This site is for enrolled program participants and facilitators.
Your activity on this site (logins, pages viewed, downloads, and lesson completions) is recorded for program evaluation.
First time here?
Use the link in your invitation email from no-reply@netlify.com to get started. You’ll be prompted to set up a password. If you cannot find the email or you accidentally deleted it, please reach out to Amy Schamberg at amy.schamberg@cuanschutz.edu.
Facilitators: What you need to know to run your group this month
Thank you for helping create a meaningful learning experience for your colleagues.
The success of Leadership Circles depends less on expert teaching and more on creating an environment where leaders can reflect, learn from one another, and openly discuss the realities of leadership. The most valuable insights often come from participants themselves, through the sharing of experiences, challenges, successes, and lessons learned.
You are first and foremost a participant in the program. Like everyone else in your group, you complete the monthly lessons, apply the leadership practices in your own work, and share your own experiences. In addition, you convene the group and create space for the discussion. Regardless of title or position, facilitators take part as peers and are not expected to serve as content experts, instructors, or evaluators.
The full guide covers your role, psychological safety, facilitation technique, troubleshooting, and logistics. This page has what you need to host your session this month.
Your session this month
Month 1
Connection
Topic at a glance
This session centers on connection and support. While burnout is influenced by many factors, evidence increasingly suggests that social connection, belonging, and support play an important role in helping individuals thrive at work.
This month’s leadership practice
Participants had two conversations: one with a direct report about their experience of connection, support, and belonging within the team, and one with a peer or mentor about their own sources of support.
Suggested session flow
Welcome & check-in· 5 min Confidentiality reminder, then a quick opening question: “Round-robin: first name, role, why you joined, plus an icebreaker (early bird or night owl? coffee or tea? beach or mountains?).”
Discussion· 20–30 min Read the prompts below, then let the group choose one or two to explore.
Open conversation· 30–60 min Shift into open conversation over the meal.
Wrap-up· 5 min Confirm the next date, time, and location. Record attendance. Submit for reimbursement.
Discussion prompts
When you think about your own experience of demanding work periods, have you noticed a connection between exhaustion and feeling disconnected from others? What did that look like for you?
In the past, what has helped you build connection and social support among your team?
What did you discover about your own sources of support?
What did you learn about whether your direct report feels connected and supported?
How can we recognize when someone on our team might be struggling with connection? What signals could we watch for?
Tip of the month
Keep in mind common discussion pitfalls:
Jumping immediately to solutions
Turning peer discussion into advice-giving
Focusing only on workload
Treating coaching as always better than advising
Framing change communication around resistance rather than understanding
Month 2
Empowerment
Topic at a glance
This session looks at empowerment and sustainable performance — where small shifts in how we lead can create conditions for both quality outcomes and well-being.
This month’s leadership practice
Participants identified an opportunity to increase a team member’s ownership, decision-making discretion, or influence, and explored the four mechanisms that support thriving: decision-making discretion, information sharing, performance feedback, and civility.
Suggested session flow
Welcome & check-in· 5 min Confidentiality reminder, then a quick opening question: “What is one thing from last month’s conversation that stayed with you?”
Discussion· 20–30 min Read the prompts below, then let the group choose one or two to explore.
Open conversation· 30–60 min Shift into open conversation over the meal.
Wrap-up· 5 min Confirm the next date, time, and location. Record attendance. Submit for reimbursement.
Discussion prompts
What has helped you empower your teams in the past? Which strategies work best?
Share a story about a time you got empowerment right, and a time it went sideways. How do you balance autonomy with accountability? What structures make this work well?
Where on your team do people currently have too little — or too much — discretion? What would “the right amount” of decision-making authority look like?
What information did people need that they didn’t have? How did sharing it change their engagement?
When did you find it difficult to share ownership or decision-making? What factors influenced your thinking?
Month 3
Respect & Dignity
Topic at a glance
This session focuses on respect and dignity — how everyday leadership behaviors signal who belongs and who is valued. Consistent respect shapes professional identity, strengthens engagement, and influences how teams treat one another and the people they serve.
This month’s leadership practice
Participants practiced two visible expressions of respect: one that communicates dignity, value, and belonging to all team members, and one that supports an individual’s learning, confidence, or professional growth.
Suggested session flow
Welcome & check-in· 5 min Confidentiality reminder, then a quick opening question: “What is one small thing a colleague did recently that made you feel respected?”
Discussion· 20–30 min Read the prompts below, then let the group choose one or two to explore.
Open conversation· 30–60 min Shift into open conversation over the meal.
Wrap-up· 5 min Confirm the next date, time, and location. Record attendance. Submit for reimbursement.
Discussion prompts
What do you do that shows respect? What are two or three concrete things you regularly do that signal dignity and respect to your direct reports?
What might you be missing? Because of your role or seniority, what forms of disrespect might you not see day-to-day? How could you find out?
How do you build people up? Can you think of a moment when someone treated you as capable and it changed how you saw yourself?
What are you modeling? If your team mirrored how you treat others, what would spread — and what would you want to be more intentional about?
Month 4
Coaching
Topic at a glance
This session explores coaching as an additional leadership capability — how you show up, when a coaching approach is helpful and when a more directive one is needed, and skills like active listening and open questioning.
This month’s leadership practice
Participants practiced core coaching behaviors in one conversation, experimented with the GROW framework in another, and modeled curiosity and shared problem solving in a group setting.
Suggested session flow
Welcome & check-in· 5 min Confidentiality reminder, then a quick opening question: “When did someone last ask you a question that genuinely changed your thinking?”
Discussion· 20–30 min Read the prompts below, then let the group choose one or two to explore.
Open conversation· 30–60 min Shift into open conversation over the meal.
Wrap-up· 5 min Confirm the next date, time, and location. Record attendance. Submit for reimbursement.
Discussion prompts
How have you coached someone recently? Share one real example of a coaching conversation you had with a direct report.
What strategies have you used to have productive coaching conversations?
How do you think about mentoring versus coaching?
Describe a time you resisted giving the answer and instead helped the person find their own path. How did you support rather than solve?
What changed because of the coaching? What was different for the person or the team afterwards?
Month 5
Recognition
Topic at a glance
This session covers reflective recognition — helping people feel seen for the work and goals that matter most to them, rather than only what leaders happen to notice.
This month’s leadership practice
Participants invited team members to reflect on their own accomplishments, explored what mattered most through follow-up questions, and reflected those contributions back.
Suggested session flow
Welcome & check-in· 5 min Confidentiality reminder, then a quick opening question: “What is a contribution on your team that usually goes unnoticed?”
Discussion· 20–30 min Read the prompts below, then let the group choose one or two to explore.
Open conversation· 30–60 min Shift into open conversation over the meal.
Wrap-up· 5 min Confirm the next date, time, and location. Record attendance. Submit for reimbursement.
Discussion prompts
When did you slow down to listen? Share a moment this month when you paused to understand what mattered most to someone before recognizing them.
What did you learn that you didn’t already know? What surprised you about their work, priorities, or goals after listening more deeply?
How did your recognition change because you listened first?
What impact did it have? What did you notice in the person or the team afterwards?
How did reflective recognition differ from the way you typically acknowledge contributions?
Month 6
Communication About Change
Topic at a glance
This session is about communicating change. People often struggle not because they are unaware change is happening, but because they do not fully understand why it is happening, how decisions were made, or what it means for their work.
This month’s leadership practice
Participants communicated a current or upcoming change using four practices: connecting the change to purpose, communicating transparently, engaging those most affected, and encouraging shared ownership.
Suggested session flow
Welcome & check-in· 5 min Confidentiality reminder, then a quick opening question: “What is a change you are currently carrying that you did not choose?”
Discussion· 20–30 min Read the prompts below, then let the group choose one or two to explore.
Open conversation· 30–60 min Shift into open conversation over the meal.
Wrap-up· 5 min Confirm the next date, time, and location. Record attendance. Submit for reimbursement.
Discussion prompts
How did you explain the “why”? Share a recent change you communicated — what did you say about why it mattered?
How did you check for understanding? What did you do to make sure people actually understood the change?
How did you address concerns? What worries did you hear, and how did you respond?
Where were you transparent about uncertainty? How did people respond?
What would you do differently next time?
Session checklist
Confirm the date, time, and location — and make a reservation where possible
Review this month’s topic and discussion prompts
Host the session
Record attendance
Submit for meal reimbursement
Meal reimbursement
Group leader pays for the meal — P-Card or personal credit card.
Submit the following to the group leader’s department:
Full list of faculty attendees (no guests or spouses)
Discussion agenda or topic
Itemized receipt
Department creates a Concur report using SpeedType AEF CU THRIVE COMMEN GRP PILOT 63506627.
Report title format: THRIVECIRCLE[LastName FirstInitial]
Department reimburses the lead faculty member in accordance with guidelines.
Fiscal guidelines
Reimbursement limit is $125 per meal.
One meal per participant per month may be reimbursed during the six-month program.
Maximum of six reimbursed meetings per six-month program.
Alcohol is not reimbursable.
Maximum allowable tip is 20%.
Limit gatherings to consented participants assigned to your group — no guests or spouses.
Meetings may include coffee or meals, and venues are chosen by the group.
Non-meal activities (bowling, for example) are paid personally by participants.
