The Capacity Shift
DEVELOPMENTAL LEADERSHIP FOR ACCOMPLISHED WOMEN
What got you here may not take you forward.
Six weeks to examine what has shaped how you lead and expand your capacity for what comes next.
Framework is Harvard's adult development theory and Adaptive Coaching.
October 27 – December 1, 2026
Online · Maximum 8 women
YOU MAY BE AT A DIFFERENT KIND OF LEADERSHIP EDGE
You have built a life and career by becoming capable.
You learned to take responsibility, solve problems, anticipate what others need, perform under pressure, and keep moving in the midst of uncertainty and relentless change. Those strengths have served you well. There come's a point when working harder, knowing more, or adding another strategy is not what your growth requires. The complexity of what you're carrying may have outgrown some of the ways you've learned to carry it.
As you take on new leadership roles and responsibilities, the next stage of development asks us to examine the very ways of thinking, leading, and being that helped us succeed in the first place.
From the outside, things look like they're going very well. You are competent, people trust you and you know how to make things happen. However, you may be noticing that some of the ways you've operated no longer fit like they did previously.
You make the difficult decision yet, still replay it afterward.
You set a boundary and find yourself justifying it, until others are comfortable.
You delegate yet feel responsible for how everything turns out.
You have the difficult conversation and spend hours wondering whether you delivered it the right way.
You know intellectually that another person's reaction is not yours to manage and still feel compelled to manage it.
You recognize the pattern clearly and find yourself repeating it.
It's often not a skills gap.
Most often it's a developmental one.
There's a difference.
A technical challenge asks: What do I need to know or do differently?
A developmental challenge asks:
What in the way I currently make sense of this needs to change?
How can it be so difficult to do what I already know?
That's why insight alone is not enough.
You likely know you need to delegate, set the boundary, trust the decision, have the conversation, or stop carrying someone else's response.
The developmental question is:
What makes this feel risky enough that I keep returning to the old pattern?
Underneath those questions are even more interesting questions:
Who did I have to be to succeed?
Who do I need to be for what's next?
The Capacity Shift isn't about carrying less so you feel better. It's about developing a larger internal capacity for complexity, without relying on the same patterns of responsibility, competence, and control that got you this far.
Explore whether this is your developmental edge →
WHAT IF THE PATTERN ISN'T THE REAL PROBLEM?
You already:
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Know the obvious advice.
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Set the boundary.
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Delegate more.
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Stop replaying the conversation.
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Trust the decision.
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Say no.
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Have the difficult conversation.
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Let someone else assume responsibility
The problem isn't knowing what to do. It's understanding why doing it can feel so difficult when complexity and intensity increases.
You've taken courses on boundaries. Now the need is to understand why holding one feels so consequential.
You know to trust yourself, yet why does another person's disagreement destabilize that trust.
You even have a repertoire of strategies for managing your time and workload. The more interesting question is why responsibility keeps finding its way back on your plate.
There's a balance creating the capacity to care and show compassion without assuming responsibility for everything.
A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO CHANGE
What if there is more to it that's holding the current pattern in place than you realize?
You may genuinely want to change, delegate more, hold a boundary, trust a decision, have the difficult conversation and still find yourself returning to the same response. Immunity to Change helps us understand why.
The Capacity Shift draws on the Immunity to Change methodology, developed by Harvard researchers Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, together with adult development, neuroscience and emotional intelligence.
Rather than assuming you lack discipline, insight, or motivation, we examine the assumptions and competing commitments beneath the behavior that are keeping the current pattern in place.
We become curious:
What am I committed to without realizing it?
What assumptions are influencing the way I respond?
This matters because our behaviours usually have an intelligent internal logic.
Over-explaining may preserve connection or belonging.
Taking over may reinforce a sense of competence or responsibility.
Avoiding a difficult conversation may preserve connection.
Constant availability may reinforce an identity of being dependable.
Second-guessing may reduce the perceived risk of getting something wrong.
Once that internal system becomes visible, we can begin to test whether the assumptions underneath it are still necessary.
Not with positive thinking or telling yourself to behave differently.
We need new evidence.
Carefully designed experiments allow you to discover what actually happens when you respond differently. That's where insight becomes development, essential to flourishing in complex environments.
This matters because the complexity of leadership isn't solved by expertise alone. As responsibility grows, so does the need for adaptive capacity, the ability to hold complexity, navigate competing demands, question your own assumptions, and respond with greater choice when there is no simple answer.
The Capacity Shift is about developing the complexity of your thinking to better meet the complexity of what you lead.
A DEVELOPMENTAL LENS ON LEADERSHIP
Adult development research suggests that as we grow, our way of making sense of responsibility, authority, identity, and complexity can also evolve.
One important developmental capacity is what Robert Kegan describes as the Self-Authoring Mind, the ability to lead from an internal sense of values, judgment, and direction rather than relying primarily on external expectations or approval.
For many accomplished leaders, that capacity has been central to their success.
But greater complexity can ask for something more: the ability to examine even our own deeply held assumptions, identities, and ways of making meaning.
The Capacity Shift helps leaders develop greater thinking complexity so they can meet the complexity of their work with more perspective, flexibility, and choice.
THE CAPACITY SHIFT
You are not here because you need someone to teach you how to lead.
The goal isn't to make you less responsible, ambitious, or caring.
It's to develop greater capacity, perspective, and choice in how you lead.
To pause instead of automatically stepping in.
To make a difficult decision without needing everyone else's agreement to trust it.
To hold a boundary without explaining it until everyone is comfortable.
To let someone be disappointed without abandoning your own position.
To remain present in complexity without feeling responsible for resolving all of it.
To recognize what is yours to carry and what belongs to someone else.
To speak clearly when the stakes are high.
Most importantly, to begin questioning some of the assumptions about who you thought you had to be in order to succeed.
To care without carrying.
To lead without over-functioning.
To remain connected without abandoning yourself.
That is the Capacity Shift.
You notice yourself beginning an old pattern and realize:
I have a choice here.
SIX WEEKS OF DEVELOPMENTAL WORK
This is not a course you simply listen to.
Each week builds on the last as you examine a real change you want to make, uncover what may be holding the current pattern in place, and test new ways of responding in your actual work and life.
The work is reflective, practical, and personal with a small cohort for shared learning and two private developmental conversations focused specifically on you.
BEFORE WE BEGIN
Your Developmental Edge
Private 30-minute developmental conversation
Before the cohort begins, we identify a change that's important to you; something you would like to do differently, but have found it surprisingly difficult to change.
This becomes your developmental focus for the six weeks.
WEEK 1
Patterns Beneath the Surface
Get clear about the change you want to make and the behaviours that are working against it.
We begin with an important question:
If I genuinely want this to change, why hasn't insight or effort been enough?
WEEK 2
What Is Holding the Pattern in Place?
Explore the competing commitments beneath the behaviour: the priorities, concerns, and internal commitments that can make a familiar pattern difficult to change.
Without judgement, we understand why the pattern makes sense.
WEEK 3
The Assumptions Beneath the Pattern
Identify the assumptions you have come to believe as truths.
We examine how these assumptions influence the way you interpret situations, make decisions, relate to others, and respond particularly in moments of uncertainty, tension, or competing demands.
What feels true may not be the whole truth.
WEEK 4
From Assumption to Evidence
Now we move from insight to experimentation.
You'll design a small, psychologically safe, test for one of your assumptions, to become curious about what actually happens when you respond differently.
Instead of assuming, we gather evidence.
AFTER YOUR EXPERIMENT
Private Developmental Debrief
Private 30-minute session
We look closely at what happened.
What surprised you? What did you expect to happen that didn't? What did you learn about yourself, other people, or the assumption you're testing?
We make sense of the evidence and decide what's worth testing next.
WEEK 5
Self-Trust, Boundaries & Voice
Bring your new discoveries into situations where old patterns show up.
Some examples include: trusting your judgment when others disagree, holding a boundary without over-explaining, allowing others to carry their responsibility, or speaking clearly when situations become complex.
The work is less about what to do and more about expanding your capacity to do it.
WEEK 6
The Capacity Shift
Step back and look at what has changed.
What assumptions are less certain? Where do you have more choice? What are you able to see or do that was harder six weeks ago? Integrate what you've learned and apply it to a different situation to continue developing beyond the program.
The goal is greater choice in the moments when old patterns would normally take over.
WHO THIS IS FOR
The Capacity Shift is designed for accomplished women carrying meaningful responsibility, including physicians and healthcare leaders, executives and senior professionals, clinic and practice owners, and leaders in education, business, and organizations.
You may recognize yourself here if you are successful by conventional measures, but sense that some of the ways you learned to succeed are asking too much of you or are no longer enough for where you want to go next.
You don't need to be burned out.
You don't need to be in crisis.
And you don't need to know what needs to change.
You need the curiosity to ask:
What if the way I've always done this isn't the only way?
WHY A SMALL COHORT?
Development doesn't happen simply because someone gives us better information.
It happens through reflection, experimentation, challenge, and conversation with others who are also examining how they lead and make sense of their experiences.
The Capacity Shift is intentionally limited to eight women, small enough for depth and trust, while offering something individual work cannot:
The opportunity to discover that the pattern that feels uniquely yours often isn't.
Hearing how another accomplished woman makes sense of responsibility, competence, approval, conflict, or control can make your own assumptions easier to see.
Two private developmental sessions give us additional space to focus specifically on your developmental edge.
THE EXPERIENCE
October 27 – December 1, 2026
Tuesdays · 1:00 PM Mountain Time
Six consecutive weeks
75-minute live online sessions
Maximum 8 women
Two private 30-minute developmental coaching sessions
Approximately 60 minutes of reflection and real-world experimentation between sessions
Investment
$1,700 or two payments of $875
Maximum 8 women
Ready to join? Register below.
Prefer to talk first? You're welcome to book a complimentary 30-minute conversation.
ABOUT MARY
I work with women who are very good at carrying a great deal and who've begun to notice what it costs them.
I spent more than two decades as a consultant and administrative leader in roles where being the one who anticipated what was needed, solved problems, and held things together was highly valued. I was good at it.
I also came to understand what it can cost and how long we can operate this way before we begin to question whether the same ways of leading that made us successful are still serving us.
That's why this work matters to me. Not only as a theory of adult development, but as something I've had to examine in my own life and leadership.
Mary Printz, M.Ed.
Advanced Adaptive Growth Strategist (Harvard)
Certified Immunity to Change Coach (Harvard)
EQ-i 2.0 Certified · Leadership Circle Profile Consultant
YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW YET IF THIS IS FOR YOU
If something here made you recognize yourself, that's reason enough for a conversation. You don't need a perfectly defined goal. I'll help you with that.
We'll talk about what you're noticing, your developmental edge, and what you would like to be different in your life and leadership.
We'll explore whether The Capacity Shift is the right developmental space for the work you want to do.
A conversation. No obligation.
THE CAPACITY SHIFT
What got you here may not be what takes you forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to know exactly what I want to work on?
No. You may already have a specific pattern or leadership challenge in mind, or you may simply know that something in the way you are working, leading, or responding no longer feels quite right.
Your private developmental conversation before the program will help us identify a meaningful focus for the six weeks.
Is The Capacity Shift only for women in formal leadership positions?
No. The Capacity Shift is designed for accomplished women carrying meaningful responsibility.
You may lead a team, organization, practice, business, or school or be navigating a professional or personal transition that is asking something different of you.
What matters is a willingness to examine a pattern, assumption, or way of operating that you would like to understand or change.
How is this different from a leadership course or traditional group coaching program?
The Capacity Shift isn't about learning more strategies or being told what you should do.
You'll work with a developmental edge in your own life or leadership, explore what's holding the current pattern in place, and test some of the assumptions underneath it through small, practical experiments.
The goal is to build greater capacity and choice in how you respond.
How much time should I expect outside the sessions?
Plan for approximately 60 minutes each week for reflection and experimentation.
Much of the developmental work happens within situations you're already navigating, a conversation, decision, boundary, delegation, or familiar response, rather than through assignments.
What if I need to miss a session?
Life and work can be unpredictable. If you need to miss a session, a separate recording of the teaching portion will be available to you for two weeks following the session.
The personal cohort conversations will not be recorded, helping preserve the privacy and trust of the group.
Will I have an opportunity to work with Mary individually?
Yes. The program includes two private 30-minute developmental coaching sessions.
The first takes place before the cohort begins and helps identify your developmental focus.
The second follows your real-world experiment, giving us an opportunity to examine what happened, what surprised you, and what the evidence is revealing.
Is this appropriate if I'm not burned out or in crisis?
Absolutely. In fact, you don't need to be struggling for developmental work to be valuable.
The Capacity Shift is designed for accomplished women who may be doing very well and are curious about whether some of the ways they have learned to succeed are still the ways they want to lead going forward.
What if I'm interested but not sure this is the right fit?
That's exactly what the 30-minute conversation is for.
We'll talk about what you're noticing, what you would genuinely like to be different, and whether The Capacity Shift is the right developmental space for that work.
There is no obligation to join.