3 months | 5 participants | 6 sessions | In person & online

Knowing what would help is not always enough to act accordingly

In our work with people, we often know how we would like to respond. The challenge is staying true to that intention when the conversation matters, the relationship feels sensitive or the pressure rises.

You may want to express a different perspective openly, yet soften it when speaking with someone whose reaction matters to you. You may want another person to take greater ownership, but find yourself offering the solution again or doing the work for them. Or you may understand the value of asking good questions, yet under pressure revert to explaining, persuading or controlling.

In such situations, we rarely need another tool. We need to understand what keeps pulling us back into familiar ways of working, even when we know they are not producing the outcome we want.

The Leadership Development Circle is a three-month group coaching programme in which experienced professionals explore one important developmental challenge, identify patterns that limit their impact and experiment with different ways of acting in practice.

Leadership here is not limited to a formal position. It is also reflected in how we guide, connect, support and influence others.

What you will work on

Each participant chooses one important change they want to make in the way they work with others.

This may involve expressing a different perspective with greater confidence, setting clearer boundaries, taking less responsibility on behalf of others, remaining curious under pressure, influencing without formal authority or supporting others’ development without providing ready-made solutions.

What you can expect

During the programme, you will work on:

• clearly defining one important change and identifying the behaviours that make it difficult;
• understanding what your current way of responding is trying to protect and the assumptions that sustain it;
• designing and carrying out small, low-risk experiments in real professional situations.

The goal is not to become a completely different person in three months. It is to see more clearly what drives your behaviour and begin testing what else may be possible.

How the programme works

The programme follows a clear developmental journey, while the topics come from participants’ real professional situations. Group sessions provide a space to explore developmental challenges together. Between sessions, participants observe their responses and test new insights through small experiments in practice.

Our existing ways of responding usually have their own logic. Rather than treating them as weaknesses, we explore what they are trying to protect and whether they are still useful in every situation.

Why a small group

The group is limited to five participants, allowing enough space for individual work and learning from different professional perspectives.

Participants do not need to do the same kind of work. Differences in experience help them notice assumptions that are easily taken for granted within their own roles and see their challenges from another perspective.

The work is grounded in attentive listening, thoughtful questions and a clear commitment to confidentiality.

Who is the programme for?

The group may include:

• people managers who want to develop others without taking over their problems or providing ready-made solutions;
• HR and People & Culture professionals who support the development of people, teams and organisations;
• senior professionals such as Project Managers, Product Managers, Product Owners, Software Architects and Tech Leads, whose work involves guiding, mentoring and connecting people without necessarily having formal authority;
• internal coaches, mentors and facilitators who want to explore their own patterns and the way they influence others.

The programme is best suited to people who already have professional experience, are prepared to explore their own contribution to a situation and want to test new insights in practice.

It is not designed for those seeking introductory education, training in HR or leadership tools, instruction in coaching techniques, ready-made models for managing everyday situations or primarily a business networking opportunity.

About the Coach

Tatjana Vracaric is a senior leader with more than 25 years of experience in international corporate environments. Throughout her career, she has led large organisations and teams, developed leaders and been responsible for complex business transformations requiring strategic thinking, operational discipline and difficult decision-making under uncertainty.

Her experience includes direct people leadership, responsibility for business results, organisational change and collaboration with senior stakeholders. She therefore understands the reality of roles that carry responsibility for both people and results and require influence across different functions and organisational levels.

As an executive and leadership coach, Tatjana combines an understanding of business context with a developmental approach that goes beyond the question of what needs to be done. Together with her clients, she explores how they perceive situations, the assumptions they bring and the patterns that shape their decisions and relationships.

Her approach is constructivist and grounded in curiosity, clear questions and exploring different perspectives. She does not offer ready-made answers. Instead, she creates a space in which leaders can see their challenges more clearly, recognise possibilities they may not have considered before and make more conscious choices about how they want to act.

Tatjana is an ICF-accredited Associate Certified Coach (ACC).

Program structure and format

• Individual preparation: one 50-minute online conversation with Tatjana before the first group session, intended as an introduction and to begin defining the participant’s developmental focus;
• Programme duration: three months;
• Number of sessions: six group coaching sessions, held every two weeks;
• Session length: the first and final sessions last 120 minutes, while the remaining four last 90 minutes each;
• Number of participants: up to five;
• Format: the first session is held in person in Belgrade. The group jointly agrees on the format of subsequent sessions, with each session held either entirely in person or entirely online. A separate online-only group is also available.