The Co-Leader Workshop
Lyssa Adkins and Michael Hamman
Course Leaders
Dates: Friday June 6 through Monday June 9, 2025
How to Co-Lead and
Co-Facilitate
Transformational
Interventions
Join us for a profound 3 1/2 day intensive at the Quinta Kaleidoscope retreat center in the stunning Alentejo region of Portugal, just an hour from Lisbon!
This exclusive workshop is designed for people who lead or facilitate transformative interventions – such as workshops, team coaching, or group facilitation – and want to improve their ability to co-lead and co-facilitate powerfully with another person.
Limited to 12 participants, this intimate setting ensures a transformative experience as you discover your co-leading superpowers and holdbacks, and a rare opportunity to upskill your co-leading and co-facilitating skills while soaking in the natural beauty and tranquility of the Portuguese countryside.
Transformation is catalyzed through real-time collaboration of two leaders.
If we are going to lead and facilitate interventions intended to transform people’s mindsets we must hone our capacity to make important leaderful choices in the face of uncertainty, ambiguity and even anxiety... to be able to sense and respond to what is happening in the moment to provide new meaning-making alternatives in ways that feel relevant and important.
Such a capacity calls for a high degree of awareness and attentiveness, as well as an ability to bring content to life in ways that are directly related to what is happening in any given moment. This can be a tall order for the solo course leader/facilitator who will undoubtedly miss many of these moments.
Co-leading is about two leaders working together to create a more
confident, playful, and effective
transformative experience for participants.
When done skillfully, the result of co-leading is a greater intelligence and capacity to creatively dance in the face of the complexity that arises when transformative impact is at play.
A key aspect of this is managing the anxiety we naturally feel during moments of emotional or psychological intensity. In these moments, we can sometimes fall into old, less helpful patterns, losing a key moment of potentially high transformative import.
When co-leading with another, able, leader, we don’t just double the number of eyes, ears and minds--we magnify them many times over.
The Workshop
The workshop takes place over one afternoon/evening, two full days, and one morning— Friday afternoon June 6 through Monday Noon June 9, 2025.
Being that this is a course centered on catalyzing transformative journeys for others, this workshop itself unfolds as a transformative journey for you.
Over the course of the 3+ days, you will be inspired to come to grips with both the possibilities and the limitations that characterize how you relate with uncertainty and ambiguity, particularly as related to your experience of leading and facilitating transformative processes with others.
But, more specifically, you will learn how to lean into that uncertainty and ambiguity by leaning on your relationship with your co-leader. You will have many opportunities to practice co-leading with your fellow participants.
The workshop unfolds as a seamless arc that integrates deep personal learning with a profound conceptual framing and a solid foundation from which you spring forth to bring this into your real world.
Benefits of Attending
Expert Guidance: Gain unique insights from Michael and Lyssa, deeply experienced co-leaders and trainers of co-leaders.
Transformational Impact: Leave with concrete actions and strategies to improve your co-leading/co-facilitating capability.
Community Support: Benefit from the collective wisdom and experiences of fellow participants who are tackling similar issues.
Intimate Setting: Limited to 12 participants for a personalized and impactful experience.
Scenic Retreat: Enjoy a transformative workshop in a serene and picturesque location.
Insight & Actions: Leave with insight about your superpowers and holdbacks + clear ways to take your co-leading to the next level.
The Retreat Experience
Enjoy shared accommodations and all meals at Quinta Kaleidoscope. Relax by the pool, explore the orchard, and savor the style and grace of a genuine Portuguese home.
Your Course Leaders
Michael Hamman is dedicated to the possibility that the workplace be a site for personal, professional and social transformation. Trained in the 1980s in coaching and large group facilitation, Michael went on to train in systems thinking and methods, group dynamics and facilitation, professional and executive coaching, and in human and organization development. He is a decades-long student of the nature of human transformation, both in himself and in others.
His book, Evolvagility: Growing an Agile Leadership Culture from the Inside Out integrates this rich and varied background and experience, and provides a blueprint for what it means to be an agile leader in today’s complex world.
Lyssa Adkins is an internationally-recognized thought leader in the Agile community. She is deeply trained and experienced in human systems coaching and facilitation and she is a frequent keynote speaker. Her content expertise is agile coaching, adult human development, and working with change and complexity.
She is the author of Coaching Agile Teams which is still a Top 10 book a dozen years after publication. Her current focus is improving the performance of top leadership teams through insightful facilitation and organization systems coaching to help leaders take up the individual and collective transformation that is theirs to do
Cost
$2,200USD
What’s included?
3 day workshop, meals and snacks, gorgeous natural surroundings to work and rest, shared-room accommodation (sharing with one other person). Not included: your airfare and travel to/from Quinta Kaleidoscope (12€ via train, about 50€ Uber or Bolt).
FAQs
How do I get to Quinta Kaleidoscope?
Quinta Kaleidoscope is less than an hour from the Lisbon airport. You can rent a car, take the train or hop into an Uber/Bolt at the airport. When navigating via Google maps, type in Quinta Kaleidoscopeto get accurate directions. If you type in our address, Google maps takes you to our neighbor’s house up the street. To return, your host at Quinta Kaleidoscope can help organize a taxi service, if needed.
What’s included?
3 day workshop, meals and snacks, gorgeous natural surroundings to work and rest, shared-room accommodation (sharing with one other person). Not included: your airfare and travel to/from Quinta Kaleidoscope (12€ via train, about 50€ Uber or Bolt).
When do I need to arrive and when can I depart?
Arrive anytime after 1pm Friday, June 6. We will start the course at 4pm. On Monday, June 9 we will end the course at noon. There will be take-away lunch for those leaving for flights and sit-down lunch for those who can stay a bit longer. You can also extend your stay by another day to accommodate flight times or have more time to experience Portugal’s enchanting countryside.
What is Quinta Kaleidoscope (QK for short)?
Quinta Kaleidoscope is a retreat and workshop space crafted by Kai Adkins and her mother, Lyssa Adkins. Kai is your on-site host and is available to make your stay wonderful. QK has fiber optic internet, comfortable shared-room accommodations, a fruit orchard and many Portuguese delights such as the huge indoor/outdoor kitchen and gathering space. More about the vision and services on the Quinta Kaleidoscope website and many pictures on QK’s Airbnb listing.
