You got the title. Nobody handed you the job.

The work that got you promoted is not the work you were promoted to do. First Chair is a one-day workshop for people in their first 90 days of managing a team — the conversations, the feedback, and the calls you now have to make, taught as a first toolkit, not a leadership philosophy.

Sample button — not a live form.

The quiet first year

Most new managers are left to figure the job out in private. They still do a lot of the individual work, because that’s what they’re trusted at. They delay a hard conversation, because they don’t want to sound like a boss. They fill the calendar with meetings, because being available feels like leading.

A year later, the team is fine, or it isn’t, and the manager is exhausted either way. The avoidable part is the first part: nobody told them what the job actually is.

This is for you if

You were promoted in the last 90 days, or you start next month.
You now have people whose work you are responsible for, and you used to just be responsible for your own.
You want a clear way to hold a first conversation, give feedback, and deal with missed work — not a personality makeover.

This is not for experienced managers looking for an advanced retreat, or for companies that want a multi-month leadership programme. First Chair is one day, one toolkit, for people who just sat down in the chair.

The day

Morning, session 1 — The first conversation with each person

What you need to learn from them in the first two weeks, and how to ask without sounding like you’re interviewing them for a job they already have.

Morning, session 2 — Feedback that isn’t a pep talk or an attack

A simple shape for a short conversation: what you observed, what it means for the work, and what you want to happen next. You will practice it out loud.

Afternoon, session 3 — When someone is missing the mark

How to move from a single piece of feedback to a clear expectation, and what to do if nothing changes. This is the conversation most new managers postpone.

Afternoon, session 4 — Your own work, on a calendar that isn’t yours

How to keep doing the work only you can do, without defaulting to “I’ll just stay late” as the plan.

After the day

You leave with a one-page guide for each of the four conversations, and a 30-day plan for your first month in the role. The workshop is the practice. The pages are so you don’t have to remember it from a slide.

The next workshop

First Chair runs as a small group, in English, for managers in the US and Europe. Dates and the fee are set per session and sent when you ask — we don’t put a countdown on a date we haven’t opened.

Sample button — not a live form.