Virtual / In-person Delivery

The self-aware team.

A boot camp for intact teams that want to communicate, collaborate and deliver results more consistently.

Proven

The TAIS assessment and debrief has formed the bedrock of our work with Olympic teams that have gone on to win Gold

Personalized

Each team member gets personal insights through the TAIS self-assessment and 1:1 time with a highly skilled coach.

Learning that sticks

Each team member translates self-awareness into an action plan based on feedback from their peers.

There is an “I” in team

For a team to perform well, each person needs to understand what they bring to the team and what they need from the team to be at their best. This program leans into this duality, giving each team member a unique opportunity to learn what the team needs from them, and giving the team as a whole data on its own strengths and weaknesses.

 

Using practical tools like the Player’s Card shown above, participants give and get feedback from eachother and turn data into specific strategies to drive team performance.

Your team will have the opportunity to:

  • Build a foundation of trust and respect, clarifying misunderstandings about other team members
  • Assess similarities and differences to other teams
  • Determine the unique challenges the team is going to face based on the similarities and differences among team members
  • Define the conditions that create pressure and drain energy for them
  • Leverage team strengths to perform at higher levels
  • Develop strategies to create an environment where productive conflict can drive innovation and growth

Meet the facilitators

  • Peggy Baumgartner

    Peggy Baumgartner is a respected educator, thought leader and coach who has facilitated the development of top performers in business and sport for over 25 years. Learn more

  • Garry Watanabe

    Garry Watanabe is an expert on coaching and performance psychology with a wealth of experience working under the peak of pressure in both business and sport. Learn more

  • Jenny Howe

    Jenny Howe is a highly skilled Executive Coach and facilitator in the areas of leadership, change management and resilience. Learn more

  • Gisele Bourgeois

    Gisele Bourgeois is an accomplished coach and trainer in the fields of adult development, behavioural change, personal and professional accomplishment and career transition. Learn more

  • Hayley Wickenheiser

    4x Olympic Gold-Medallist

  • Third Factor is the best at what they do. The Self-Aware Leader program has had such a positive impact on our business, we've begun using the TAIS as part of our onboarding process for leaders and made it a key part of the way we do team building. We wouldn’t have the strength of leadership we do without Dane, Peggy, Cyndie and the entire team.

    Ben Cowan-Dewar

    Co-Founder & CEO Cabot

Our perspectives

Get the brochure.

Learn more about how The Self-Aware Leader can improve collaboration on your teams.

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VIRTUAL / IN-PERSON DELIVERY

3x4 Coaching: Mastering Challenging Conversations.

Learn and master the skills and tools great coaches use to communicate effectively through pressure and conflict.

World-class faculty

Our faculty have applied these skills under pressure at crucial moments in their careers - including preparation for Olympic competition.

Trusted by the best

Our partnership with the Smith School of Business at Queen's University has delivered our coaching programs to executives for over 20 years.

Sticks under pressure

Participants not only learn a structural approach for a productive conversation - they learn crucial emotion regulation skills for when the heat inevitably rises and tempers flare.

A practical model for confronting

Challenging conversations are unavoidable in life and in business. 3×4 Coaching: Mastering Challenging Conversations is a comprehensive communications course that equips leaders to be effective in any conversation they need to have, challenging or otherwise.


This program provides a comprehensive, step by step, process for preparation and delivery of a difficult conversation and teaches the communication skills required to keep the conversation on track and maximise the opportunities inherent in a potentially conflictual intervention.


A key skill in any difficult conversation, no matter how mild or severe, is the ability to manage reactivity in oneself and in the other. A combination of all of the above skills is what allows a leader to be an effective communicator, and coach, in situations that range from mildly uncomfortable to very difficult. In other words, this program will equip leaders to communicate effectively in any situation where they may be feeling some pressure themselves.

On completion of this program, participants will be able to:

  • Reflect deeply on their own responses to uncomfortable conversations, using tools like the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument to understand their personal conflict-handling styles.
  • Recognize behaviors that negatively impact conversations, and replace them with approaches that encourage positive outcomes.
  • Master communication skills vital for effective dialogue, including active listening, effective questioning, blending and non-verbal acuity.
  • Monitor and control their own emotional reactions in real-time, preventing personal biases from derailing discussions.
  • Adapt to resistance and emotional reactions from others by employing strategies that defuse tension and promote understanding.
  • Leverage peer coaching to analyze and plan for a real challenging conversation they need to have.

Meet the facilitators

  • Garry Watanabe

    Garry Watanabe is an expert on coaching and performance psychology with a wealth of experience working under the peak of pressure in both business and sport. Learn more

  • Karyn Garossino

    Karyn is an Olympic figure skater with a Master's Degree in psychology and adult education - and boundless enthusiasm. Learn more

  • Jacques Charuest

    Jacques Charuest has thirty years of Human Resources experience, working with, and for, organizations of all shapes and sizes. Learn more

  • Dane Jensen

    Dane is the CEO of Third Factor, an acclaimed speaker, instructor at the University of North Carolina, and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review. Learn more

Learn more.

Get the fact sheet on Managing Challenging Challenging Conversations.

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Our perspectives

1/2-Day Program

Maintaining team motivation.

Inevitably, leaders and teams will be confronted with periods of change and disruption. Learn practical techniques to keep people energized, resilient and motivated, inspired by Olympic coaches and athletes, in this 1/2-day workshop.

World-class faculty

Our faculty have applied these skills under pressure at crucial moments in their careers - including preparation for Olympic competition.

Trusted by the best

Our partnerships with premier business schools including the Smith School of Business at Queen's University and UNC Kenan-Flagler have been delivering leadership programs to executives for more than 20 years.

Designed for virtual

With interactive exercises, self-assessments, breakout sessions, action planning and instructor-led training, this program brings classroom-quality learning to to participants - wherever they may be.

Negative Emotion

Relation­ships

Progress

Meaning

Four allies to fight disillusionment

When teams face challenging times, leaders have four allies to preserve motivation and fight the tide of disillusionment: channeling the energy under negative emotion, growing relationships, connecting people with progress and building a sense of shared purpose.


Drawing on examples from elite coaches and performers in the world of sport, business and beyond, Maintaining Team Motivation gives participants a clear sense of what they can do to keep people energized, resilient and motivated through challenging periods – and a practical plan for putting those strategies into play.

Participants will learn to:

  • Articulate how the emotional state of their team evolves through disruption and adversity.
  • Identify and tap into the four main drivers of motivation under pressure: negative emotion, relationships, progress and shared meaning.
  • Help their people process negative emotion and channel it into productive effort.
  • Foster relationships that build a sense of community and esprit de corps.
  • Establish shared purpose to inspire teams through challenging periods.

Turn Your Team’s Frustration into Motivation

Curious about transforming the energy in negative emotion into motivation? Third Factor CEO, Dane Jensen, gives his advice in this article for HBR.

  • Maintaining Team Motivation is a core part of our Advancing Leadership Program at Queen’s, and always a program highlight. Our participants are Senior leaders guiding teams through significant disruption and challenge – and they have a high bar for content that is both practical and research-backed. I consistently hear that they find the tools immediately useful for their teams, and also leave the session feeling more motivated to tackle the challenges they face themselves. I highly recommend this program.

    Shannon Hill

    Organizational Development & Learning Queen’s University

Meet the facilitator

  • Dane Jensen

    Dane is the CEO of Third Factor, an acclaimed speaker, instructor at the University of North Carolina, and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review. Learn more

Get the brochure.

Learn more about bringing Maintaining Team Motivation Through The Troughs to your organization.

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Our perspectives

In-person / Virtual Delivery

3Ă—4 Coaching.

Learn and master the 3 plays and 4 skills that exceptional coaches use to deliver results and build commitment.

Trusted by

The gold standard for coaching education

3x4 Coaching has been recognized by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for meeting the highest standards in coaching professional development. The Continuing Coach Education (CCE) accreditation is awarded through a rigorous review process and demonstrates that 3x4 Coaching has met the ICF’s strict educational and ethical requirements.

Upon completion of the 3x4 Coaching Virtual Learning Journey, participants will be able to:

  • Define coaching and use the 3x4 Coaching model to drive high performance in others
  • Recognize the role of emotion and imagination in coaching
  • Execute an action plan to build and deepen relationships
  • Create self-awareness and responsibility in others through effective questioning and active listening
  • Deliver competent, relevant, meaningful feedback
  • Recognize people in a manner that is targeted, relevant and reinforces the behaviours that drive performance
  • Overview a method for confronting people who need to change behaviour and/or improve performance
  • Build the competence and confidence of their people
  • Use a coaching map to GROW others and build their commitment to a solution
  • Create an action plan to transfer skills to the workplace, building in support and accountability

Upon completion of the 3x4 Coaching 2-Day Classroom Workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Define coaching and use the 3x4 Coaching model to drive high performance in others
  • Recognize the role of emotion and imagination in coaching
  • Execute an action plan to build and deepen relationships
  • Create self-awareness and responsibility in others through effective questioning and active listening
  • Deliver competent, relevant, meaningful feedback
  • Recognize people in a manner that is targeted, relevant and reinforces the behaviours that drive performance
  • Overview a method for confronting people who need to change behaviour and/or improve performance
  • Build the competence and confidence of their people
  • Use a coaching map to GROW others and build their commitment to a solution
  • Create an action plan to transfer skills to the workplace, building in support and accountability

Upon completion of the 3x4 Coaching 1-Day Classroom Workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Define coaching and use the 3x4 Coaching model to drive high performance in others
  • Recognize the role of emotion and imagination in coaching
  • Execute an action plan to build and deepen relationships
  • Create self-awareness and responsibility in others through effective questioning and active listening
  • Deliver competent, relevant, meaningful feedback
  • Use a coaching map to GROW others and build their commitment to a solution
  • Create an action plan to transfer skills to the workplace, building in support and accountability
  • I can’t recommend 3x4 Coaching highly enough! The sessions have been described as 'the best we’ve ever been to,' 'very impressive,' and 'time well spent.' Our leaders are already asking for more—a true testament to the program’s impact and Third Factor’s expertise in designing and delivering exceptional learning experiences.

    Kent James

    Senior Manager, Learning and Talent Development CSX

  • 3x4 Coaching is instrumental in evolving our leaders’ (Mangers – Partners) roles from managing to developing people. We strive to embody a coaching culture that emphasizes personal growth and candid feedback, and that's exactly what this program delivers. Despite the time commitment required from our leaders, they unanimously say it’s well worth their while. Third Factor's approach seamlessly integrates with our unique and dynamic work environment, enhancing leadership effectiveness and fostering a more human connection.

    Megan Long

    Learning & Development Lead Monitor Deloitte

  • 3x4 Coaching is one of the best leadership development experiences I have seen. It is at the heart of large programs that we deliver in some of the world’s leading energy, banking, and manufacturing companies and we consistently get exceptional feedback. The model is practical, grounded in both research and practice – and when it’s brought to life by Third Factor’s world-class facilitators, the results are transformational.

    David Hofmann

    Senior Associate Dean UNC Executive Development

Meet our world-class faculty

  • Garry Watanabe

    Garry Watanabe is an expert on coaching and performance psychology with a wealth of experience working under the peak of pressure in both business and sport. Learn more

  • Peggy Baumgartner

    Peggy Baumgartner is a respected educator, thought leader and coach who has facilitated the development of top performers in business and sport for over 25 years. Learn more

  • Kim Fulton

    Kim is a leadership expert and strategic advisor to organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies to non-profits. Learn more

  • Karyn Garossino

    Karyn is an Olympic figure skater with a Master's Degree in psychology and adult education - and boundless enthusiasm. Learn more

  • Chris Farris Zabaneh

    Chris Farris Zabaneh is a consultant and coach with an eclectic background and deep expertise in leadership and communication. Learn more

  • Jacques Charuest

    Jacques Charuest has thirty years of Human Resources experience, working with, and for, organizations of all shapes and sizes. Learn more

Whitepaper: The 3 Plays and 4 Skills of Exceptional Coaches

Third Factor CEO Dane Jensen and Director of Training Peggy Baumgartner take you inside the 3x4 Coaching model for a deeper look at how great coaches operate and how we can all learn and master their playbook.

Download

Upcoming open enrollment programs

Queen’s Leadership Program

Experience an intensive 5-days of self-discovery, one-on-one coaching, classroom discussions and team exercises that will change the way you think about leadership and the way you are perceived as a leader.

Jun 9 - Jun 13, 2025 — Register

Nov 10 - Nov 14, 2025 — Register

Coaching for high performance – Queen’s Executive Education

Develop your coaching skills in our flagship online 3x4 Coaching learning journey delivered in partnership with Queen's Executive Education.

Apr 2 - Apr 3, 2025 — Register

Our perspectives

Ready to learn more?

Download the brochure with more info about how to develop world-class coaches in your organization.

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Virtual / In-person Delivery

Working with people you don't understand.

A provocative half-day exploration of the power of generosity and curiosity to drive better outcomes from cultural, generational, functional and cognitive diversity.

Making it real

Participants will diagnose a difficult interaction from their real life and take away new behaviours and mindsets they can adopt for more productive outcomes.

Learning that sticks

Participants create a personal action plan and work with a partner to increase accountability for a behavior change they’ve articulated.

Multi-faceted insights

This program combines personal reflection, self-assessment, group polling and exercises, scenario diagnosis and role play to maximize insight and skill-building in 4 hours.

Better collaboration through new mindsets

Professionals who learn to work effectively with team members who operate differently from them will both gain and contribute the most in team environments. By learning to embrace mindsets—like curiosity and generosity—that research shows high performing teams consistently practice, team members can foster productive working relationships with individuals who are different than them.

Participants have the opportunity to learn:

  • Why diversity is a critical input to high performing teams and develop empathy for where differences in perspective and behaviour come from.
  • How our own mindsets and behaviours contribute to the negative outcomes we get when working with people we don’t understand.
  • To use curiosity and generosity as mindset shifts that translate into productive behaviours for engaging with people we don’t gel with in order to improve our results and our experiences.

Meet the facilitators

  • Dane Jensen

    Dane is the CEO of Third Factor, an acclaimed speaker, instructor at the University of North Carolina, and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review. Learn more

  • Garry Watanabe

    Garry Watanabe is an expert on coaching and performance psychology with a wealth of experience working under the peak of pressure in both business and sport. Learn more

  • Peggy Baumgartner

    Peggy Baumgartner is a respected educator, thought leader and coach who has facilitated the development of top performers in business and sport for over 25 years. Learn more

Get the brochure.

Learn more about how Working With People You Don’t Understand can move your teams to high performance.

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Our perspectives

Virtual / In-person Delivery

The self-aware leader.

Combine the self-assessment we've used with the 4-time Olympic gold-medal-winning Canadian Women's Hockey Team with 1-on-1 coaching, optional classroom sessions, and sustainment to develop your leaders to a whole new level.

Proven

The TAIS assessment and debrief has formed the bedrock of our work with Olympic teams and is an experience Hayley Wickenheiser affectionately described as 'the most stressful part of the four-year Olympic cycle'

Personalized

Participants get thorough, personalized insights through the TAIS self-assessment, 1:1 time with a highly skilled coach and optional classroom learning.

Learning that sticks

Participants translate self-awareness to an action plan and get ongoing support and accountability through our proprietary Peer Coaching and Trainer as Partner programs.

Know yourself to collaborate better with others

Excellent performers in sport and in business are seldom well-rounded individuals. They excel by understanding their strengths and learning to maximize them within their teams. They also understand which of their weaknesses have the potential to derail them and create conflict with others, and then develop systems or strategies to better manage those challenges.

 

In addition to newfound insights, The Self-Aware Leader program provides practical tools like the Player’s Card shown above that allow people to share their newfound insights with others and raise the water line for collaboration.

Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:

  • Demonstrate the link between self-awareness and performance
  • Identify what they tend to pay attention to, and miss, when under pressure
  • Clarify the type of work and environment in which they will do their best work
  • Define the conditions that create pressure and drain energy for them
  • Perform more effectively in situations outside of their comfort zone
  • Develop strategies for decreasing errors they tend to make while under pressure

Meet the facilitators

  • Peggy Baumgartner

    Peggy Baumgartner is a respected educator, thought leader and coach who has facilitated the development of top performers in business and sport for over 25 years. Learn more

  • Garry Watanabe

    Garry Watanabe is an expert on coaching and performance psychology with a wealth of experience working under the peak of pressure in both business and sport. Learn more

  • Hayley Wickenheiser

    4x Olympic Gold-Medallist

  • Third Factor is the best at what they do. The Self-Aware Leader program has had such a positive impact on our business, we've begun using the TAIS as part of our onboarding process for leaders and made it a key part of the way we do team building. We wouldn’t have the strength of leadership we do without Dane, Peggy, Cyndie and the entire team.

    Ben Cowan-Dewar

    Co-Founder & CEO Cabot

Our perspectives

Get the brochure.

Learn more about how The Self-Aware Leader can improve collaboration on your teams.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Virtual / In-person Delivery

Building resilience.

A personal resilience program that helps participants master the mental fitness toolkit used by elite performers in sport and business to excel under pressure and recover from setbacks.

Flexible

Building resilience can be delivered in formats ranging from a series of virtual instructor-led modules, to a half-day in-person session to a 4 month blended learning journey.

Learning that sticks

Rooted in the science of behaviour change, Building Resilience fosters self-awareness and strong habits through assessments, deliberate practice and spaced repetition.

World-class faculty

Learn about performance under pressure from experts at the front of the room and guests like Hayley Wickenheiser and Johann Koss brought in by video.

Perform, recover, grow

As organizations seek to move quicker, adapt faster and initiate disruption rather than respond to it pressure and set-backs are inevitable.

 

Building Resilience is aimed at giving participants a toolkit of inner skills to navigate their high pressure realities. They learn skills for maintaining an optimistic and healthy perspective through difficult times, methods for managing and sustaining energy for optimal performance, how to access and use mental imagery to enhance resilience and a strategy to remain engaged during challenges. These inner skills transform the stress and pressure inherent in moving forward into a growth experience.

Participants have the opportunity to:

  • Discover the sources of pressure in their lives and the strengths they have to draw on through the Resiliency Map self-assessment.
  • Become more mindful and aware of the choices they have under pressure.
  • Learn to carry more energy through the week by reducing wasted energy and improving their ability to recover
  • Appropriately focus their priorities to establish a sense of control and reduce ‘noise’.

Meet the facilitators

  • Karyn Garossino

    Karyn is an Olympic figure skater with a Master's Degree in psychology and adult education - and boundless enthusiasm. Learn more

  • Garry Watanabe

    Garry Watanabe is an expert on coaching and performance psychology with a wealth of experience working under the peak of pressure in both business and sport. Learn more

  • Kara Stelfox

    Kara is a biofeedback practitioner who is an expert on the mental and physical aspects of human performance. Learn more

  • Jacques Charuest

    Jacques Charuest has thirty years of Human Resources experience, working with, and for, organizations of all shapes and sizes. Learn more

  • Dane Jensen

    Dane is the CEO of Third Factor, an acclaimed speaker, instructor at the University of North Carolina, and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review. Learn more

  • Many of the Human Capital leadership team at Deloitte has gone through Building Resilience, and we believe so strongly in it that we have teamed-up with Third Factor to embed it as part of our State of Performance offer to clients. We have had exceptional feedback – both internally and from clients – about the practical, research-based toolkit at the heart of the program and the engaging way it is brought to life.

    Jodi Baker Calamai

    National Managing Partner, Human Capital, Consulting Deloitte

  • Building Resilience was a huge success at our leadership summit. The combination of a practical resilience toolkit, a robust self-assessment, and a great mix of teaching and discussion created an atmosphere for everyone to reflect on their resilience challenges and opportunities, leaving with the skills needed to manage the pressure they face. It is a fantastic program.

    Travis K. Brewer, PhD

    Head of Talent Development Carlisle Companies

Our perspectives

Get the brochure.

Learn more about how our resilience offerings can help your team.

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