Let us Take Leadership Development off your already Overflowing Plate
"This has to be the best overall leadership development concepts ever created."
- Carlton Silvey
Regional Manager, Abiomed
Leadership Training is Broken
But you already knew that.
Most “Leadership solutions” give you more online courses with no context, no accountability, and no real impact. Leaders don’t change just because you drop a login in their inbox.
Meanwhile, building an internal training department is costly and time-consuming.
You need a solution that’s:
✅ Practical and engaging
✅ Affordable without compromising quality
✅ Guaranteed to move the numbers you care about
The First Ascent Leadership Academy
Leadership is more than just adding skills to your toolkit. It also involves growing as a person. At First Ascent Academy we help your leaders step into the best version of themselves by teaching them peak performance principles. Part of this involves deeper work to help them release their own limiting beliefs that are hindering their potential.
Traditional Leadership Training
First Ascent Academy
The Three Core Pillars of First Ascent
Leadership Skills
We train leaders to lead people, lead the work, and build strong, accountable teams.
This includes:
- People Leadership
- Operational & Execution Leadership
- Coaching, Feedback, & Accountability
- Culture & Engagement
AI
We equip leaders to use AI as a practical thinking partner, productivity tool, and decision aid.
This includes:
- AI for Communication & Meetings
- AI for Strategy & Decision-Making
- AI for Productivity & Workflow
Peak Performance
We help leaders build the mindset, habits, and emotional strength for sustained excellence.
This includes:
- Focus, Energy, & Resilience
- Self-Awareness & Emotional Intelligence
- Confidence & Authentic Leadership
The First Ascent Leadership Academy
We’ve built a development community where your leaders will be motivated to take their leadership to new heights.
When you join, every leader in your organization gets access to:
- 🎓 All of our Leadership Courses
Covering essential skills like accountability, coaching, difficult conversations, psychological safety, delegation, performance, and more. - 🏔️ Monthly Live Workshops
Practical sessions where leaders learn a new skill and apply it immediately. - 🧪 Performance Labs
Deeper dives to help you challenge your limiting beliefs and step into your full potential. - 🔥 Quarterly Challenges
Short, focused sprints to build habits and sustain momentum. - 💬 Monthly Group Coaching Calls
A place where your leaders get coached, ask questions, and learn from peers.
This isn’t “Netflix for courses.” It’s a complete system to help your managers grow, practice, and lead differently.
On-Demand Courses
All your managers get access to our entire library of on-demand leadership courses.
Monthly Workshops & Labs
Practical sessions where leaders learn new skills and apply them immediately.
Quarterly Challenges
Short, focused sprints to build habits and sustain momentum.
Monthly Coaching Calls
A place where your leaders get coached, ask questions, and learn from peers.
Tools & Resources
Your leaders will have access to tools and templates to help them improve their effectiveness.
"We've seen our Engagement Scores skyrocket."
- Col Tom Magness
Chief Operations Officer - Abiomed
Our Training has Been Trusted by Leaders from These Companies
"Working with James and his team was a turning point for us.
In a 32-year-old manufacturing plant like ours, change isn’t always easy, but James made it real, personal, and lasting.”
Chad Yates – Plant Manager
Why it Works
- Context, Not Just Content. Leaders don’t just consume information—they apply it, discuss it, and get coached.
- Community of Practice. Managers learn together, creating accountability and shared language across your company.
- Cost-Effective. Instead of building a training department or hiring consultants piecemeal, you get everything in one subscription.
“Without a doubt, you made Abiomed a better company.”
- CEO Mike Minogue
What's Included with your Membership
Here is a list of some of the on-demand leadership courses as well as the live monthly workshops.
On-Demand Training Programs
Art of Accountability
$297
Psychological Safety
$297
From Bud to Boss
$197
The Art of
One-on-Ones
$197
Leading a Dept. of One
$149
Difficult Conversations
$297
Productivity Rocket
$197
Captivate Presentation Skills
$397
The Growth
Mindset
$49
The Second Paycheck
$97
Delegation Protocol
$149
Storytelling for Leaders
$197
How to Do Quarterly Retrospectives
$149
The 14-Minute Coach
$97
The Bank Account
$49
Four Bonds – Secrets to Onboarding
$97
And More...
Upcoming Live Monthly Workshops
$149/person
November 2025 — The Focus Formula: Deep Work in a Distracted World
Design a weekly focus system that actually survives meetings, Slack, and emergencies. Learn a simple cadence for time-blocking, context switching, and protecting maker time so important work gets finished.
December 2025 — Energy & Burnout Management for Leaders
Spot the early signs of overload (in you and your team) and correct course with evidence-based recovery and energy rituals. Leave with a personal “energy stack” you can implement the same week.
January 2026 — AI for Productivity: Save 5–10 Hours a Week
Turn AI into your admin, analyst, and writing assistant. Practical prompts and workflows for planning, summarizing, drafting, and decision prep—without risking quality or confidentiality.
February 2026 — Coaching Made Simple: Unlocking Potential in 20 Minutes or Less
Learn a simple, repeatable framework to coach your people in 20 minutes or less, helping them grow while freeing you from constant problem-solving.
March 2026 — Hybrid & Remote Leadership: Communication, Culture, Connection
Run hybrid teams that feel tight-knit, not scattered. Set clear norms, tighten feedback loops, and create rituals that drive belonging and momentum across time zones.
April 2026 — Public Speaking for Impact: Structures That Stick
Build talks people remember and act on. Use a repeatable blueprint for openings, narrative arcs, and calls-to-action—useful for town halls, sales pitches, and team meetings.
May 2026 — Storytelling for Leaders: Win Hearts to Win Decisions
Find, shape, and deliver stories that move people to action. Build a personal “story bank” and learn where to place stories in meetings, change initiatives, and recruiting.
June 2026 — Decision-Making Under Uncertainty
Choose well when data is incomplete and timelines are tight. Apply lightweight tools for risk, scenarios, and reversibility—then communicate decisions so people align quickly.
July 2026 — Accountability Culture: Past Excuses to Ownership
Replace micromanagement with clean agreements and visible scorecards. Practice consequence-with-care conversations that keep standards high and relationships strong.
August 2026 — Difficult Conversations & Feedback That Builds Trust
Handle performance, behavior, and peer conflict without drama. Use a step-by-step script to surface the issue, co-create solutions, and follow up so change sticks.
September 2026 — AI as a Leadership Co-Pilot: Smarter Teams, Safer Use
Use AI to uplevel team planning, hiring screens, meeting notes, and KPI insights—responsibly. Set guardrails, pick the right tools, and bake AI into daily leadership rhythms.
October 2026 — Impromptu Speaking & Q&A Confidence
Think on your feet without rambling. Learn fast frameworks for impromptu updates, tough questions, and hot-seat moments so you sound clear, calm, and credible.
"James' leadership training changed me as a leader."
- Frontline Manager City of New Brunswick
Quarterly Climbs (Challenges)
Instead of scattering leadership training throughout the year, we create powerful 30-day growth sprints we call climbs.
Each quarter, your leaders have the option of participating in a climb; a deep focus on one critical skill, apply it at work, and get coached through the process.
This structure creates measurable progress and keeps leadership development from falling to the bottom of the to-do list.
Over time, each challenge compounds into real organizational change.
A Manufacturing Company Turns
Around Its Sales Goals.
ERSB, a manufacturing company was struggling on many fronts, including their sales goals. After their managers went through some of our leadership programs, they had a drastic turnaround including a 30% increase in sales. They went from hitting 68% of their sales goals to 98%.
"This was the first leadership program we found that provided a simple-to-use formula for increasing engagement and productivity."
- Melody Moore
UA Brands
Founding Member Opportunity
We’re opening the doors for a small number of Founding Member companies who want to transform their leadership culture. The reason you're seeing this page is because you've been invited to be one of the Founding Members.
Founding Member Investment:
To get a quote for The FirstAscent Academy please fill out the form below and we will send you the information.
Imagine the ROI
- Managers who coach instead of micromanage.
- Leaders who take ownership and accountability.
- Teams with higher engagement, lower turnover, and better results.
All without the heavy overhead of building a training department.
What’s Next
If you’re ready to be part of the founding group of companies shaping the future of leadership development, or you have more questions about this opportunity, book a quick call to speak to James before the founding group slots have been filled.
Stubborn Engagement Scores
Skyrocket at Abiomed.
Abiomed is one of the fastest growing companies on the Fortune 500 list and already had a strong culture of peak performance but they still couldn't get some of their engagement scores to move. Eighteen months after all of their managers began using some of James' leadership training, Abiomed was acquired by Johnson & Johnson for $16.6 Billion dollars.
Hear what Col. Tom Magness, the Chief of Operations at Abiomed had to say about the measurable impact of James' leadership frameworks.
Have your leaders learn from a world-class leadership expert.
Who Is This For?
- Senior leaders
- HR Leaders
- Mid-level Managers
- Front-line Managers
- Supervisors
- Up-and-coming leaders
Who is James Robbins?
James Robbins is an executive coach, and leadership expert and has given over 2,500 speeches in the last 25 years.
As a leadership trainer James helps equip managers to show up daily and get the most out of those they lead.
He is the author of the best-selling book Nine Minutes on Monday and was recently named one of the top 100 Leadership Speakers by INC. Magazine.
“Your keynote scored a 4.99 out of 5.0 at our conference. No wonder you brought everyone to their feet.”
– Pat Goodberry-Dyck
Custom Learning Solutions
Our Coaches
AJ Lewis
Team Dynamics
Tara Miller
Resilience & Mindset Expert
Francisco Bedoya
Gallup Strengths Coach
More Feedback From Managers
© 2020 | The James Robbins Company LLC