We design programs that spread on their own.
Leadership programs

The highest compliment a leadership program can receive is when participants go home and start using the tools with their own teams. We've seen it happen at Brenntag, Bridgestone, and beyond — because the best programs don't just teach leadership. They activate it.

1,700+

leaders in one program alone (Bridgestone)

1,200+

leaders in two languages (Brenntag)

600+

leaders across one health system (Adventist)

6 continents

of delivery

Illustration of a mountain with three labeled camps ascending the slope: Base Camp I at the bottom, Base Camp II in the middle, and Peak at the top. Each camp has descriptive titles and roles, depicting a journey from manager and doer to leader and catalyst.
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The Leadership Journey

  • Manager → Leader: From managing tasks to truly leading people.

  • Doer → Developer: From the hub that gets things done to a coach who develops star players.

  • Expert → Coach: From a functional expert to a coach of a championship team.

  • Leader → Catalyst: From a leader of today to a trailblazer shaping the future.

What a Complete Journey Looks Like
Five sessions. Three phases.
One complete leadership journey.

Every Evergreen program is custom-built — but here's an example of a full multi-phase leadership journey designed to take leaders from Manager to Transformer. Every program follows the same philosophy, while the sessions, tools, assessments, and content are built around your company's specific vision, values, and culture. This is one example. Yours will look different — and it should.

  • Session 1

    Phase 1

    Manager → Leader

    Focus
    Self-Awareness & Self-Development.

    Outcome
    High EQ, people agility, influence, development plan.

  • Session 2

    Phase 1

    Doer → Developer

    Focus
    1:1 Development of Direct Reports.

    Outcome
    Setting Expectations, Managing Skill & Will, Feedback, Development plans and GROW coaching skills.

  • Session 3

    Phase 2

    Expert → Coach

    Focus
    High-performing teamwork.

    Outcome
    Team toolkit to build trust, healthy conflict, commitment, accountability & results.

  • Session 4

    Phase 2

    Leader → Catalyst

    Focus
    FourSight Innovation Project.

    Outcome
    Creative problem solving: Clarify, Ideate, Develop, Implement.

  • Session 5

    Phase 3

    Catalyst → Transformer

    Focus
    Change Leadership.

    Outcome
    360-Feedback, innovation presentations & graduation.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more — you are a leader.”

— John Quincy Adams 

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6 Design Principles

Icon of three people/group members

Connection

We build trust, cross-functional empathy and collaboration as the foundation.

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Practice makes progress

Real plays over role plays. People remember 5% of what they hear, 10% of what they see and as much as 40% of what they actually do. Applied learning check-ins turn insights into habits and impact.

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Manager as mentor

The manager is the MVP not us or the participants. We equip managers to be mentors before, during and after the classroom sessions.

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Have it your way

Custom-built and connected to your values, vision & HR systems.

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Make it personal

Personality assessments & leadership commitments. Each leader walks away with a unique commitment to turn a tool or skill into a new habit and impact!

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Make it memorable

Colors, neuroscience, stories & gamification. We turn moments into memories that guide leaders for years to come.

300% more ideas

When teams diverge before they converge, they generate approximately 300% more ideas. Tested with Mars R&D leaders in an ice cream factory near Chicago, tech leaders in Florida and healthcare leaders in Portland.

What our clients say

  • For the past 10 years, I was VP of Clinical Operations for a 350-physician group with 1,700 employees and a $375M budget. I have had many professional coaching experiences and mentors during my career transitions — but Evergreen is different. I was led through a process of self-discovery. They used stories and questions to unleash stores of energy which were previously undiscovered but always present. They were especially helpful in getting me 'un-stuck' from my usual way of solving problems — allowing me to use my own emotional intelligence and extensive experience to design a new way of being. I have been able to go from very specific daily actions to an understanding of what provides meaning in my life as a whole. They helped me put together a linkage between my personal life, my emotional needs, my spiritual self, and my professional future into a uniform picture of balance and success.


    David E. Hooper, MD
    VP, Clinical Operations · Palo Alto Medical Foundation, part of Sutter Health

  • Sam has designed and his team at Evergreen have led some of our highest-rated virtual and in-person leadership courses in our organization. They’ve trained more than 1,800 Bridgestone leaders. They have connected with all types of leaders, from first time leaders in manufacturing to our executives in our corporate offices. Their professionalism and ability to connect to people is unmatched.

    Rachel M. Thomas
    Director of Culture and Engagement, Organization and Team Effectiveness · Bridgestone Americas

  • What set Sam apart was his ability to weave personal storytelling and genuine humor into content that had real strategic weight. He wasn't just engaging, he was purposeful. Sam took the time to understand the specific leadership behaviors we were cultivating as a team and shaped his entire session around reinforcing them. The result was a retreat that felt cohesive rather than disconnected, and a team that left energized and aligned.
    In healthcare, we work in a mission-driven environment where leadership development goes beyond skill-building. Sam understood that. His approach honored the whole person, including the spiritual and relational dimensions that matter deeply in our community. That's rare, and it resonated.

    Jeff Mock
    System Service Line Executive · Adventist Health

  • Sam and his team don't deliver a program — they deliver a transformation. They took the time to understand who we are and where we want to go. The result felt like it was made for us, because it was. Sam and I co-created one of the highest rated sessions that engaged our 800 store managers and left them not just talking about but living it in the months that followed.

    Susie Long
    CHRO · Sun Auto

  • Sam facilitated our Leadership Offsite. He immediately brought humanity and a sense of humor to our session. Sam’s approach to engaging our leaders was perfect for the time, knowing we were a newly formed group. He kept the dialogue flowing with activities to challenge us to think differently and put us in one another’s shoes. The team walked away more familiar with one another’s skills and opportunities for us to tackle as a group. I’d highly recommend Sam if you need a facilitator and thought partner for your Leadership Team.

    Jeremy Bolds
    VP @ Nike · General Manager, Retail Sales, Account Management

  • Sam has an amazing ability to read a room, adapt his facilitation style and truly connect with the people he's working with. His passion and authentic nature are contagious. Over the past decade, each engagement has delivered tremendous results.

    Donovan Mattole
    Head of Human Resources · Brenntag Americas (formerly Mars Wrigley)

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Applied Learning Box

Evergreen designs applied learning check-ins that turn coaching insights into daily habits and sustainable systems — connecting every engagement back to your organization's unique vision and values.

Ready to design a program your leaders won't stop talking about?

We design from scratch — no off-the-shelf programs, no generic frameworks. Just a curriculum built to fit your culture and achieve your vision.