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Next-Level Leader: Foundations · ALA Member Exclusive
ALA Member Exclusive. Use code ALA10 to save 10%. Enroll Now →
Starts May 14, 2026

You want to lead your team well.
Here's the playbook.

Six weeks that will change how you show up as a leader—every day, in every conversation, with every person on your team. Built for law firms. Built to last.

6
Weeks
~20
Hours
Live
Virtual
Limited
Seats
A clear picture of how you lead and where your biggest opportunities are
The tactics to build a team that executes, even when you're not in the room
Real skills for developing the people around you
A 90-day action plan and a partner to hold you to it
Sound familiar?

You landed in this role because you were exceptional. Leadership is a different job.

The best attorney. The most reliable administrator. The paralegal who never let anything fall through the cracks. That's who gets promoted in a law firm. Not because they're ready to lead, but because they were the best at the work. That system produced you. But it was never designed to hand you what comes next: a real playbook for leading the people around you. Figuring it out as you go has a ceiling. The ones who grow fastest do something different.

You were promoted for being exceptional at your job. The leadership part came with the title.

You were exceptional at your work. That's why you're here. Leading people is a different skill set, and most law firms never stop to hand it to you.

You've had the conversations. Some landed. Some didn't. You're not always sure why.

You've figured out a lot on the fly. And there are still moments—the delegation that fell apart, the feedback that didn't stick, the meeting that went sideways—where you wish you'd had a clearer answer going in.

The gaps show up in the people around you.

The conversation that needed to happen sooner. The delegation that quietly came back. Over time, those moments add up—for your team and for you.

The leaders who build the strongest teams aren't necessarily the most talented. They're the ones who got serious about their own development and put it to work.
The Identity Shift

You got here by being the best at what you do. Now your job is making everyone around you better at what they do.

Next-Level Leader: Foundations starts with a question most leadership programs skip: where are you right now? Not as a professional. As a leader. Every leader moves between four modes—and most law firm leaders spend the majority of their time in just two of them.

Where your biggest impact lives
01
Expert
You're the one who knows
Your value comes from what you know and what you can do. You've earned that. It's what got you where you are. And it's still a real part of who you are as a leader.
02
Problem-Solver
You're the one they call
When something breaks, you fix it. When someone is stuck, they come to you. You're indispensable. That felt like success for a long time—and it still might.
Where your biggest impact lives
03
Multiplier
You're the one who develops people
You've started to realize your biggest contribution isn't solving problems—it's building the people who can. One person developed is more valuable than one problem solved.
Where your biggest impact lives
04
Architect
You're the one who builds the machine
Work happens because of systems you built, not because of your presence. Your team executes, decides, and grows—with or without you in the room. This is the highest leverage any leader has.

"The shift isn't about becoming a different person. It's about using more of who you already are. You're not becoming less valuable. You're becoming valuable in a way that multiplies."

Your guide

We've spent decades inside law firms, watching leaders go from holding it all together to building teams that don't need them to.

We've seen the conversations that finally happen, the teams that start moving without being pushed, and the leaders who show up differently. Not because the job changed, but because they did.

Next-Level Leader: Foundations was built from that experience—from the ground up, for the specific culture, structure, and pressure of leading in a law firm. Not adapted from somewhere else.

Affinity Consulting leadership facilitators
How it works

Simple to start. Designed to stick.

Step 01

Enroll and complete your
DISC assessment.

Before the first session, you'll complete a personalized behavioral profile. It gives you a clear picture of your communication style, how you show up under pressure, and how others experience you—so Week 1 starts with real self-knowledge, not a blank slate.

Step 02

Show up with your real work.

Six live sessions with a cohort of law firm leaders who are navigating the same terrain. Real situations, real feedback, real skills. You practice between sessions and bring what happened back to the group.

Step 03

Leave with a 90-day plan
that's yours.

Your final session builds your action plan. One concrete commitment per Cornerstone, specific enough to execute. You leave with an accountability partner from your cohort and a clear picture of what comes next.

The Framework

Four Cornerstones. Every dimension of leadership covered.

Every session builds on one cornerstone, giving your whole firm a shared leadership language long after the program ends.

4

"Four Cornerstones. One complete leadership framework. Not a checklist—a way of seeing."

01
Leading Self
The Inner Work

The most effective leaders know how they show up: under pressure, in uncertainty, on their best and most difficult days. This cornerstone builds that self-awareness into a practical operating system.

02
Leading People
The Relational Work

Your success grows through the people around you. This cornerstone is about developing people intentionally: building trust, giving feedback that sticks, and creating a team that gets stronger over time.

03
Leading Operations
The Execution Work

Great leaders build teams and systems that execute reliably. This cornerstone gives you the tools to create the kind of organization that delivers consistently, with or without you in the room.

04
Leading Forward
The Strategic Work

The leaders who shape their firms protect time for strategic thinking. This cornerstone is about leading toward what's next, while bringing your people along with you.

From the people who've been through it
"

No matter how long you've been in leadership, you will take away great tips and tools to continue to grow in your journey.

— Rachel
The Six Sessions

Six sessions that change how you show up every day.

Each session is built around real workplace situations, not hypotheticals. You'll leave every week with something you can use before the next one.

Week 1
Leading Self
Leading Others Starts with You
+
May 14  |  2 PM ET
Before you can lead others well, you need a clear picture of how you lead now. Using your DISC assessment as the foundation, you'll understand your natural style, how you show up under pressure, and how your presence affects the people around you. You leave with a baseline to build everything else on.
Week 2
Leading Self
The Leader Others Can Count On
+
May 21  |  2 PM ET
The leaders others trust most have two things in common: they own their commitments and they manage their reactions. This session gives you practical tools for leading yourself with intention. When hard moments come, you're ready for them.
Week 3
Leading People
Stop Solving. Start Developing.
+
May 28  |  2 PM ET
Your biggest opportunity as a leader is making your team more capable, and it starts with trust. This session introduces the Adaptive Delegation model, tools for setting clear expectations, and the insight that most performance challenges are clarity challenges in disguise.
Week 4
Leading People
The Conversations That Change Everything
+
June 4  |  2 PM ET
The best leaders are known for developing people, not just managing them. This session gives you a precise feedback model, a clear approach to the conversations that matter most, and a coaching method that builds judgment in the people you lead. Most leaders say this is the session they wish they'd had years ago.
Week 5
Leading Operations
Build the Firm That Runs Without You in Every Room
+
June 11  |  2 PM ET
Strong leaders build organizations that execute reliably. In this session you'll identify where your involvement creates bottlenecks, get a clear approach to protecting your team's highest priorities, and design meetings that earn their time on the calendar.
Week 6
Leading Forward
Lead the Future, Not Just the Present
+
June 28  |  2 PM ET
The program ends where great leadership begins—with a clear picture of what you're building and a concrete plan for building it. You leave with one commitment per Cornerstone for the next 90 days, an accountability partner from your cohort, and a practice you can keep developing for the rest of your career.
From the people who've been through it
"

The DISC work was incredibly valuable. It helped me identify areas where I can improve and be more intentional in how I communicate. I'm already using it to better understand my team and approach situations more thoughtfully.

— Vicki
What's Included

Six weeks of sessions, practice, and people—everything you need to do the work.

Six weeks of live sessions
Every session is built around real situations law firm leaders face. You leave each one with something you can apply before the next.
Your DISC assessment
Your communication style, how you show up under pressure, how others experience you, where your biggest growth opportunities are. It anchors everything that follows.
The Work(book)
Scripts for the conversations you've been building toward. Reference tools to pull before a hard meeting. Practical resources you'll reach for long after Foundations ends. This is the working document of your experience.
Be a Next-Level Leader
The leadership book at the center of Foundations: practical, grounded in law firm reality, yours to keep and return to. Not academic. Written for leaders who are already in it.
The Leadership Inspiration Deck
52 cards to spark daily reflection and keep your leadership sharp between sessions. A tool for ongoing practice, not a souvenir.
Your 90-day action plan
Built in your final session—one concrete commitment per Cornerstone, specific enough to execute, with an accountability partner from your cohort.
Your cohort
A group of law firm leaders with no stake in telling you what you want to hear. The cohort is how the learning happens—not a networking add-on.
The Transformation

This is what leadership looks like when the tools are actually in your hands.

Same team. Same firm. Same hard moments. Just a different way of showing up to them.

Feedback that lands Delegation that builds your team Hard conversations that go well A team that runs when you step back Clarity where there used to be uncertainty A leadership style that's yours Feedback that lands Delegation that builds your team Hard conversations that go well A team that runs when you step back Clarity where there used to be uncertainty A leadership style that's yours
Leading Yourself
You feel a hard moment coming. You respond with intention because you recognize the pattern and know what to do with it.
You make a call under pressure and own it fully, because you've built the kind of credibility that makes that feel natural.
Your team knows they can count on you. Not because you're perfect. Because you've built a system that makes follow-through reliable.
You walk into difficult moments with the Four Cornerstones in your pocket and the confidence to use them.
Leading Your People
You give someone feedback and watch them change, because it was specific, direct, and kind enough to land.
A team member brings you a problem. You ask three questions. They figure it out themselves. You both leave energized.
You have the conversation you've been looking forward to having, and it brings the relationship forward.
Your team doesn't wait to be told. They know what's theirs and they own it.
Leading Your Firm
You step away for a week and your team keeps moving. Because you built something, not a dependency.
Your meetings end with decisions, owners, and next steps. Everyone leaves clear.
Your firm has a shared language for leadership. Different roles, same model, consistent standards.
The people you've developed are solving problems you used to own, and they're better at it than you expected.
From the people who've been through it
"

I've started running more structured one-on-ones and being more intentional about reinforcing expectations with my team. That shift alone has made a noticeable difference in how we communicate and stay aligned.

— Katrina
What's possible when the gap closes

The leaders who invest in this now are building firms that will outlast them.

The firms that develop strong leaders don't just perform better today. They build bench strength, retain their best people, and create the kind of culture where talented professionals want to stay and grow. The opportunity is real and it's available now.

Next-Level Leader: Foundations Next-Level Leader: Foundations cohort

Your best people stay and grow

High performers stay where they feel developed. Leaders who invest in building their people create the kind of environment the best ones choose and stay in.

Your impact scales beyond what you personally can do

When your team can execute, decide, and solve without running everything through you, your ceiling disappears. The capacity of the whole firm goes up.

The hard things get easier—and stay that way

Leaders with real tools don't keep facing the same challenges in different forms. The skills compound. What felt hard at the start feels natural within months.

"The leaders who get the most out of Foundations come ready to work. Real situations, real practice, real peers. If that's you—you're in exactly the right place."

Over six weeks you'll spend roughly 20 hours in live sessions, completing pre-work, and applying what you learn between sessions. You'll practice real skills: coaching a team member, delivering feedback, having the conversation you've been building toward. Come ready to bring what's happening in your work, and leave with something you can use before the week is out.

Is this right for you?

Is Next-Level Leader: Foundations
the right fit for you?

Attorneys, administrators, COOs, paralegals, operations leaders. If you're in the role and you want a real playbook to lead from, this is for you.

This is for you if…
You're in a leadership role and you want a real playbook to lead from
You want practical tools and real skills, not theory or inspiration
You're ready to show up, do the work, and bring real situations, not hypotheticals
You work in a law firm: attorney, administrator, COO, paralegal, or operations leader
This is not for you if…
You want a passive, self-paced experience you can watch at 1.5x speed
You can't commit to weekly live sessions for six weeks
You're not currently leading a team or managing people
Enrollment

Your leadership is worth investing in.
We stand behind that.

Seats are intentionally limited to keep the cohort experience what it's meant to be.
The May 2026 cohort is forming now.
ALA Member Exclusive
Next-Level Leader: Foundations
Starts May 14, 2026
$749
$674
Use code ALA10 at checkout and save 10%
Six live 90-minute sessions
DISC Workplace Assessment with personalized report
Copy of "Be a Next-Level Leader"
The Work(book) + Leadership Inspiration Deck
Cohort community platform access + all recordings
90-day action plan with accountability partner
Enroll Now →
Group or firm pricing available — contact us.


The Applied Leadership Guarantee

Show up to every session. Complete your 90-day action plan. Apply the Four Cornerstones for 30 days. If you don't walk away with real skills you're using, we'll refund your investment. Fully and without question.

FAQ

Common questions.

Enrollment stays open until the cohort is full or May 4, whichever comes first.

Enroll Now →
When does enrollment close?+
Enrollment stays open until the cohort is full or May 4, whichever comes first. Enrolling early locks in your seat.
What if I miss a session?+
Every session is recorded and available right after. That said, the live experience: the peer discussion, the real-time practice, the cohort dynamic, is what makes Foundations different. We ask that you attend live whenever you can.
Who facilitates the program?+
Foundations is led by a team of facilitators with deep law firm experience, all trained on the Next-Level Leader model. The program was built by Debbie Foster and Stephanie Everett of Affinity Consulting, and the facilitation team brings that same level of expertise to every session.
Are sessions recorded?+
Yes. All recordings and supporting materials are available through the cohort community platform throughout the program and beyond.
Is there group or firm pricing?+
Yes, and we love it when firms send multiple leaders through together. The shared language alone is worth it. Contact us to talk through group pricing.
What are the session dates and times?+
Sessions meet every Thursday from 2:00–3:30 PM ET, starting May 14 and wrapping up June 18. If a conflict comes up, every session is recorded—but the live experience is where the real learning happens, so we'd encourage you to protect the time.
Is this right for someone new to leadership?+
Absolutely. Foundations is built for leaders already in a role who want a real playbook to lead from, whether you've been leading for six months or six years. You don't need to have it figured out. That's exactly what this is for.
Starts May 14, 2026

Your team is waiting for this version of you. This is where it starts.

Seats are limited to keep the cohort experience what it's meant to be. Once the May cohort is full, the next opening is July.

Enroll Now →
ALA Member Exclusive · Code ALA10