Leading from the Jumpseat
Jumpseat Leadership is a way of interacting with people that will enhance performance in any given situation - during normal business, times of crisis, and life in general. Becoming a Jumpseat Leader takes practice and this book is your practical guide to handing over control.
Leading from the Jumpseat encourages leadership to develop at every level within our teams.
It empowers our people to perform better together and leads to us accomplishing more. It creates a culture that is generative and supportive. It’s an approach that nurtures the underlying conditions so that what we have built will continue to grow.
framework of jumpseat leadership
Jumpseat Leadership is built on a shared Commitment, led with Humble Confidence, and empowered by a sense of Belonging.
Commitment
Commitments represent something we value deeply. True Commitment can only occur when it comes from our stands – from what we hold as really important. Stands become vital when we are dealing with the unknown or a crisis.
Humble Confidence
Humble Confidence is built on a foundation of Commitment. It means we are appropriately resolute and focused, while balanced with the willingness to listen and engage. We create an environment where others feel they can offer ideas and contribute, rather than give the impression we have all the answers.
Belonging
When we create shared moments that make us feel connected, we show we care. And when we care, we nurture a sense of Belonging. A greater sense of belonging leads to more innovation, loyalty, and discretionary effort. This investment allows everyone to have the confidence to show up as themselves while also staying true to the overall mission.
Jumpseat leadership is an end result.
Leading from the Jumpseat combines inspiration with practical application, built on a foundation of real-world experience. The approach and concepts of Jumpseat Leadership are designed to build on what already exists, drawing out what is best in each individual and those they lead.

bring jumpseat leadership to your organization.
The Jumpseat Leadership team specializes in partnering with organizations to make history-making outcomes possible. We do that by enabling people to connect to what is deeply important to them at a human level (their commitment), and use that energy to make a history-making outcome a possibility. We then show them how to lead in such a way so everyone in the organization can overcome the challenges they face, embrace the unknown, and turn possibility into reality.
Shared commitment workshop
The Shared Commitment Workshop will draw on your existing purpose and take it to the next level.
Those in the room will be led through a process that builds on the current purpose statement to develop a commitment that inspires. The aim will be to make the commitment feel personal by drawing on what is deeply important to participants as individuals (their ‘stands’). This is vital because our stands help us overcome the challenges we face as we move toward the future and turn our shared commitment into reality.
The workshop will also look at what comes next – how the shared commitment can be brought to life across your organization. This will give others the opportunity to be inspired to make the shared commitment personal in a way that will give fresh context and meaning to the work they do.
Introduction to Jumpseat Leadership
This is a fast-paced highly interactive workshop, based on dramatic events from NASA’s Apollo Space Program.
Together, we will explore:
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how to think differently about NOT knowing the answer and embracing the Collective Genius of the team.
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how to practise the language needed to work through Adaptive Challenges and when facing times of uncertainty.
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how to understand the difference between Delegation and Abdication, and how that relates to handing over control.
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how to commit to valuing each person on our team, to foster leaders, and create opportunities where we increasingly Lead from the Jumpseat.
Stands workshop
Jumpseat Leadership draws its strength from the commitments we choose to make. By their nature, commitments represent something we value deeply, and become really powerful when driven by our stands.
Our ability to improve as leaders starts with a willingness to look in the mirror and take the time to reflect on what we believe. It’s an opportunity to tap into the root of who we are as individuals – those aspects that are ‘non-negotiable’, shape our character, and give consistency to how we interact with the world and those we choose to lead. When written down, these non-negotiables become our stands.
This workshop is an opportunity for people to explore what they feel is deeply important to them as individuals, and start to identify their stands by putting those feelings into words. The focus is on what drives us to make the choices we do, the role that Fear, Love and Courage have in those choices, the connection to self-worth and ‘character’, and the link to happiness and fulfilment.
leading when we don't know the answer
“Leave it with me.” That’s often a go-to response when we feel under pressure and one of our team comes to us with an issue for which we don’t know the answer. Or perhaps when we have a problem to solve and we think to ourselves, “I don’t know where to start.”
Finding ourselves in these situations can often generate fear since we naturally perceive our inability to know what to do as a weakness. On the contrary, learning how to embrace and lead in these situations can become our greatest strength. The reality is, since being at school we have been taught that it is good to know the answer and have been rewarded when we do. And yet, if we as leaders always have to be the one with the answer, our team can only progress as quickly as our own knowledge allows. We become the construction in the pipe.
This workshop introduces the power of leading when we don’t know the answer and shows how, by doing so, we can create the conditions for high performance.
