Leadership Institute of Seattle

Most leaders can handle the easy conversations.

It is the hard ones that define you.

Tough Stuff™ is a 5-day experiential workshop that teaches leaders how to be direct without being destructive, how to navigate conflict without shutting down, and how to show up with full presence even when it is uncomfortable.
This is not a lecture. It is not a workbook. It is hands-on, real-time behavioral change in a small group setting.

Next session: October 5-9, 2026 in Seattle, WA.

Register at lios.org/tough-stuff

What is the one leadership skill you wish you had been taught earlier? 👇

Tough Stuff T-Group - Leadership Institute of Seattle Join our Tough Stuff T-Group to enhance your leadership skills. Sign up now for this unique learning journey!

LIOS Marketplace!

Last week, LIOS came alive. For the first time in nearly a decade, we ran our Marketplace simulation—and it was a vivid reminder of what makes a LIOS education different.

LIOS is based on experiential in-person learning. Marketplace is during our 5th week-long residency (of 6 per school year). Students integrate their learning's to date then work on them within the context and pressure of the marketplace.

Here’s what happened.

Students in the Masters of Science in Leadership, Management and Organizational Development were split into two teams, each given seed money and less than 24 hours to bring real products to market. By the time the market opened, there were real products, real sales, and real accountability for the results with the goal of creating thriving, conscious, learning organizations.

That pressure is the point. In those 24 hours, students practiced the skills that define effective leaders either as an employee or a manager:
• Leading through action and reflection—making decisions, then learning from how they land.
• Giving and receiving behaviorally specific feedback and aligning a team around shared goals.
• Working productively across differences, turning a group of strangers into a functioning team.

This is leadership you can’t learn from a textbook. It’s why Marketplace remains part of our master’s curriculum, and it’s a window into how LIOS prepares people to lead in their organizations, their communities, and their own lives.
Know someone who’d thrive here?

If you know someone whose work—and whose people—would benefit from a deeper, more human approach to leadership, invite them to an information session. They’ll hear directly from LIOS president Chris Crosby about the program and what makes a great LIOS student.

Sessions run Thursday evenings, 6:30–7:30 PT, roughly every other week.

Sign Up Here: https://lios.org/upcoming-info-sessions/

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
— Viktor Frankl

That space is everything.

Most conflict at work does not happen because of bad people. It happens because that space collapses and someone reacts before they think.
The good news? That space can be trained.

How big is your pause when things get hard at work? Be honest.



What if your graduate program felt less like school and more like a turning point?

The MS in Leadership, Management and Organizational Development at the Leadership Institute of Seattle is built around one idea: you learn to lead by actually leading. Not by reading about it.

Small groups. Real feedback. In-person residencies in Seattle. 12 weeks over 2 years with an 8 to 1 student-faculty ratio.

Founded in 1969. Over 2,000 alumni. State authorization just granted.
If you have been thinking about it, now is the time. Learn more at www.lios.org/masters-program

What made you first realize you wanted to grow as a leader? We would love to hear your story. 👇

Leadership Institute of Seattle - Master Degree! Master of Science of Leadership, Management and Organizational Development.

Most leaders are great at telling people WHAT to do.

The ones who actually build high-performing teams? They've mastered something harder. Knowing HOW to have the conversations nobody wants to have.

That's the whole point of Tough Stuff™. Not soft skills. Not a feel-good workshop. Real behavioral change in how you lead, listen, and show up when it matters most.

We've been developing leaders this way for over 40 years.
What's the hardest conversation you've had to have as a leader, and what did it teach you? 👇

Leadership cannot be learned passively.

The LIOS MS in Leadership, Management & Organization Development is residency-based for a reason:
• Systems thinking
• Group process
• Authority clarity
• Measurable goal alignment

Where did you actually learn to lead, theory or experience?

Learn more about us at: https://lios.org/history/

LIOS History Learn our rich LIOS History and its key milestones. Plus watch a video celebrating its first 50 years.

"The self of the therapist is the core instrument of change.”

In this powerful reflection, Dr. Tim Weber shares why the T-group–based Master’s program at LIOS is unlike any other clinical training in the country — developing the self as the foundation for transformation, leadership, and meaningful relationships.

Watch the full video to hear why he believes this approach makes LIOS graduates stand out: https://lnkd.in/gAcDNM3E

Dr Tim Weber on why the T-group based master's degree Is a difference maker! In this short 4 minute audio, Dr Tim Weber and LIOS president Chris...

Most leadership development focuses on the individual.
Real leadership happens across systems.

At LIOS, leadership is developed across three arenas:
One-to-one relationships
Groups and teams
Organizations and larger systems
Because effectiveness isn’t just about how you lead a person.
It’s about how you read, influence, and align entire systems.

Grounded in Organization Development and the work of Kurt Lewin, this approach builds the capacity to:
Work through conflict instead of avoiding it
Use authority with clarity
Facilitate group process, not just manage tasks
Lead change that produces measurable results

If your leadership development isn’t helping you operate at all three levels, you’re likely solving symptoms, not system issues.

Learn more about how this work shows up in practice at our upcoming information sessions: https://lios.org/upcoming-info-sessions/

Most leadership programs teach concepts.
Few change how you show up in a system.
At LIOS, leadership is not treated as a set of tools. It is treated as a variable within a system.

Grounded in the work of Kurt Lewin and Organization Development, the focus is not just on what you know, but how you operate in real time:
How you use authority
How you engage conflict
How you influence group dynamics
How you align people toward results
Because organizations do not fail from lack of ideas.
They fail from lack of alignment and ex*****on

The Master of Science in Leadership, Management, and Organization Development is built for working professionals who want to:
Move beyond theory into application
Understand systems, not just individuals
Develop the capacity to lead in complex, real environments

If you are evaluating leadership programs, ask:
Will this change how I think, or how I actually lead inside a system?

We are hosting upcoming information sessions for prospective students and alumni. Register here: https://lios.org/upcoming-info-sessions/

Most leadership programs focus on what to do.
Few focus on how you show up when it actually matters.

At the Leadership Institute of Seattle, leadership is not treated as a set of competencies to memorize. It is treated as a system of relationships because organizations don’t fail from a lack of strategy.

They fail in the space between people:
-unclear authority
-avoided conflict
-disengaged teams
-misaligned goals

This is why our MS in Leadership, Management & Organization Development is built around three core areas: Use of Self, Group Process, and Systems Thinking.

These are not concepts. They are practiced, in real time, with real feedback.

If you are leading today, ask yourself:
Where is performance breaking down in my organization?
Is it really a strategy problem or a relationship problem?

If you are ready to do deeper work on how leadership actually functions in organizations, explore the LIOS master’s program. Applications close July 15.

Learn more at: https://lios.org/program-description/