Leadership Consultation & Mentoring:
One-on-One Work with Melanie
I offer two types of one-on-one support: leadership consultation and mentoring, described below, and self-trust and deconditioning work. An overview of both, and how they differ, is on the One-on-One page.
WHAT THIS WORK OFFERS
A seasoned perspective on the daily challenges of leading in uncertain times
Leadership consultation and mentoring offers a seasoned perspective on the day-to-day challenges of leading, especially during times of uncertainty and change.
Much of what we’ll talk about is whatever is in front of you: a direct report you’re trying to figure out how to support, the political dynamics of your institution, a decision you’ve been circling, a difficult change where you need to bring your team or other stakeholders along. Even seasoned leaders often find that the approaches that served them well before need a refresh for the circumstances they’re leading in today.
It can be invaluable to think these things through with someone with leadership expertise, but who is outside your reporting line: someone who cares how things go for you while having no personal stake in the outcome. I also believe it’s critical for these conversations to be grounded in the realities of today. While many principles of effective leadership are perennial, every single interaction is shaped by what it means to work, lead, and be human in a time of complexity, uncertainty, and rapid change.
HOW WE’LL WORK TOGETHER
Packages: in-depth work over time, with support between sessions
I like to work with people over time — going in depth, getting to know your context, and being there for you between sessions as well as during them. What that looks like:
I work through packages. Individual sessions are 60 minutes and can be organized into multi-hour intensives if you’d rather move through key challenges or topics in a concentrated format. Sessions are used within six months (five-session package) or twelve months (ten-session package) of the agreement start date.
Packages include asynchronous messaging support between sessions on the Signal app, so you can share what’s unfolding and bring questions as they come up rather than waiting for our next meeting.
I also bring the frameworks, workbooks, and practical tools I’ve developed for my leadership workshops, programs, and retreats. These are examples of areas where I have tools: working through conflict, leading difficult change, building culture on a team, structuring your work with direct reports, developing people who are learning new skills, and reclaiming time and strategic focus from the daily fires. They can add structure to our sessions when relevant, and they give you something practical to integrate into your work between sessions.
Leadership mentoring is also available for small leadership teams. Get in touch to discuss.
PACKAGES AND PRICING
Five-session package — $1,250
Ten-session package — $2,250
Happy to work with you on a two-payment split, or on your employer’s procurement or reimbursement process — just write to me.
WAYS TO BEGIN
The exploratory call is a 30-minute conversation about what you’re navigating and whether this work is a fit.
About Melanie Ho
Melanie Ho is a leadership consultant, professional speaker, and award-winning author who has spent 20+ years helping senior leaders in mission-driven organizations navigate complexity, lead through change, and build stronger teams. She is the founder of Strategic Imagination LLC and partners with The Chronicle of Higher Education to lead several professional development programs for hundreds of college and university leaders each year. Before founding Strategic Imagination, she served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Research at EAB Global, where she led a team of 100+ consultants advising 1,500+ institutions and helped grow the organization through its $1.55B acquisition. Her debut book, Beyond Leaning In, received a silver medal in the 2022 Axiom Business Book Awards.