Half-day and full-day workshops, and multi-month leadership programs,
Leadership Workshops and
Professional Development Training
for organizations that want their managers to lead on purpose instead of by accident. Built on your data, not a generic curriculum,
and designed so the behavior is still there six months later.
I build the follow-through in from the start.
The session is designed around a confidential pre-survey of your own people, it closes on agreements they make out loud in front of each other, and for longer programs it continues in monthly cohort coaching where they come back with what did not work.
Most leadership training does not fail in the room.
It fails the following Tuesday.
Everyone nods. People leave energized.
Then the quarter gets busy, nobody owns the follow-through, and six weeks later the only evidence it happened is a folder of slides.
WHO I WORK WITH
A session built for a distributed audience and a real budget, often ninety minutes rather than a full day.
ERGs and employee networks
You have a leadership bench that came up fast, managers running teams without ever being taught the fundamentals, and no internal L&D function to build the program. You need something defensible enough to take to finance.
Corporate &
HR Teams
Staff development that people will actually use, for teams spread across centers and locations who are not operating as one unit. I have run this at Washington State University and University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Universities & student programs
A breakout or an intensive with real practice in it, not a talk with a worksheet attached.
Conferences & associations
WHO I WORK WITH
How a Program works
Before we are ever in a room together, I run a confidential pre-survey, and for longer programs the Energy Leadership Index assessment. I am looking for the gap between what leadership believes is happening and what the team is experiencing. That gap is usually the whole engagement.
Diagnose
A half-day or full-day session built from what the survey surfaced.
Frameworks are simple and visual on purpose, because a framework nobody can redraw on a whiteboard is a framework nobody uses. The day closes on team agreements and named action items, not takeaways.
Convene
Monthly cohort coaching for the months that follow, so people bring back what did not work and get help with it.
Groups larger than one cohort get split rather than crowded, because practice stops happening in a big room.
Sustain
We agree on three or four indicators before anything starts and take a baseline. Usually that includes pre and post assessment scores, a midpoint check, and one or two measures your leadership already tracks.
Whoever approved the budget should be able to see what changed.
Measure
How a
Program works
CLIENT WINS, IN THEIR WORDS
CLIENT, CANDLELIGHTERS ORG.
Dhara brought an incredible level of thoughtfulness, care, and insight to our team. Her guidance challenged us to think differently about communication, collaboration, and individual ownership while also empowering us to recognize the value each person brings to our team.
We left feeling both challenged and encouraged—and truly grateful for the investment Dhara made in our team. We would absolutely recommend her to any organization looking to strengthen their team and grow together.
"Dhara quickly understood our team dynamics and tailored the experience to our unique strengths and areas for growth."
Steve Bischoff, Director of Multicultural Student Services, WSU
"Dhara taught applicable frameworks and their usage to help our staff strengthen our professional and personal abilities."
Our department was happy to have Dhara's expertise support the development of our team dynamics. She was able to tailor her coaching based on our team's feedback prior to her full day training.
We have been taking the next steps for implementation and adapting as needed to meet our needs within higher education. I highly recommend her coaching prowess whether your team is operating at a high level or needing a boost since she has a wide range of professional knowledge to improve your staff.
Dominique J. Faga’autau, Associate Director, Multicultural Student Services
"One of the most meaningful takeaways was learning how to navigate problem-solving while understanding both our own emotions and the emotions of others."
Dhara’s training in June was incredibly valuable for our team. She provided a practical, solution-focused framework that helped us become more cohesive and supportive of one another. Through her guidance, we developed strategies to work through challenges more effectively and strengthen our collaboration.
Ms. Mistry helped us build skills in communication, empathy, and sharing concerns in a constructive way. The training has had a lasting positive impact on how we work together and support our team members.”
Team Agreements
Not values on a wall. Specific commitments the team writes themselves, in front of each other, with names attached.
SBI
Situation, Behavior, Impact. A structure that makes hard feedback sayable, which is usually the real blocker rather than willingness.
RACI
For teams where nobody is sure who actually decides. Deceptively simple, and it settles arguments that have been running for years.
Energy Leadership Index
An attitudinal assessment measuring how your leaders respond under pressure rather than what personality type they are. Available as a self-assessment or as a 360 with rater feedback, and debriefed inside the program rather than handed over as a PDF.
THE FRAMEWORKS
PAST CLIENTS
University of Houston-Clear Lake
WHAT WE RAN
A semester-long program featuring three 4-hour sessions focused on practical leadership skills, hands-on activities, and real-world application. Participants earned a Leadership Certificate upon completion.
A 3-part leadership series designed for working professionals stepping into or growing within leadership roles.
WHO
You have the leadership title—but not always the frameworks, tools, or confidence to effectively navigate the role.
THE SITUATION
WHAT CHANGED
You’re no longer winging it. You leave with practical tools, proven frameworks, and real-time experience you can apply immediately to lead with greater clarity, confidence, and impact.
Washington State University
WHAT WE RAN
A confidential pre-survey, then a full day built around what it surfaced. RACI to settle who actually decides. SBI to make feedback sayable. The seven levels of energy as shared language. The day closed on team agreements and named action items.
The student services leadership team: the director plus center leads across multiple locations.
WHO
WHAT CHANGED
The frameworks stuck. Meetings the team used to dread became productive, and RACI and SBI are still turning up in their conversations months later. A second session is scheduled to go after the trust work the first day surfaced.
A team spread across sites, with meetings people dreaded,
changes communicated late, information sitting in silos, and no shared picture of how they were supposed to operate as one unit.
THE SITUATION
Ziff
Davis
WHAT WE RAN
A virtual fireside chat built for people joining from everywhere with over 40+ participants.
An employee resource group session for a distributed audience.
WHO
A virtual fireside chat to help not only inspire and motivate but provide realistic tactical strategies for tenured professionals feeling stuck and burnout at work.
THE SITUATION
WHAT CHANGED
We moved beyond the typical “soft skills” conversation into tangible strategies and real-world application. Leadership growth is messy—it comes with failure, discomfort, and moments that challenge you. Participants learned how to navigate those moments, build the muscle, and take greater ownership of their leadership.
Candlelighters
WHAT WE RAN
90 min In peson workshop
Houston Non-profit orgnization
WHO
WHAT CHANGED
The frameworks stuck. Meetings the team used to dread became productive, and RACI and SBI are still turning up in their conversations months later. A second session is scheduled to go after the trust work the first day surfaced.
Alignment, accountability and collaboration needed in their team
THE SITUATION
Workshop Formats
Pre-survey, frameworks, practice, and team agreements. What I ran at Washington State University.
02
Half Day Workshop
03
Full Day
Intensive
05
Multi-month leadership program.
One topic, real practice, no filler.
What I run for ERGs and nonprofits, including Candlelighters.
One team, one problem, agreements at the close.
*Logistics note: Houston-based and working nationally, including on university campuses.
In person wherever it is possible, because the practice sections do not work as well on video.
Virtual where the audience is genuinely distributed.
04
Multi-session
Series
Spaced sessions with practice in between, so people return with what actually happened.
What I ran at University of Houston-Clear Lake.
The full arc: assessment, foundational workshop, monthly cohort coaching, and measurement against a baseline.
01
Ninety-minute session.
Six to eight weeks for a workshop, and three months or more for a multi-session program, because the pre-survey and assessment work happens before we are ever in a room together. If your date is sooner than that, ask anyway. I keep some room for it.
How far in advance should we book?
Yes. I am Houston-based and I work nationally, including full-day sessions on university campuses and companies. Travel is billed at cost and agreed in the proposal, never added afterward.
Do you travel outside Houston?
There is no version of this that is not customized. Every engagement starts with a confidential pre-survey, and for longer programs the Energy Leadership Index assessment, and the session is built from what your people actually said. I do not have a deck I bring with me.
Can you customize this to our team's situation?
It depends on the format, the size of the group, and whether there is follow-on coaching, so I do not publish a flat rate that would be wrong for most of the people reading it.
However, if you have a budget in mind sharing that in advance also helps eliminate any back and forth and help us align if we are a good fit so feel free to share what you are working with during our intro call.
How much does a leadership workshop cost?
Frequently asked questions
Have Questions?
It depends more on format than headcount. A keynote scales to a room of any size. A workshop needs everyone practicing out loud, so past a certain point I will suggest running cohorts rather than filling a bigger room, and I will tell you that before you book rather than after.
If your group is smaller than a workshop justifies, coaching is often the better and cheaper answer, and I will say so.
What group size works best?
A workshop is a day. Your team leaves with frameworks, shared language, and agreements they made out loud in front of each other. A program is that day plus the months after it: monthly cohort coaching, named accountability, and a measurement plan. Choose the workshop if you want to shift one specific thing. Choose the program if the pattern has already survived your previous attempts to fix it.
What is the difference between a workshop and a leadership program?
We agree on three or four indicators before the program starts and take a baseline, so there is something to compare against. Those usually include pre and post assessment scores, a midpoint check, and one or two measures your leadership already tracks. Whoever approved the budget should be able to see what changed without taking your word for it.
How do you measure whether it worked?
An attitudinal assessment that measures how a leader responds under pressure rather than sorting them into a personality type. I am certified as a Master Practitioner, which means I can run it as a self-assessment or as a 360 with rater feedback, and I debrief it live inside the program rather than emailing you a report.
What is the Energy Leadership Index?
Regularly. Universities are some of my favorite work, and nonprofits get a format built for the budget, often ninety minutes rather than a full day. Ask.
Do you work with universities and nonprofits?
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