school year feeling confident and excited for what your team can achieve.
Session 3
Your First 30-Days
This accountability check-in will take place the middle of September and is an opportunity to reflect on your lived leadership experience relative to your 2026-27 Vision. What unforeseen challenges and opportunities have surfaced? How might these influence your 2026-27 Vision?
Learn with Peers at Canadian Academy
Address: 4-1 Koyo-cho Naka Higashinada-ku Kobe 658-0032, Japan
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Recommended Hotel
Address: 2-13 Koyocho-naka, Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, 658-0032
Tel: +81 78-8577000