Manager Core Program
Build confident managers who drive performance and engagement
Manager Core builds the skills managers need to coach, give feedback, and handle difficult conversations, so they can step out of execution mode and lead with consistency.
Challenges Manager Core addresses
Managers are often expected to lead people without a shared foundation for how to do it well.
Promoted without a playbook
New managers are often promoted without clear guidance on how to lead, which leads to uneven performance across teams. Manager Core builds a shared foundation in coaching, feedback, and delegation so managers know what good looks like in practice.
Avoiding hard conversations
Direct feedback and tough conversations often get delayed, allowing issues to build over time. This program helps managers address challenges early with clear, actionable conversations, improving performance and reducing surprises later.
Putting off 1-1 meetings
Inconsistent 1:1s limit alignment and development. Manager Core builds structured, effective conversations that drive clarity and follow-through.
Handing people problems to HR
When managers don’t feel equipped, people challenges escalate to HR. Manager Core strengthens core habits so managers can coach, give feedback, and resolve issues in real time, creating more capable teams and reducing reliance on HR.
Feeling overwhelmed and burned out
Heavy execution demands reduce leadership capacity. This program strengthens delegation and coaching to rebalance workload and build team ownership.
Struggling with team engagement
The core skills every manager needs to succeed
Manager Core focuses on the skills managers use every day to lead their people and deliver results. Each workshop builds on the next, helping turn new behaviors into consistent habits.
Live
Coaching
In this workshop, participants practice the fundamental tool of great leaders: how to engage, empower, and improve performance by skillfully coaching others. The result: team members become more self-sufficient, resolve problems faster, and make more valuable contributions to the team.
During this workshop, managers will practice:
- Active listening
- Question agility
- Coaching through work-related challenges
After this workshop, managers will know how to:
- Motivate and empower their reports
- Help their reports become proactive and independent
- Listen and communicate more effectively
Live
Feedback
High-quality feedback is at the heart of an organization’s ability to grow, adapt, and improve. However, many managers avoid giving feedback because it makes them uncomfortable, or they give feedback that leaves their direct reports feeling frustrated and confused. The good news is: research reveals that there are simple steps managers can take to immediately and dramatically improve the quality of their feedback. In this workshop, participants will learn the science behind effective feedback, and practice giving feedback that is specific, actionable, and inspiring, even in tough situations and even when working remotely.
Live
Delegation
Learn the behaviors and methods that help you delegate with clarity, confidence, and follow-through, while also getting what you need when others delegate to you. This session gives you simple, practical techniques to reduce overload, develop others, and build a culture of shared ownership so you and your team can focus on the work that matters most. You’ll explore the mindsets and habits that support effective delegation, learn when and what to delegate, and practice tools that build capability without losing control. Whether you’re giving or receiving delegation, you’ll leave with actionable methods to increase autonomy, reduce bottlenecks, and enable your team to do their best work.
Live
Effective 1-1s
When managers don’t understand how to facilitate a one-on-one with their reports, their sessions turn into status updates or they simply get cancelled (or infinitely rescheduled). As a result, employees feel they aren’t learning and growing or that their manager simply doesn’t care about them. Top managers use their one-on-one time very differently. They treat it as sacred management time to build trust, remove obstacles, and develop their direct reports. This workshop shares easy methods and techniques to do it.
Live
Skills Lab
Skills Lab is a capstone experience that reinforces learning. Held at the end of every program, this live, facilitator-led session gives learners dedicated time to practice and apply skills in real-world scenarios.
Sample Manager Core Learning Journey
Tailored to your organization
Adapted to team culture and experience, and internal frameworks and priorities, for relevant, easy-to-apply learning.
Flexible session lengths
Offered as 60-, 90-, or 120-minute workshops that fit into real schedules and match learner audience needs.
Multiple delivery formats
Available virtually, in-person, or hybrid, so your team learns in the environment they already work in.
Spaced learning structure
Includes 4 workshops and 1 Skills Lab, spaced 2 weeks apart to support application and build lasting habits.
Expert Facilitators
Built for behavior change, led by experts who make it happen
Are your managers leading through an AI transformation?
As AI takes on more execution, managers play a bigger role in guiding thinking, judgment, and development. Manager Core helps leaders coach AI-assisted work, give clear feedback on process and output, and delegate in ways that build capability, not just speed. The result is stronger judgment, clearer accountability, and better performance.
Customer Success Stories
500,000+
people trained at the most innovative companies worldwide
95%
of participants said that the workshop they took was useful
99%
of participants said the training was still having a positive impact on their performance after 6 months
“I loved doing the Manager Core programming with just our employees. It helped with attendance rates and gave the team relatable examples to work through.”
Prathima Kathiresan
MD of People Operations, City Teaching Alliance
“Through their interactive and relevant workshops (led by knowledgeable and credible instructors), LifeLabs helped transform our young management team to true company leaders who are now dynamic enough to thrive within a competitive atmosphere.”
Sarah Lavorgna
VP of People/SixPoint
“By investing in manager development, you can increase your colleagues’ capacity and work capacity just by increasing the skills of the manager. If you can help that point of leverage in every point of the organization, you have a pretty powerful effect.”
Jordan Cohen
CPO, Lumanity
“LifeLabs Learning has been instrumental in helping us scale our L&D program. Previously, we only offered a single training course for new managers, but with their support, we’ve expanded to offer multiple, targeted training sessions for managers at all levels. This growth has enabled us to more effectively develop and support our leaders, ensuring that they have the skills needed to excel in their roles and drive success across the organization.”
Angelina Bourne
Employee Engagement Manager, Ruggable
“LifeLabs hands-on and research-based curriculum has been foundational for upgrading our capabilities as leaders and managers, helping us increase output and create better environments for our fellow co-workers. There is a clear inflection point in my team’s results and my career since taking training courses with LifeLabs.”
William Ting
Engineering Manager/Reddit
We're changing the way future leaders work today
FAQs
What is the Manager Core program?
Manager Core is a behavior-focused training program that helps managers lead people more effectively and consistently. It builds the core skills that drive team performance — coaching, feedback, delegation, and running effective 1:1s — and focuses on turning those skills into everyday habits managers actually use. The goal is to help managers create clarity, build accountability, and develop their people to improve team performance.
Who is the Manager Core program for?
Manager Core is designed for managers at every level, from first-time people leaders to experienced managers and directors. Each session can be adapted to meet participants where they are, so everyone is working on the skills that matter most in their role. We recommend senior leaders go through the program as their own cohort and have a tailored experience for executives. When leaders go through the program alongside their managers, it creates a shared language around feedback, coaching, and prioritization, and makes it easier to reinforce those behaviors day-to-day, across the organization, resulting in change you can see and hear.
Why are these workshops delivered in this order?
The sequence is designed to build skills that reinforce each other and turn into consistent habits over time. Coaching comes first to establish a development mindset, helping managers shift from solving problems themselves to building ownership in others. Feedback builds on that foundation by adding structure and clarity, so behavior change happens earlier and more consistently. Effective 1:1s then create a regular rhythm to apply both skills in real conversations, strengthening alignment, engagement, and follow-through. Delegation extends these behaviors further, helping managers build trust, grow individual capability, and increase team capacity. Skills Labs provide dedicated practice and reinforcement, giving managers a space to apply what they’ve learned to real challenges and make the skills stick.
How can we customize the Manager Core program?
Manager Core is designed to flex around your team’s needs. We adapt each session based on experience level, whether you’re supporting new managers or more senior leaders. To make the learning feel even more relevant, we can incorporate your internal frameworks, examples, and language. Our goal is to make the experience feel like it was built for your team, so the skills are easier to apply right away.
What organizational challenges does Manager Core address?
Manager Core helps organizations build managers who can lead people, not just manage work. It’s designed to address common challenges like high-performing ICs stepping into management without the right skills, managers avoiding or inconsistently handling tough conversations, and leaders getting stuck in execution instead of focusing on their team.
It also helps reduce the strain on HR by equipping managers to handle day-to-day people challenges more confidently and consistently, before they escalate.
What business outcomes can we expect?
Organizations see stronger, more consistent managers who are better equipped to lead their teams day-to-day. That shows up in higher-quality, more frequent performance conversations, clearer accountability, and improved overall team performance. As managers build these habits, teams gain capacity and productivity increases, without adding more work. You’ll also see higher engagement and retention, along with fewer escalations and less reliance on HR for day-to-day people challenges.
What level of support do we receive during the program?
You’ll have support across the full experience, from shaping the program to reinforcing the learning after it ends. We partner with you upfront to align on goals and design the right approach, handle scheduling and communications behind the scenes, and stay closely involved during delivery to keep everything running smoothly. After the workshops, we continue to provide reinforcement so that new skills become consistent, everyday habits.
What is a Skills Lab?
Skills Lab is a high-impact reinforcement experience held at the end of the program. It’s designed to help participants build confidence and apply new skills to real work through group coaching, reflection, practice activities, and facilitated discussion. Instead of introducing new concepts, Skills Lab focuses on applying what’s been learned in real-world scenarios, so behaviors become consistent and easier to use day-to-day. Manager Core includes one Skills Lab.