Most leadership programs
end on graduation day.
APEX was built on the assumption that graduation day is the day most programs fail. If you've invested in leadership development before, you know the pattern. The program runs. People say it was the best development they've done. Sixty days later the engagement scores haven't moved, the managers have reverted to pre-program behavior, and you're defending the spend to your CHRO. That's not a content problem. It's a design problem. Most programs are events. APEX is a system.
APEX is a system.
The gap between
promotion and preparation.
You promote your best individual contributors into leadership roles. Then retention drops, team performance stalls, and culture erodes. The problem isn't the people. It's the gap between potential and preparation. Your new managers are going home wondering if they were the wrong choice. They're not. They're unsupported.
The math is simple. If even one leadership transition fails this year, the cost exceeds the entire APEX investment for a full cohort.
If you've invested in leadership development before and been disappointed, you're not wrong to be skeptical. Most programs fail because they're events, not systems. APEX is a 12-week system with coaching built into every other week, so nothing stays theoretical.
The Cycle of Stuck: Where Leaders Get Trapped
Before APEX teaches a single framework, it starts with a diagnostic. The Cycle of Stuck reveals exactly where high performers get trapped when they step into leadership, and why the skills that made them successful as individual contributors are the same ones keeping them stuck as leaders.
The Cycle of Stuck is how every APEX cohort begins. The cycle breaks when the leader stops solving and starts developing. That's the shift from executor to developer, and it's the foundation APEX is built on.
Four parts.
Each one structural, not optional.
APEX isn't a seminar. It's a structured 12-week cohort experience built around four parts that work together. Manager alignment before week one. Coaching every other week. Sixty days of integration past graduation. Behavioral measurement at three points. Each part exists because most leadership programs fail without it.
- ■ Manager Alignment Kit. Expectations document, program overview, and a sacred-time agreement signed by each participant's manager so development is actively supported, not inadvertently undermined.
- ■ Welcome Packet. Program roadmap, session calendar, preparation guide.
- ■ Communication Styles Quick-Score. Brief self-assessment establishing baseline communication preferences.
- ■ Leadership Readiness Assessment, baseline. First of three administrations across the program.
- ■ Six 90-minute learning sessions on odd weeks, led by Kelvin.
- ■ Six 90-minute group coaching sessions on even weeks, led by Kelvin. Real situations participants are walking into next week, coached in front of the cohort.
- ■ Troika peer coaching embedded in sessions.
- ■ Accountability pods of 3 to 4 participants, with a between-session practice cadence.
- ■ Manager touchpoints at weeks 4 to 6, week 8, and week 12. The local environment can't eat the cohort experience.
- ■ Five proprietary frameworks taught and applied across the program, anchored by the Cycle of Stuck.
- ■ 30-day integration challenge. Continued accountability pod check-ins to prevent the early backslide that kills most leadership development investments.
- ■ Day 60 cohort reunion. A 90-minute structured group coaching session led by Kelvin. Participants name what's been sustained, what's stuck, and what they're facing right now.
- ■ Lifetime access to the APEX alumni network for ongoing connection.
- ■ Leadership Readiness Assessment at weeks 1, 6, and 12, with delta tracked across all three points.
- ■ Five tangible work products participants build during the program and deploy on their teams: Personal Leadership Operating Manual, Delegation Map, Difficult Conversation Framework, Team Operating Agreement, 90-Day Leadership Deployment Plan.
- ■ Organizational Closeout Memo delivered to the buyer at Day 60. A 2 to 3 page strategic readout summarizing observed behavioral movement, themes across the cohort, and 3 to 5 specific recommendations. Defensible evidence you can take to your CHRO without flinching.
Most leadership programs treat inner work as a session you graduate beyond. Emotional intelligence on Tuesday, delegation on Wednesday, coaching on Thursday. APEX is built on a different premise. Leadership change is mindset change first, action second.
Every framework in APEX, every practice, every coaching conversation assumes that the leader's internal posture is what determines whether the external behavior lands. That assumption runs through all twelve weeks. It's not a track. It's the layer everything else is built on. This is the work behind the SAMEOLDNEW methodology: Mindsets, Actions, People.
Built for Organizations. Designed for Leaders.
APEX is deployed as a dedicated cohort for your organization. Each cohort is built around your culture, your challenges, and your leaders, not a generic open-enrollment class. Cohort size ranges from 10 to 30 leaders depending on tier.
- Have promoted high performers who are now struggling as managers
- Need a leadership pipeline, not another one-day workshop
- Have spent L&D budget on programs that didn't produce measurable change
- Are losing good people to preventable leadership failures
- Want culturally responsive leadership development, not generic content
- Are planning promotions, restructuring, or scaling in the next 6 to 12 months
Not Inspiration. Installation.
The greater risk isn’t developing leaders who leave. It’s not developing leaders who stay.
APEX is built on the same frameworks and coaching methodology Kelvin has used with 1,000+ leaders across 50+ organizations over 15+ years.
This isn't theoretical. It's the same work, structured into 12 weeks.
Kelvin A. Jenkins
Kelvin is an ICF PCC-credentialed executive coach, keynote speaker, and leadership development strategist with 15+ years of experience developing leaders across tech, healthcare, higher education, and public sector organizations.
He's developed 1,000+ leaders at organizations including Kaiser Permanente, Harvard, CalSTRS, Affirm, Napa County, and SF State/Braven. His methodology, SAMEOLDNEW (Mindsets, Actions, People), is the intellectual foundation of every APEX cohort. The Cycle of Stuck is the diagnostic anchor.
APEX isn't something Kelvin outsources. He facilitates every learning session, leads every group coaching session, and builds every deployment plan personally. This is high-touch, not high-volume.
The Work Speaks for Itself.
Based on post-session surveys from 1,000+ participants across 50+ organizations.
From Promoted to Prepared.
A Northern California County Government • Management Academy • Multiple Cohorts
THE CHALLENGE
A Northern California county government needed to develop leadership capacity across multiple departments. Their management ranks included newly promoted and experienced managers, many elevated for technical skills but never given formal leadership training. The pattern was clear: high performers promoted into roles they weren't prepared for.
THE PROGRAM
Kelvin designed and delivered a multi-day Management Academy for cohorts of 20+ leaders, serving as the lead facilitator across the program. Sessions covered leadership identity, managing change, coaching for development, and building a legacy, built on the same proprietary frameworks that underpin APEX.
THE RESULTS
Based on post-session surveys across Kelvin-led sessions. Multiple cohorts delivered, with the county continuing to invest in the program.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAID
“It’s been so great and so helpful to me as I’m in my first manager’s role.”
Program Participant
“This one really tugged at my insides! When I started the class, it was the easiest part to answer on the 360… now it was the hardest… cause it made me introspect.”
Program Participant
“Kelvin was fantastic. He organized each day well and presented all topics effectively. Thank you for the knowledge and the opportunity.”
Program Participant
The Proof That Matters Most
The county didn’t evaluate the program through a single survey. They evaluated it by continuing to invest. Multiple cohorts. Same lead facilitator. Growing demand from department leaders to enroll their teams. When an organization keeps coming back, the work speaks for itself.
Built around your cohort,
not a rate card.
APEX investment is built around cohort size, delivery format, and organizational scope. Pricing is shared on the Diagnostic Call so the number matches the work. Virtual, hybrid, and in-person delivery options are available.
- Dedicated cohort for your organization (10 to 30 leaders depending on tier)
- 12 weeks of structured leadership development
- Bi-weekly group coaching sessions led by Kelvin
- Proprietary frameworks and toolkits for your organization
- Cohorts launch on your timeline
- Post-program deployment plan for each leader
- Organizational progress report and leadership recommendations
Cohorts run from 10 to 30 participants depending on tier. This isn't a course with 500 people on a Zoom. It's a high-touch experience where leaders are known by name, challenge, and goal. Each cohort is dedicated to your organization and launches on your timeline.
For organizations developing larger leadership benches, APEX Full and APEX Enterprise tiers extend cohort capacity. We'll talk through which tier fits on the Diagnostic Call.
If you're planning any promotions, restructuring, or scaling in the next 6 months, the leaders you're counting on need to be ready before the change hits, not after.
Not ready for a full cohort?
Start here.
A 12-week cohort isn't always the right starting point. For teams with a specific gap, we run a set of single-engagement workshops, each one a piece of APEX lifted out as its own intervention. Half-day or full-day. Virtual or in person. Deployable work product included.
For managers who avoid hard conversations or come out of them worse than they went in. Framework, rehearsal, and a one-pager they can deploy with their team.
For managers who solve instead of develop. The shift from being the answer to being the question. Built directly from the Cycle of Stuck.
For managers leading mixed teams across age, experience, and life stage. Goes beyond generational labels into a deeper view of where people are in their careers and lives.
The diagnostic that opens every APEX cohort, delivered as a standalone half-day or full-day session. For teams that want to name the pattern before committing to the full system. Often the entry point that precedes an APEX engagement.
These are the workshops most often requested as entry points. Additional workshops are available — ask on the Diagnostic Call. Workshops are a fit when the gap is contained. APEX is the move when the pattern is layer-wide.
Want the Full Picture?
Start Here.
Download the APEX Program Overview, a complete breakdown of the curriculum, frameworks, outcomes, and enrollment details. Share it with your team or use it to decide if this is the right fit.
- Full 12-week curriculum breakdown
- The Cycle of Stuck diagnostic and the SAMEOLDNEW methodology
- Outcomes data and participant testimonials
- Enrollment details and next cohort dates
The Diagnostic Call is 45 minutes.
An honest conversation.
APEX runs in dedicated cohorts of 10 to 30 leaders depending on tier, on your timeline. You leave the Diagnostic Call with a sharper view of your bench whether or not we ever work together.
Book the Diagnostic Call →SAMEOLDNEW
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The SAMEOLDNEW Method
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