Where will your organization be this time next year?
Most leadership intensives are built for corporate, generalist leaders. This one is built for nonprofit executives, from the ground up. The Leadership Reset Intensive is two and a half days in San Diego, designed to find the one thing your organization needs to move forward. Then a year of support to make it stick.
- Dates
- March 3–5, 2027
- Where
- San Diego
- Format
- 2.5 days in person, then a year of coaching
- Group
- 25 nonprofit executives
- Investment
- $4,500, or $3,950 by Dec 18
"The Leadership Reset is a rare combination of practical wisdom, real-life experience and soulful reflection. Lyn Corbett invites us into a deeper, more humane approach to leadership, one grounded in clarity, courage, and compassion."
Chet P. HewittPresident and CEO, Sierra Health Foundation
Dr. Lyn Corbett
Author of The Leadership Reset and nonprofit executive coach
Dr. Corbett is president of The Pivotal Group Consultants. Over more than 25 years and 850 engagements, he has helped nonprofit leaders secure more than $100 million in funding and build organizations that outlast them. He holds a PhD in Leadership Studies, teaches graduate leadership and strategy at the University of San Diego, and is also the author of Hope Is Not a Strategy. Ira Chaleff, author of The Courageous Follower, wrote that Lyn's path "led him away from the shallow, from the cliché, from what we think we know … to what we need to know."
Your data and audits may have already described your leadership problem
The Leadership Reset uses a specialized approach designed only for nonprofit executives. It pairs research-based leadership assessments with a structured review of your organization, drawn from Dr. Corbett's 25 years of experience and more than 850 engagements with nonprofit leaders and boards. It is the approach behind The Leadership Reset, as seen in Forbes and USA Today.
Most programs stop at your leadership style. This one also reads what your organization has already put on paper, because that is usually where the leadership problem is already written down, in language nobody has translated yet.
Your Outlook: Built Before You Arrive
Before San Diego, a curated team of nonprofit leadership, finance, and governance experts, led by Dr. Lyn Corbett, prepares your personal Outlook. It draws on nationally recognized, research-validated instruments, so what you work on in the room rests on evidence, not opinion.
If you were unreachable for two weeks, several important things would stop.
You involve them in decisions far less than you think you do.
Segregation of duties. Flagged two years running.
That third one usually reads as a bookkeeping problem. Here, we see it for what it is: a finding that repeats because the only person who could fix it is doing everything else.
What You Leave With
The One Thing Your Organization Needs
Not ten priorities. The one thing that would move your organization forward, found through a review of your leadership and your organization.
Where the Current Path Leads
Things cannot continue the way they are, and you probably know it. You see what is already true about the next twelve months, worked out from your own documents.
The Thing You Have Not Said
Every executive is holding onto something they suspect is part of the problem. You name yours, see it in writing, and get the support you need to make it a priority.
One Thing That Changes Monday
Not a plan for a binder. A first move, specific enough that within the first week, you'll know you made the right decision. Then a year of coaching to keep it going.
How It Works
It starts with an application. Much of the work happens before you arrive: your assessments, your 360, and your documents come in ahead of time, so by the time you walk into the room, the two and a half days are already built around your situation.
Before you arrive
Pre-workAn assessment built for this, a 360 that includes your board, and a leadership style profile. You also submit documents that tell part of your story. Together, we will fill in the rest, and you see it all for the first time in the room.
In San Diego
Two and a half daysThe first evening opens with a question and a dinner. Day one is your style, your people, and the work you are carrying that is no longer yours. Day two is your 360, your financial outlook, and the first thing that changes when you get home.
The year after
Twelve monthsMonthly coaching in a small group and a re-measure at eight months that puts your own words back in front of you, so you find out whether the people around you noticed.
What Makes This Different
We Read Your Financials
Your audit, your management letter, your current statements. Nobody else in leadership development opens them.
Your Board Is in the Data
Most 360s leave that column empty. Here, board members are required raters, because that relationship decides everything.
We Measure Again
At eight months, to see what changed. We would rather know than assume.
Limited to 25 Executives
Every person in the room is chosen deliberately. They lead organizations like yours and are facing the same kind of challenges.
Built for Experienced Leaders
Executive directors, CEOs, and senior leaders of organizations with budgets from about $4 million to $100 million, roughly five to twelve years in the role.
San Diego, California
Quiet, walkable, and close to the water. Lodging is booked on your own, with nearby options shared with your invitation.
Step away to see clearly
We meet on the water in San Diego: quiet, walkable, and close to the beach. Far enough from the office to think, close enough that getting here is easy.
- Getting here. San Diego International Airport is about 15 to 20 minutes away by car.
- Early March. Typically mild, in the 60s by day, ideal for a walk on the beach between sessions.
- Stay longer. Many people arrive early or stay the weekend; we share nearby lodging options with your invitation.
- Around you. The ferry to downtown and Seaport Village, the Hotel del Coronado and Coronado Beach, Balboa Park, the USS Midway Museum, and La Jolla.
Get the program outline
Two pages: what happens before you arrive, how the two and a half days run, what the year after looks like, and what it costs. Useful for sharing with your board chair.
Your Investment and What It Covers
Early rate through December 18, 2026
$3,950
per executive, then $4,500
- Executive-level assessments that show how your staff and board actually experience your leadership
- An organizational review that brings together the financial, governance, and environmental factors that may be working against your efforts
- Two and a half days in San Diego, with hosted meals
- Both books: The Leadership Reset and Hope Is Not a Strategy
- A year of monthly coaching with your peer circle
- A re-measure at eight months
- Membership in The Nonprofit Edge
A $500 deposit holds your seat once your application is accepted, and it is fully refundable until January 15, 2027. The early rate applies when your deposit is in by December 18. Lodging and travel are booked on your own. Group pricing for two from the same organization, payment plans, and funder sponsorship are available.
Making the case
Most leaders use their professional development budget, and many need a yes from someone first. Here is wording you can copy, adjust, and send.
For your board chair or board
For an executive director asking the board to approve the Intensive.
Subject: Request for board support: Leadership Reset Intensive, March 3–5 Dear [Board chair], I'm asking for the board's support to attend the Leadership Reset Intensive, March 3–5, 2027, in San Diego, California. I want to come back with something specific for our organization, not just a few good ideas. Why now: [one or two sentences on the decision or pressure in front of us, such as a funding change, a growth decision, or a gap on the senior team]. This is not a typical conference: - It uses a specialized approach designed only for nonprofit executives, pairing research-based leadership assessments with a structured review of our organization, including the financial, governance, and environmental factors that may be working against us. - The board is part of it. Two or three of you will be invited to give confidential feedback in February, about 15 minutes each, so your view shapes what I work on. - I come back with one concrete change I will make in my first week, and it is measured again at eight months. You will see whether it worked. - It is built only for nonprofit executives, with 25 peers leading organizations like ours, and a full year of monthly coaching afterward. The investment is a $4,500 program fee, which covers the assessments, the program and meals, and the year of coaching, plus about [amount] for lodging and travel. I propose this come from our professional development budget. I'd welcome ten minutes at our next meeting to answer questions, and I will report back to the board on what I bring home. [Your name]
For your executive director
For a senior leader asking their executive director to approve it, or to come along.
Subject: The Leadership Reset Intensive, March 3–5 Hi [Name], I'd like to attend the Leadership Reset Intensive, March 3–5, 2027, in San Diego, California, and I want to make the case that we should go together. It is built only for nonprofit leaders. Before it starts, we would each get confidential feedback from staff and board, plus a review of the financial, governance, and environmental factors working against us. Over two and a half days we would use that to name the one thing our organization most needs to move forward. Then a year of monthly coaching keeps us on it. What I would bring back: a clear plan for my area tied to that one priority, one change I make in my first week back, and peers who hold me to it. Why both of us: much of what slows us down sits between our two roles. Going together means we come back with the same plan, instead of me trying to explain it afterward. There is group pricing for two from the same organization. The program fee is $4,500, which includes the assessments, meals, and the full year of coaching, plus lodging and travel of about [amount]. Can we find twenty minutes this week to talk about it? [Your name]
Questions, Answered
Who is this for?
Executive directors, CEOs, and senior leaders of nonprofits with annual budgets from about $4 million to $100 million, usually five to twelve years in the role, with an annual audit and a senior team. If you have become the person everything runs through, it was built for you.
How is this different from CCL or other leadership programs?
The big programs, like the Center for Creative Leadership, are built for corporate and generalist leaders, people leading any kind of team in any kind of company. This one is built only for nonprofit executives. We work on what you actually face: thin margins, restricted funding, a board you answer to, and an audit that says more about your leadership than you might think. It also costs a fraction of their flagship programs, and the year of coaching that follows is included.
Is there an application?
Yes. You apply rather than just buy a ticket. The group is limited to 25 executives, and the application helps us make sure the room is the right fit for everyone in it, with leaders at a similar level and leading organizations of a similar scale. That is a big part of why the conversations go as deep as they do.
Can we send two people from the same organization?
Yes. Many organizations send the executive director with a deputy, a COO or CFO, or another senior team member, so the work does not stop with one person when you get home. Tell us when you get your invitation and we will share group pricing.
When is it?
Wednesday, March 3 through Friday, March 5, 2027, in San Diego, California. It opens Wednesday evening with dinner. Everyone on the list gets the full schedule with their invitation.
What does it cost, and what is included?
The program fee is $4,500 per executive, or $3,950 when your deposit is in by December 18, 2026. It covers the pre-work assessments (including your 360 and leadership style profile), the two and a half days in San Diego, hosted meals during the program, a year of monthly group coaching, and your re-measure at eight months.
Is lodging included?
No. You book your own lodging, and we share nearby options within walking distance with your invitation. Some people bring family and stay the weekend.
How do I hold a seat?
Sign up on this page first. Everyone on the list receives an invitation to apply, and a $500 deposit holds your seat. The deposit is fully refundable until January 15, 2027. The group is limited to 25 executives, so seats go in the order deposits come in.
Who usually pays for this?
Most leaders use their organization's professional development or leadership budget. We can send you a short guide for making the case to your board, plus a one-page summary to share with your board chair or finance committee.
Can a funder sponsor this for our organization or our grantees?
Yes. Foundations can cover a seat for a grantee, or sponsor a closed cohort of 25 of their grantee executives. Contact us and we will send details you can share with your funder.
Is there a payment plan?
Yes. If you are paying yourself or your budget runs on a different cycle, we can spread the program fee over several payments. Ask when you receive your invitation.
What do I need to do before I arrive?
About two weeks ahead, you complete a short assessment, your 360 (your board members are required raters), and a leadership style profile. You also submit documents that tell part of your story, such as your latest audit and financial statements. Together, we will fill in the rest. Everything is kept confidential.
How much time does the year of coaching take?
One group coaching call a month, about an hour, with the same small group you met in San Diego.
I have a question that is not here.
Email lyn@thepivotalgroup.com and we will get back to you.
Where will you be if things stay the same?
Join a group of 25 carefully selected nonprofit executives who can tackle this question together in San Diego. Sign up today and you will get the details and your invitation to apply before anyone else.