FUEL: A 10-Week Accelerator
DEVELOP Focused, Unstoppable, Empowered Leadership
Prepare for your next leadership step or improve your current leadership strategy to future-proof your career.
Get on our WaitList for the next cohort!
Spring Cohort starts March 2025
Fall Cohort starts October 2025
If you are a high-achiever navigating the uncertainties of a leadership transition and feeling a bit like a “misfit,” this program is for you.
Should I double down or let it go?
Should I leave my job or keep persisting?
Is this problem about me, my company, or my job position?
Am I burning out and if so, how do I manage that?
How can I set myself up for my next leadership role if I’m not even sure what that is yet?
Do I need to break away from the vision that my supervisor or mentor originally had in mind for me?
These are common questions we ask ourselves when we are facing important transition moments in our career. They are signs of tensions, misalignments, career dead ends, and forks in the road that can be nebulous, confusing, and fraught with uncertainty.
How do we resolve them?
The first step is to identify what the misalignment, tension, or gap is about. Here are some common ones:
TENSION #1: The Person-to-Role/Organization “MISFit”
High achievers often find themselves in interesting situations with opposing forces. You probably stand out in many of the following great ways:
Your talent is valuable
You are a deep thinker and always ask interesting questions
You are a creative problem-solver
You are curious and a constant learner
You are a mentor to others
You are really good at a lot of things
You can pick things up quickly
You might be fast-tracked in your career advancement
You are a natural leader
You can work completely independently, are highly self-sufficient, and get great work done efficiently, effectively, and quickly
You also probably stand out as an “odd-ball” or misfit. Maybe you are the:
Only woman in your area at work
The first to go to college
The first person of color in a predominantly white industry
The person with an entrepreneurial, creative, anti-establishment nature working in a highly bureaucratic, hierarchical system
Someone who enjoys some silliness at work, among people who are too serious (or vice versa!)
The youngest person to have been promoted to your role, overseeing people who are much older and maybe were previously your mentors or supervisors
The most experienced or oldest person surrounded by people at least one or two generations younger than you
The “Northern Yankee” who moved down south and are now surrounded by folks who all grew up in a very different culture from you
So the first tension you might experience is whether you are in the right place to be able to bring out your best and thrive.
TENSION #2: The Personal-to-Leadership Identity “MISFit”
As someone who has superseded all the metrics, got all the accolades, and advanced in your career faster than expected, you may have enjoyed a great start to your career. But now, you are wondering if it’s still a good fit.
You might feel lost or frustrated. You might even have been pushed out or isolated from your peers due to your early successes!
You start wondering if you are on the right track any more.
Or you might have hit a wall and wondering how to up-skill to continue developing and expanding your leadership opportunities.
In order to move through this current transition, you will need to assess how you fit into various new leadership roles.
That means developing a clear leadership identity: Understanding who you are (personal identity), as separate from your social and leadership identity, and how to effectively navigate the different organizational and group systems.
It shapes how we think about our place in the world, how we show up in our professional world, and the level of impact we can make.
If you are trying to get yourself set up for your next big move but not sure what that is yet, clarifying your leadership identity and organizational fit helps.
What is the cost to staying in this transition, waiting, and continuing to do what you are doing right now?
If you have been in this transition space for a while, you already know that staying stuck like this is a massive cost to your mental, emotional, and physical health.
And high achievers, especially women, tend to engage in some pretty self-defeating habits when they feel invalidated, frustrated, burned out, or lost in their career. Things like:
Trying to over-prove yourself
Jumping in too fast with too many solutions in an effort to shake up some needed change
Moving faster than people are ready
Digging in when it might be time to let go
Taking on too much without allotting time for yourself
Dismissing your gut judgment
Refusing to seek or accept help (“I can/should do this myself”)
Overvaluing popular views of “worthy” leadership as opposed to what makes most sense for you
Nurturing other people’s vision without including your own vision
Confusing time with value
In other words, we try to fix the problem by… overachieving our overachieving nature! We double-down, piling on the achievements, and it just makes things worse.
These habits often backfire, causing us to feel even more:
Burned out
Stretched thin
Stressed out
Exhausted
Overwhelmed
Frustrated & Invalidated
Dismissed
Overlooked
Feelings of failure or imposterism
Low confidence
Easily feel micromanaged
Invalidated
Does any of this sound familiar??
It’s a vicious cycle that you didn’t create but that does keep you stuck. You see, the high-achieving mindset comes from an unsettling mix of pressures from a complex combination of:
your personal expectations of yourself as a high achiever,
confusing and harmful gender role messages about leadership, and
the lack of diverse perspectives in leadership identity
It’s time to take stock, reassess, and determine what you need to do differently to become the “BEST MISFIT” - someone who stands out because they know how and when to bring out your best qualities (and what those are), when to step back and pause, and when to accept an ill-fitting situation.
Imagine what it would look like for you to feel:
Clear and confident about your leadership value and next steps
Like what you do matters and feels aligned to your personal identity and ways you enjoy working
Prepared to make a greater impact through your leadership identity
Laser-focused and ready to take your next steps
Confident about when it’s time to say no, let go, or leave an untenable situation - without guilt, fear, regret, or worry
You have the right skills to be ready for your next big move, no matter what that might be
Like you are no longer leaving your career in somebody else’s hands
Like you have taken more agency over the course of your future
This is what you can expect to feel when you address those tensions and misalignments - when you are fully in sync with your values, strengths, and authentic style.
What’s the solution to moving through this transition time effectively?
Identifying the misalignments
Clarifying your current strengths, blindspots, and priorities
Pinpointing your best value and path to get there
Developing a strategic plan
Incorporating the influence of systems in that plan
Determining how to make a greater impact by leveraging the right systems that affect your personally defined success outcomes
Doing these things can sound overwhelming or nebulous but it doesn’t have to be.
You don’t need to work more, give up your job, change your whole lifestyle, or do some other drastic change to gain clarity in your leadership path and get back in sync.
In fact, sometimes simply identifying where the tensions are coming from can lead to simple changes that have a massive positive impact on our leadership trajectory and decisions.
This program kick-starts you on your journey with the first three steps. In just 7 hours across 10 weeks , it’s an incredible return on investment.
Imagine gaining the level of clarity to…
➡️ Move from surviving or striving… to thriving,
➡️ Move from over-working your talents trying to fit the round peg in a square hole… to applying your talents with ease in the right situation and contexts,
➡️ Move from uncertainty… to leadership decision clarity
This program is ideal if you:
☑ Thrive in spaces for innovation, creation, learning, or health (e.g., healthcare, academia, STEM, tech).
☑ Have served in at least one leadership role.
☑ Are looking to up-skill your leadership opportunities and impact
☑ Are woman-identifying or an ally (since we’ll be addressing social gender norms)
This program is NOT ideal if you:
🛑 Haven’t yet served in any leadership role.
🛑 Haven’t yet tried exploring self-help resources such as podcasts, videos, books, or self-paced leadership programs.
🛑 Are not interested in engaging in a small cohort and community program with other people exploring their leadership journeys.
🛑 Are looking for therapy, counseling, or life coaching. If these services are identified as an additional need, we can discuss how best to engage with this community while also seeking out additional support outside the program.
Still not quit sure if this program is right for you or how to decide? Check out our FAQ section at the end of this page. It walks you through the various scenarios to see where you are and what next steps are right for you.
What You’LL GET
FUEL is a 10-week, 7-session, women-centered cohort-based accelerator program designed to help you:
Pinpoint leadership misalignments
Clarify your unique leadership identity to lead more authentically
Accelerate your leadership journey and effectiveness in a cost-efficient way
Identify new leadership possibilities that are specific and authentic to you
Mitigate burnout
Foster new connections with other like-minded professionals
Keep your professional network up to date
Be elevated by other peers going through similar challenges
Learn new leadership skills
Prepare or become more competitive for a new leadership role
Receive targeted advice from a "think tank" of advisors
Have a mechanism to stay on track with your leadership goals
Learn new leadership frameworks
Develop new unique leadership skills and a network outside your organization
Reclaim your worth
Sounds too good to be true? Nope, it’s totally possible.
You know how I know?
Because as a psychologist, I test out the outcomes of my program. And what we have learned is that after just 10 weeks in our program, we saw moderate to large effect sizes for all of those outcomes across our Accelerator participants.
Hard to beat that.
Here’s what the program will cover:
Each week, we will take bite-sized steps toward our goal. While each week requires only an hour or less of your time, the program is set up to help you gain massive insights, each week building on the week before.
How you choose to engage is totally up to you, but we know that the more you put into it, the more you will get out.
By the end of these 10 sessions you will know exactly what you need to do to get back in sync with your greatest potential, whether that means preparing for your next leadership step or improving your current leadership strategy.
Week 1
Orientation
We will orient to the platform, our members, your cohort, and an accountability partner for success (our members have raved about how helpful these partnerships have been for their success!).
Week 2
Survey Your Options
You will identify your leadership style and where there may be gaps between your style, context, and skills.
Week 3
Do Your Research
You will take a leadership assessment to identify your strengths, preferences, pitfalls, and potential points of conflict and misalignment. We will answer questions about how you want to show up as authentically, in a way that benefits your team and organization, and address any tensions or misalignments.
(Week 4)
Breathe (Catch up & Reflect)
Even people who move fast and have lots of goals need to take a break. But many high-achievers don’t enough of this. This week will help you slow down and reflect - a critical strategy for sustainability and minimizing burnout. It’s also an opportunity to catch up on anything you may have missed in the previous weeks!
Week 5
Set Up Your Crew
You will determine, set up, and/or hone your informal board of directors - a network of specific people in specific roles to support your success, address tensions and misalignments and help you lead through uncertainty, stress, and complexity.
Week 6
Clear the Area
You will align your priorities and leadership energy. We’ll explore areas you might need to let go of, dial up or down, or lean into to feel more in sync, clear, and energized on your leadership path.
Week 7
Level Up
Do some people see opportunities for you that you don’t see? Do others feel you are not using talents you could be using? This informal 360 exercise will help reveal more of that.
(Week 8)
Find Your Footing (Catch up & Reflect)
After another solid 4 weeks of great work, this week offers another opportunity for rest, reflection, relaxation, connection, and catching up!
Week 9
Pour Into It
It’s time to pull it all together! We will reflect on everything you learned to reveal your next steps in getting back in sync, more energized, and more clear on your leadership path.
Week 10
Inspect for Next Steps
We will close out, celebrate, and graduate with a renewed sense of purpose and energy. It’s also the time to ask any remaining questions for how to start strategically implementing the changes you have identified.
Here is everything that is included:
⭐️ Our flagship Developing Leadership Identity course with 7 self-paced lessons in our private community (value: $500)
⭐️ Up to 2 live all-community Q&A sessions (value: $1,000+)
⭐️ A leadership assessment (value: $300)
⭐️ A leadership report ($300)
⭐️ Access to our alumni network (priceless)
⭐️ Personally matched accountability partners (priceless)
⭐️ Private curated, and moderated community space ($400 value)
⭐️ Bi-weekly small-cohort group coaching (value: $2,000)
⭐️ Digital badge / Certificate of Achievement
⭐️ Access to our monthly newsletter with more resources
Valued at $4,500, you receive everything for about a tenth of the actual value for only $495!
ABOUT ME
I was originally born in Romania - back when it was under a communist dictatorship. My family and I emigrated to America under a refugee status when I was 6 years old. I went from fitting in socially, economically, and culturally to feeling like a “misfit” - even though we moved to a neighborhood in New York made of over 60% immigrants who all spoke a different language than English!
Having to learn a new language and navigate a new culture led me to develop strong skills in observation and interpretation of nuanced behaviors in order to understand how people worked, engaged, and influenced each other.
When I entered the workforce, my first career as a school counselor. Later I trained as a clinical psychologist and quickly stepped into various management and leadership roles including chief of operations of a research center within the healthcare and federal government and an Associate Professor position as Duke University.
I learned that each industry and organization required the same set of strong observational and navigational skills because each one required me to learn a new industry language and navigate a new team and organizational culture.
As a result, I gained a special interest and talent in understanding how systems (relationships, groups, organizations, societal factors) impact success. And the more I understood and applied this knowledge, the more success I saw in my leadership growth as well as the growth of my teams and organization.
The great thing about coming at with an immigrant perspective is that it’s easier for me to break down vague industry language and unspoken rules of a culture because of the level of scrutiny I personally needed to understand language and cultural barrier for myself. Having degrees in counseling and psychology further honed that skill.
Over time, I noticed that many emerging and under-represented women leaders would reach out to me for mentorship around how to navigate career and leadership complexities. I ultimately became passionate about translating the strategies I developed for myself to helping others more effectively navigate complex systems and develop strategic thinking and processes.
To that end, I developed Towerscope, a social impact company in which 20% of our services are focused on supporting individuals who might not have equitable access to leadership development opportunities, including women and other under-represented groups working in disrupted learning and innovation industries. This Accelerator program supports that portion of our work.
Even though this Accelerator program serves that social impact portion of our company, that does not mean we compromise on quality, even with the lower cost. In fact, we add a higher level of scrutiny to ensure we meet the highest standards of service and results.
As a woman- and psychologist-owned program, I have created a research-informed, results-driven proprietary framework that was created to lead to true behavior change and evaluate the outcomes of each cohort using strong research design. I can proudly say that we consistently receive strong effect sizes across our cohorts!
I’d love to support you in meeting your goals and am fully invested in your success!
About our private communiTy Space
Learn & Support
Participants appreciate having a safe, private community platform to access the course content at their own pace while also engaging with and supporting other participants.
Here’s a peek into what it looks like >>>
Connect & Network
The community platform allows us to connect asynchronously as well as through live through online workshops and Office Hours.
We also just like to have some fun and bring our weird out every once in a while!
<<< Here’s a peek at our end-of-program celebration.
What outcomes can I expect?
Outcomes happen immediately through the Accelerator Program. (In fact, many Accelerator participants choose to continue with the community in our annual membership to keep growing and learning more!)
Here is a video that describes the outcomes we saw after the first beta test of the Accelerator program.
Since then we have done similar evaluations with new cohorts and found similar outcomes.
(1.5 min clip; The Hard Skills podcast.)
A Few of our differentiators include…
WHAT OUR PARTICIPANTS SAY
This program is not just a training program. There’s a very personal experience to it. It’s for intellectuals, thinkers (and often over-thinkers :), deep processors, and introspective types.
Let’s start with what our Founding and Advisory Board members said:
The community experience. (4 min clip; The Hard Skills podcast.)
The paradigm shift. (45-sec clip; The Hard Skills podcast.)
The impact of leadership identity development and social support (1-min clip; The Hard Skills podcast)
And here is what our participants have said…
"The program expanded my network is such a positive way. I've gone from meeting them and working alongside them on my skills to calling them my friends." -Anonymous
““So many of us have found our next gig through our networking opportunities! It’s kept our professional network up to date.””
“The [program] helped me better learn how to delegate, learn how to let go [since I was burning out], and establish better boundaries.”
“Transformative experience. It provided invaluable networking opportunities, reaffirmed individual strengths, and fostered personal empowerment, enabling participants to become better leaders.”
““It’s been enlightening to note the common challenges faced in various industries and invaluable to connect and learn from others. This is not a competitive environment — successes are celebrated and setbacks are shared. This has been an amazing way to learn and grow.””
"The opportunities to learn new content, reflect, and connect with other passionate, driven, successful women are beneficial. You've cultivated a safe learning space where individuals can be authentic, vulnerable, and grow at their own pace." -Anonymous
“I appreciated the accountability to help me meet my goals.”
“The greatest impact from this program has been to see other women in the same headspace as me. The guidance we all provided for each other felt reasonable, and authentic.”
"The asynchronous activities are convenient for busy people, there is a nice balance of opportunities for introspection and also direct advice/guidance from others."
“I struggle when I have to be inauthentic to who I am and the assessment helped me see how to flex into new ways of being a leader. And also learned what it means operationally for where I should be putting my energy.”
"The program helped me understand myself, build confidence in who I am in the workplace, and make decisions on what steps I am going to take in the immediate future."
READY TO JOIN US?
Sign Up Now!
Need a bit more reassurance to take this step? We got you!
BONUS #1: Extra Time in the Community
Worried that you might not have enough time to finish everything in this accelerator given your busy schedule?
We are offering two extra months of free access to our membership platform so don’t worry about completing the lessons in only 10 weeks. This not only gives you plenty of extra time, but also allows you to continue staying connected and even explore additional Q&A sessions and live workshops offered only to our yearly members if you wish. (value: $600)
Bonus #2: Full Money-Back Guarantee
Worried whether this program will actually help you achieve what you need?
Don’t worry - We guarantee it. While we know we can get you to achieve the program outcomes (because we’ve helped hundreds of leaders do this and have the research to back it up), sometimes it just doesn’t work out. So, if after the first 10 weeks, you have fully participated (i.e., completed all the coursework, connected with your accountability partner at least once, and attended at least 80% of the calls), and still don't feel it met your needs or that you have gotten $495 worth of value, let us know and we’ll give you your money back within 2 business days (minus the leadership assessment cost). We care deeply about helping each individual cohort member reach their goals and get their fullest value from the program. If we don’t meet that commitment, neither of us will be satisfied.
BONUS #3: Additional All-Membership Access
Hoping to connect with more than just your cohort?
For the Fall cohort, we're offering additional access to the Towerscope Leadership Academy community members - full of valuable networking relationships, mentors, and additional exclusive live workshops!
Frequently Asked Questions
Check out our most commonly asked questions below or contact us at admin@gotowerscope.com
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Currently we are running it as a fully virtual program.
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This program was designed specifically for people who mostly work in limited funding organizations or have limited funding themselves. The cost of a program like this is typically $1,000 to $2,000 per person when we work with sponsoring organizations.
As such, it is already priced at a fraction of the value - and made to specifically meet the needs of individuals who may need to pay out of pocket.
That said, there several great ways to save money, as follows - ask us about these if you are interested:
We offer special discounts or bonuses for every person you recommend.
If you pull together a group of qualified applicants, we can create a group discount.
Many organizations have professional development budgets. Check with your department to see if they can support all or part of the cost of the program! (See information in the next question about how to make a strong pitch.)
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If you are pursuing reimbursement from your organization and need an invoice letter, a letter to request funding, or an invoice that allows the institution other options to pay directly, you may use any of the resources below:
Download our Template to Request Institutional Funding
If you are an organization interested in sponsoring multiple individuals or a group cohort, email us at admin@gotowerscope.com to talk about group pricing.
If you need a separate invoice please let us know.
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This is meant to be comprehensive to meet many of your needs. But if you do need more 1:1 support, we offer executive coaching and you can find out more from our website.
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We do not restrict participants simply due to industry. We suggest reaching out to us to talk through whether this would be a good fit based on the industry you are in.
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Recent research has found that if you put in the time and engage fully, it typically takes between about 8.5 to 10 weeks to create sustainable change. Our research has shown that if participants who put in the time began to see results in weeks 5-9.
Like anything, the more you put into showing up, engaging fully, and trying things out in between small and large group live sessions, the greater the results.
Designed by a psychologist, our program is specifically designed based on that habit-forming research and infuses research-backed psychological principles of what it takes to achieve results, including:
Goal-setting
Tracking progress
Embedded accountability
Access to routine feedback
Learning best practice principles
Consistent practice
Peer support
And much more…
This timeline is greatly affected by how large and complex your organization is and how much politics is getting in the way, but these are the very things that we will work on helping you navigate with savvy and confidence.
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We would suggest allocating approximately 1 hour per week to take full advantage of all that we offer, though some weeks will require less and we do have two weeks to allow for catching up.
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With our divided attention sometimes we need to learn outside of work, in small chunks, and self-directed to develop your individual career journey goals.
Career development is no longer linear - people have gaps that are both horizontal and vertical. That is especially true for women with additional caregiver responsibilities. This allows you to develop a more flexible leadership development pathway.
Continuous learning and growth, that is not connected to what your organization may offer you, is a more sustainable competitive advantage that is within your control, at a time when you need it.
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We offer a money back guarantee - check out the bonuses above!
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This group is NOT a good fit of those who want:
Training only (instead of development). This is an interactive program requiring engagement, trying things out, and giving and receiving support, not a place to sit back and listen.
(Solely) a support or friendship group. While group members will receive plenty of support and develop lasting relationships, this program is focused on helping leaders set, accomplish, and sustain their goals.
Therapy, counseling, or life coaching. If these services are identified as an additional need, we can discuss how best to engage with this community while also seeking out additional support outside the program.
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Absolutely! This is not a women-only program. However, it is women-centered. That means we welcome ANY applicants who would be open to discussions that might include the impact of things like sexism and gender biases that affect leadership outcomes.
The content would benefit anyone, regardless of gender. However, since most leadership development programs do not make room for discussing how our identity and societal messages might shape who we are and how we therefore navigate our world, we take additional measures to ensure we create a space to have these discussions comfortably and safely.
If you are not sure that that would work for you but feel that otherwise everything about this program resonates, please reach out and we can discuss if it could still be a good fit.
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If you have been in a leadership role, tried the self-help resources, know that learning from others helps you grow as well, and now need more of a roadmap, the next step is to either work 1:1 with a coach or engage in a more structured group program.
The 1:1 coaching option is more expensive but totally worth it if you have the funds. We do offer that to individuals who are ready and you can explore that further on our coaching services webpage here.
If on the other hand, you are not ready for a 1:1 coaching or you had 1:1 coaching and now want to branch out to more of a community experience where you can also learn from and network with others, this would answer that need.
To get that community experience, you can join high profile groups like Ellevate or Chief. The strengths to those groups are that they are very well known, which means they might bring in more members and depending on locale, members with higher profiles.
The downsides to those larger high-profile membership communities are that they can be very expensive, the quality of services depend on the locale (if they offer in-person events), and they might become more crowded with business owners trying to also self-promote. Typically, these communities are known for their networking opportunities, but not for the learning content since they don’t typically engage experts trained in leadership psychology, career identity, and social and organizational change.
What that means is that the courses or events they might offer were not put together in a way that helps you go from step to step building on insights and skills in order to get to a clearer path. They are more piecemeal, focused on topics of interest to the community, but not on a developmental growth trajectory.
Our take is that if you are interested in more of a transformational growth on top of a strong networking experience, it doesn’t help to try to piecemeal a project management course, a separate change management course, a one-off leadership styles, team dynamics, or workplace politics class. Companies that offer either too many options or only one leadership topic cause people to keep spinning. Instead of spending money on lots of separate classes, trying to piece together something that makes sense, why not have a comprehensive program that has all of these and helps you connect them to how and when to use them in different scenarios?
But you should only engage in this kind of comprehensive program either (a) when you have tried the above and it didn’t meet your needs or (b) when you are already clear that this is what you want and you don’t want to spend extra money piecing it together yourself.
So, in all, if you’ve already tried the self-paced training and learning and also understand the value of community and group cohort experiences, then this is the next logical step if you really want more help about how to navigate your next steps.