The Ascent Leadership Program
For senior leaders in life sciences and healthcare.
An invitation-only cohort of senior leaders from pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical technology, and health-system organizations. Over ten months, participants strengthen the judgment, adaptability, and enterprise leadership required in highly technical, regulated, and rapidly changing environments.
Request a conversationThe challenge
The leadership challenge has changed.
At greater scale, expertise and decisiveness still matter, but they are no longer enough. Leaders must make sense of uncertainty, draw intelligence from across the organization, and build teams that can perform without waiting for direction from the top.
The Ascent teaches that contemporary skill set through a research-backed, 10-month process of group experiences and individual coaching: developed out of research by Dan Fisher, PhD and Steve Garcia, EdD, published in The End of Leadership as We Know It.
What this field needs now
The leadership skills our times demand.
- Lean into complexity and uncertainty.
- See your own blind spots: the habits of mind that quietly cap your impact.
- Get more from your people by unleashing them rather than controlling them.
- Build a team that stays resilient and high-performing under sustained pressure.
- Make sound decisions when the data are ambiguous and the stakes are high.
- Be part of the team, not insisting on carrying the role alone.
How you will lead differently
Ascent helps accomplished executives adapt how they lead as their scope expands.
- Providing answers through personal expertiseDrawing better answers from across the organization
- Directing execution closelyCreating clarity and accountability without overcontrolling
- Moving quickly to certaintyHolding direction while remaining open to new evidence
- Reacting to disruption as it landsSensing change early and shaping the response
- Leading through their own expertiseLeading through relationships and influence
- Carrying the role in isolationGrounded in a trusted community of peers
A year of transformation
A thoughtful, research-based program.
Each executive develops new leadership skills by balancing in-person and virtual experiences, group and individual development work, and support for both the leader and the team they lead.
01
Basecamp
A two-day cohort experience that disrupts how you think about leading, grounds you in your leadership story, values, and purpose, and forges the high-trust peer relationships that carry the rest of the year.
02
Micro-sessions
Eight virtual sessions on specific, pragmatic skills for leading in complexity: from coaching and decision-making under uncertainty to building resilient teams and executive storytelling.
03
Peer Consulting
Eight gatherings of the cohort to support one another on individual leadership growth by working through a specific, real challenge each leader brings.
04
One-to-One Coaching
Four months of individual coaching with a coach trained in contemporary leadership transformation, personalized to each leader's development plan.
05
Team Surveys
Three CLA Team Eval surveys track the impact of the leader's transformation on the team.
At a glance
The program in numbers.
10
Months
10
Senior leaders
8
Micro-sessions
8
Peer consulting sessions
4 mo
Individual coaching
3
Team assessments
Investment
$48,500 per participant, including a full year of EdgePoint membership.
What you will gain
Concrete, durable gains from a year of applied growth.
A clear read on yourself
A picture of your strengths, your blind spots, and your default patterns under pressure.
A wider range of moves
The ability to coach, influence, tell a compelling story, and decide well in ambiguity.
A more resilient team
Measured gains in your own team's engagement and resilience.
A grounded sense of purpose
Knowing your values and true north so you can make important decisions when the pressure is highest.
Progress on real work
Tangible movement on a genuine enterprise priority you bring into the program.
A network that lasts
A small group of senior peers across the field who understand your context, plus a full year of EdgePoint membership included in the program.
Readiness for what is next
The presence, agility, and resilience to take on a larger mandate with confidence.
Program faculty
Led by faculty with deep life sciences experience.
The program is led by CLA faculty with deep life sciences experience, including Dan Fisher, PhD (Managing Partner, CLA), Mazher Ahmad (former Chief Talent Officer, Regeneron), Dan Flowers (former Regeneron organizational effectiveness), and Alessa Natale, PhD (former J&J Talent Management).
Interested in the next cohort?
Participation is by invitation. We're glad to explore fit, timing, and organizational sponsorship.