The HR Rope Team

A mastermind for six senior HR leaders. Starting Wednesday, November 11.

I'm putting together a small Rope Team of six senior HR leaders, starting November 11.

Because there's something I keep noticing about people in your seat.

You're the one everyone comes to when things get complicated, political, or personal. The CEO wants an AI workforce plan before anyone has agreed what the technology will actually change. The CFO has already decided the 2027 budget needs cutting, and you're the one defending headcount and development spend. Two managers have escalated issues that should never have reached your desk.

And it is a lonely seat. You can't process it with your employees. Often not with your executive team. Sometimes not even with your own HR team.

Most HR leaders don't need another course.

They need a room.

The room

Six HR leaders who understand the weight of the role and are willing to help each other carry it. We meet, think together, and hold each other to what we said we'd do.

On a mountain, a rope team is small for a reason. Everyone knows each other's footing. When one person slips, the others feel it and respond.

Six means everyone gets real airtime every session. Nobody disappears into the background. Trust builds fast.

Why a room, and not a book

I once worked with an HR leader who was the first to arrive every morning and the last to leave every night. Even her CEO told her to stop working so hard.

She couldn't. It was all driven by fear. Fear that she'd be replaced. Fear that she wasn't showing up as the strategic leader she was supposed to be.

She thought the answer was more time. It wasn't.

Shifts like that don't happen because we read a book. They happen when other people can act as a mirror and reflect back what we can't see in ourselves. That's what this room is for.

Who it's for

This won't be the right room if you're looking for HR templates, compliance answers, or another place to collect development credits. And it won't work if you want to sit quietly and pretend you've got everything figured out.

But if you're a CHRO, VP, or senior HR leader who:

• Is tired of being the one who holds everyone else together, with no one holding them
• Wants more influence with the CEO and executive team, not just a seat at the table
• Keeps getting invited into the conversation after the important decision has already been made
• Spends hours on manager issues someone else should own while the strategic work waits

I'd love you to consider it.

You don't need to arrive with the answers. You do need to be willing to talk honestly, listen generously, and do something with what you learn.

The first three months

Each session opens with a short framework, tools I've taught leadership teams for years. Then we spend the rest of the time on the real situations people bring.

Month one: Clear the load. Where you're carrying too much, where you're stuck, and which situation most needs your attention right now. You'll bring one real challenge to the room and leave with a clearer way to handle it.

Month two: Confidence and judgement. The conversations you've been avoiding or overthinking. The meeting where the CEO waved off your recommendation and you spent the drive home replaying what you should have said. Real situations from the group, not case studies.

Month three: Influence that sticks. How you show up with your executive team, how you move decisions you don't own, and how you lead the company's people strategy instead of just administering it.

Through all of it, the room challenges your thinking, shares experience, and holds you to what you committed to do.

How it works

• Two live 75-minute sessions a month on Zoom, starting Wednesday, November 11 at 3:00 PM Eastern
• A private group thread between sessions, so when something comes up on a Tuesday you don't have to wait two weeks to talk it through
• Clear confidentiality expectations we agree on together before the first session
• A three-month initial commitment. After that, the group decides together whether to continue, month to month

Investment

$300 per month

With a three-month initial commitment. Or pay $900 up front if that's easier, a simple way to use professional development budget left in 2026.

How to join

I'll follow up personally with the next details, including how we confirm your place and get ready for November 11. Seats go in the order replies come in. There are six.

If this sounds like the support you've been missing, I'd love to have you there.

— James Robbins

P.S. Before our first session, I'll send you a short Rope Team preparation exercise. You'll name the one leadership situation taking up the most headspace right now, what you've tried, and what you wish you could say out loud about it. Bring it to the first meeting. We won't spend it on small talk and job titles. We'll start with the real stuff.