Cash flow, creativity, and compassion are not mutually exclusive™
The Leadership Edge Intensive
Exclusive Invitation-Only Experience for High-Achieving Leaders to Balance EQ, Accountability, and Performance
A 2-Day Virtual Mastermind and Gathering for High-Performing Executives Who Want to Drive Growth, Sales, and Results While Shaping the Future of Leadership
What Will You Learn?
In 2 days, you can expect to learn how to:
- Master Both/And Leadership to balance empathy and performance—unlocking innovation without sacrificing results or well-being.
- Strengthen Your Empathy Muscle with actionable tools and strategies to boost engagement, performance, and trust.
- Make the Business Case for Empathy so you can confidently advocate for its ROI and inspire internal buy-in.
- Find your People and embolden each other to embrace a new way to work (You are not alone)
- Communicate with Impact by using empathy-driven messaging and scripts to motivate, gain alignment, and hold others accountable.
- Activate a High-Performance Culture by embedding empathy into your leadership and team dynamics—no matter your personality or style.
- Deconstruct the 5 Pillars of Effective and Empathetic Leadership so you can better balance the needs of the business with the needs of your people.
- Reflect and Reset, so you can discover your strengths, blind spots, and growth areas and lead with both confidence and compassion.
- Practice Showing Up with Empathy while still holding others accountable so you can deftly handle difficult situations
Plus, I’ll even share a worksheet of reflective prompts to help you check in on your empathetic leadership effectiveness and track your progress!
What you’ll do in this event…
DAY #1: Discover Empathy’s Strategic Advantage and Make It Work For You
- Build connections and provoke deep conversations
- Define what empathy is – and what it is NOT
- Let go of myths and false assumptions about empathetic leadership
- Practice empathy in a way that feels comfortable for you
- Gain buy-in for empathetic practices through proven ROI
- Genuinely practice empathy to boost your leadership capacity, team engagement, and customer connections
DAY #2: Learn How to Balance Empathy with Accountability and Performance
- Strengthen your EQ muscles and reimagine the way you work
- Master your inner game to stay present and amplify your empathy capacity
- Recharge and replenish to protect your boundaries and mental health
- Sharpen your clarity and decisiveness to hold others accountable
- Infuse more joy and levity to bolster engagement, connection, and action
- Assess where you are now – and where you want to go once we wrap!
What Makes My Event Different?
I take a results-driven approach to emotionally intelligent leadership.
This isn’t your typical leadership training. It’s a gathering. A convening of like-hearted, different-minded leders to find each other and re-write the success script together. We take a high-impact, human-centered approach that blends empathy with performance, so you can lead with both heart and results.
Emotional intelligence doesn’t have to be vague or “soft.” You’ll get a clear, actionable empathy framework to lead in alignment with your values, without burnout or compromising excellence.
In this workshop, you’ll:
- Challenge limiting beliefs
- Shift your leadership mindset
- Build sustainable habits
- Find camaraderie with high-achieving leaders on the same journey
- Take away tools you can use immediately
- Leave with a desire to intentionally build your leadership legacy
You’ll walk away with strategies that fit your style—whether you’re analytical and data-driven or more intuitive and people-focused. This isn’t one-size-fits-all; it’s about finding what works for YOU.
We’ll link arms in support, bust the myths holding you back, and give you the clarity, confidence, and ROI to lead with ease, elevate your impact, and rediscover the joy of leadership.
Your Host
Maria Ross is a speaker, author, strategist, and empathy advocate who has spent decades helping forward-thinking leaders and brands connect and engage through empathy for success. Maria’s latest book is The Empathy Dilemma: How Successful Leaders Balance Performance, People, and Personal Boundaries, and she hosts The Empathy Edge podcast.
A TEDx speaker, Maria delivers dynamic keynotes, talks, and leadership trainings to global companies and startups to help them boost engagement and performance. She is also a 2x LinkedIn course trainer on the topic of empathy at work. Maria is a Forbes contributor, and her media appearances include MSNBC, Inc., NPR, Forbes, Entrepreneur and Thrive Global. She lives with her husband, young son, American Bully rescue dog, gecko, and chickens in the Sacramento, California area and serves clients worldwide.
“What I enjoyed and appreciated the most was Maria’s energy & enthusiasm in welcoming everyone’s viewpoints & experiences, drawing in others and modeling Empathy-in-Action. This event would be perfect for anyone new to empathy as a living, breathing experience vs a simple concept.”
– CJ, CEO, Consulting and Coaching Company
“The event was informative and engaging. I enjoyed the breakouts and the honest discussions. This event is perfect for leaders or developing leaders who want to learn how to lead with empathy.”
– JR, Senior Director, Manufacturing Company
“I tried some of these strategies with my Board the following week, and the interaction was so productive!”
– RM, Entrepreneur
“I found the focus on what being an empathetic leader was, and wasn’t very important as I thought through conversations I want to have with team members.”
– AG, Managing Director, Financial Services
“Great facilitation, kept us focused, and you modeled empathy beautifully. I enjoyed what a great listener you are and how you modeled mirroring back what we said.”
– TC, CEO, Wellness Company
“Well-put together, brought science to an art, which worked well for my brain”
– JH, Senior Vice President, Services Company
“I was surprised to learn that empathy doesn’t mean we ignore important KPIs. The most impactful takeaway for me was that we can have fun in the workplace. The format and flow were engaging. What I appreciated the most was hearing and learning from others’ experiences.”
– RM, Founder, Social Non-profit Venture
“The 2-day event was a valuable opportunity to step away from the daily grind to look deeper at my business, while connecting with other mission-driven entrepreneurial leaders committed to Doing Well & Doing Good.”
– AB, CEO, Business Services Company
“Nice connecting with other people and sharing that it’s hard out there right now and leaning into controlling what you can, the stoic way.”
– GO, Vice President, Tech
“Good to talk to other people outside of my sphere – in some ways, the valuable connection with the people was more important than being in the same industry. We could talk more freely.”
– BC, Senior Director, Non-Profit
“Conversation was flowing organically. Everyone had a voice. It was as if we were all having a coffee together! Everyone was super present.”
– ML, Founder and Consultant
“The assessment exercise was very valuable. It gave me a framework for how to think about my leadership strengths and gaps. You took what can be seen as an emotional topic and helped us break it down and apply it in a practical way to our leadership, with clear steps to follow.”
– MD, Vice President, Tech