Leadership Development for Managers and Teams in Geelong

Relational Leadership

Leadership development that actually changes how people lead doesn't come from a workshop and a workbook. It comes from building genuine relational capability, the kind that shapes how a leader shows up in every conversation, every team moment, every difficult situation.

That's the work CollabbWAY does.

What relational leadership development actually looks like

Most leadership programs are full of theory that leaders don't have time to read, and frameworks that fall apart the moment a real conversation gets hard. People walk out of the room with a workbook, a few new words, and the same patterns they walked in with.

The development work at CollabbWAY is built around the Relational Leadership Method (RLM). It's a practical framework designed for the moments that actually test a leader.

The difficult conversation. The team member who isn't coping. The peer dynamic that's gone sideways. The restructure no one asked for. The cultural shift the executive team is counting on managers to carry.

This is the work that builds leadership capability that lasts beyond the program.

Who this is for

This work is for organisations and leaders who need development that goes beyond ticking a box.

• HR and People & Culture leaders sourcing leadership development that won't sit on a shelf

• Senior leaders investing in their manager cohort or emerging leader group

• Executive teams navigating reform, restructure, or cultural change

• Managers and teams who've done leadership theory before and need something that actually lands

• Organisations in community, education, health, family violence, and people-centred sectors who need development that respects the complexity of their work.

If you've invested in leadership programs before and watched the lessons fade within weeks, this is a different conversation.

How Leadership Development Works at collabbWAY

Every engagement starts with a scoping conversation, not a template. The shape of the work depends on what your team or organisation is actually navigating.

Typical engagement structures include:

• Custom-designed leadership programs for manager cohorts and emerging leaders

• Team development work delivered as half-day, full-day, or multi-session formats

• 1:1 coaching threaded through a broader program for senior leaders

• Reform, change, or cultural-shift partnerships across 6 to 12 months.

The work is built around your context, your sector, and the specific pressures your leaders face.

No off-the-shelf modules. No generic case studies that don't reflect the reality of the room.

Here’s the new way to lead in modern workplaces

The Relational Leadership Method by collabbWAY

Where relationships and connections become leadership in action.

How the RLM shows up in the work

RLM isn't a module delivered in week three. It's the spine running through every engagement, shaping how programs are designed, how sessions are facilitated, and how the work translates back into the day-to-day reality of leading.

In a manager cohort program, that looks like building capability through the actual conversations and team moments that leaders navigate in real time, not hypothetical case studies. In team development work, it shapes how the room reads its own dynamics and learns to name what's usually left unsaid. In reform and change partnerships, it's how senior leaders hold their people through uncertainty without losing themselves in the process.

The method is built for organisations that have already invested in leadership programs and want development that goes further. It's designed for leaders and teams in community, education, health, and people-centred organisations navigating growth, reform, or cultural change.

It's leadership development for the work as it actually is, not as a textbook describes it.

Read to evole your team and workplace?

If you're sourcing development for your team or your organisation, the place to start is a scoping conversation. No pitch, no template, just a conversation about what you're navigating and whether this work is the right fit.

Available in person and online.

The Six Lens Leadership Check

Ready for an honest
read on your leadership layer?

The check maps your leadership layer across six areas drawn from the Relational Leadership Method (RLM) developed by Brooke Baxter, Founder of collabbWAY.

Each one is a domain where relational leadership either holds or quietly breaks down in real organisations.

Based in Geelong. Built for regional leaders

About Brooke Baxter, collabbWAY

I'm Brooke Baxter, a leadership consultant and coach based in Geelong, working with managers and people leaders across the Surf Coast, Ballarat and regional Victoria.

Her background sits behind every engagement. A 20-year career in social work. A Master's in Human Services Management. Independent Chair of the Barwon Integrated Family Violence Committee. Deep experience across community services, family violence, mental health, and education sectors in the Barwon region.

Leadership development Geelong organisations can actually use, delivered by someone who understands the sectors and the pressures their leaders are working under.

Available in person and online.

Recent Workshops

Here are some recent examples of workshops we ran with other workplaces.