From Recognizing Struggle to Responding With Skill
How a full-day Showing Up LLC Leadership Masterclass equipped leaders across industries with practical methods for giving and seeking support.
The Problem:
Different Industries, Shared Human Challenges
A Showing Up LLC Leadership Masterclass brought together leaders from healthcare, education, nonprofits, government, and community organizations.
Their workplaces differed, but their challenges were similar: navigating difficult human moments, responding to their teams’ needs, and managing demanding responsibilities of their own.
The Insight:
Supporting Others While Feeling Unseen
Pre-session Discovery data revealed a disconnect: participants recognized struggle in others, yet many did not feel seen when they struggled themselves. Most did not regularly let others know what they were facing.
96% at least sometimes avoided or delayed uncomfortable in-person conversations.
The Burdens Leaders Brought to Work
Leaders were managing workplace demands alongside financial pressures, disrupted sleep, health concerns, and caregiving responsibilities. In the past year:
90% had experienced stress, anxiety, or low mood.
63% had experienced financial pressure or cost-of-living stress.
56% had experienced sleep difficulties.
54% had experienced burnout or persistent exhaustion.
Many leaders were carrying these pressures without letting others know or consistently feeling able to ask for support.
They needed practical ways to share what they were facing and seek specific help, alongside the skills to support others.
The Approach:
Build Skills to Give and Seek Support
Through discussion, reflection, and role-play, participants learned practical, repeatable relational skills to:
Recognize barriers in The Awkward Zone™. Leaders examined how uncertainty about what to say, what to do, and whether to get involved affected their willingness to offer or seek support. They explored helpful language and common phrases that can unintentionally leave people feeling unheard.
Navigate conversations with The Supportive Conversation Method™. Leaders practiced listening and understanding before offering solutions, responding to unexpected disclosures, and developing actionable support plans.
Ask for support themselves. Participants used a structured process to identify their needs, prepare for a conversation, and request specific help.
"Wonderful! I learned so much today. My favorite parts: 1) the interaction and connections with other leaders 2) the very specific tools I can implement right away"
-Leadership Masterclass Participant
The Impact:
Clear Takeaways for Everyday Leadership
After training, leaders put the skills they learned into practice by:
Using a clear structure for support giving.
Leaders practiced The Supportive Conversation Method™ and identified shorter, more frequent check-ins and intentional follow-up as next steps.Choosing language that helps people feel heard.
Participants practiced supportive phrases and identified vague offers, unsolicited advice, and dismissive responses to replace with more thoughtful language.Pausing before jumping to solutions.
Leaders practiced listening to understand and recognized distractions and the urge to fix as habits that could get in the way.Asking for specific support themselves.
Participants practiced expressing their needs and preparing clear requests for help, rather than dismissing concerns or taking everything on themselves.
"I am a fixer by nature. When I feel that sense of urgency arise, I need to stop, reflect, and listen rather than instruct."
-Leadership Masterclass Participant
Participant evaluations showed strong enthusiasm for the Masterclass:
Turn Human Challenges into Practiced Leadership Skills
The Showing Up LLC Leadership Masterclass gave leaders across industries specific language, repeatable methods, and hands-on practice for the human moments their roles demand.
These are behaviors that leaders can practice consistently, scale across teams, and measure over time—building capability in how leaders recognize strain, navigate conversations, and follow through.
Equip your leaders with practical skills for the conversations they’re already facing.
Bring a Showing Up LLC Leadership Masterclass to your organization.