Pathbuilders develops leaders who see more, with mentoring and development built for every stage of a career.
Stage two of four
MANAGE
A program for current and aspiring managers learning to succeed through others.
The focus: managing people, projects, and priorities.
See where MANAGE fits: the four stages →Far too often managers get pulled into the work, but the work is no longer theirs to do. Now the results are theirs to own.
At this stage, the growth comes from trusting the team and the approaches they bring. Letting them run with those is the hard part, and the part that frees the manager to do what they couldn’t before, reaching across to peers and up into the wider organization, where the results happen.
Since 2004, MANAGE has developed more than 2,000 managers who stand confidently in the role, guide rather than do, and take deliberate ownership of where their careers go next. Their development was shaped by Mentors who told us what they wish they’d known when they were learning to manage.
The 5D Model at MANAGE
The 5D Model names the five dimensions that define great leadership at each of the four stages. The SEE Framework™ describes how a leader’s capacity to see more grows across them.
This is the move from doing to managing: the level the MANAGE program is built to develop.
Great Manager of People, Projects, Priorities
- Self — Embraces the choice to lead
- Organization — Takes responsibility for the team’s work
- Talent — Values their people and builds their capacity
The actions that demonstrate capability, ambition, and potential
- Owns Outcomes — Manages results as well as activities and takes responsibility for team
- Thinks Bigger — Sees and shares how the team contributes to the organization
- Works Across — Aligns with and appreciates peer teams and their goals
The choices that enable commitment and position for more
- Be Intentional — Recognizes the impact that personal choices and habits have on others
- Trust Others to Do — Appreciates that their way is not the only way to accomplish tasks
- Get Involved — Engages outside of the job as a “citizen” of the organization
The practices that are critical to success
- Credibility — Builds trusting relationships founded on the quality of the work
- Delegation — Assigns and holds others accountable to contribute to the objectives of the team
- Feedback — Gives meaningful and actionable feedback, and seeks and receives others’ counsel
The mindset a leader brings to their own growth
Appreciating different approaches
Within their team, holding back so others can do the work, and being freed to take on more.
See the full model and the SEE Framework™ →Every manager navigates this stage differently, so MANAGE is built around each one, from the first interview to the network they leave with.
The Interview. Before the program begins, each Mentee answers a set of questions about their role and their career. Their manager also weighs in. Then comes an hour-long personal interview, where the answers change. Most Mentees don’t know what they need from a Mentor until they’re asked the right questions. Everything that follows is built around that conversation.
The Double Match. We match Mentees into small mentoring groups first, two or three managers at comparable levels, facing genuinely parallel challenges. Then we select a Mentor specifically for that group.
The Mentoring Group. These Mentees are navigating the same transition at the same time. A manager can say out loud what they’re struggling with, hear it echoed back, and discover that what felt catastrophic alone is completely normal. That kind of vulnerability forms bonds that last for years after the program ends, with Mentees relying on one another for critical career advice and counsel.
The Network. MANAGE participants build something rare this early — a network that spans industries, functions, and geographies, from companies far beyond their own. Every Mentee keeps a record of who they have met and why they will want to know them later, because this network is built on purpose. It’s the community most spend decades assembling, and the one thing no single employer can hand them.
The right Mentor has faced exactly what these managers face now.
MANAGE Mentors are directors and VPs, a rung or two above them. Each has held the role and wrestled with the same challenges. They remember what it took, they know how it feels, and they can tell a Mentee what worked and what to watch for.
There are always 30% more Mentor candidates than can be matched. See how we make the match →
Six months. A workshop, mentoring time, and a leadership panel, every month.
A cohort of managers from companies across North America, growing together. Running fully online is how MANAGE gathers managers from so many companies and locations into one cohort. A full-day Kick-Off opens the program, and over the two weeks that follow, each Mentor joins their small group.
Workshops
Interactive content, engaging speakers, exercises, and peer dialogue. Because the cohort spans so many styles and companies, every session becomes live practice in seeing how differently others approach the same work.
Mentoring time
The small group meets with their Mentor for guided conversation built around what each participant is actually navigating, with individual time built in.
Leadership RoundTable
Three senior leaders take on each month’s topic. Mentees have the opportunity to hear the leaders’ personal stories and ask questions of their own.
What changes.
Mentees know they’re better.
They lift the room
“I show up with greater confidence, ask thoughtful questions, and approach situations with intention. I am also more empowered to encourage others to use their voices.”MANAGE graduate, Comcast
They let go of the doing
“I’ve had the opportunity to step back from day-to-day execution and focus on how I lead, influence, and support others more strategically.”MANAGE graduate, Gas South
They discover they’re not alone
“I am grateful to learn that the struggles I have in my org are the same struggles my peers at Pathbuilders have been experiencing. It provides a confidence in knowing that I can speak up.”MANAGE graduate, White Cap
You know which managers are ready for more.
Let’s talk about getting them out of the work and into the role.