When change professionals, regardless of their area of expertise, exercise exceptional influence with upper-echelon leaders, they are referred to as High Impact Trusted Advisors (HITAs).

Senior executives leading high-stakes transformations need more than just tactical support—they need advisors who bring deep experience, strategic insight, critical thinking, and the ability to navigate complexity. HITAs serve in this role, offering guidance that helps to anticipate roadblocks, mitigate risks, avoid costly missteps, and drive critical initiatives to success.

HITAs are not peripheral resources—they are essential partners, relied upon when the stakes are high and the margin for error is small. Their perspectives are not just valued; they are actively sought. Savvy leaders recognize that their counsel is a form of transformation “insurance” that provides a competitive edge when pursuing major change.

The Advanced Trusted Advisor (ATA) program is designed for change professionals seeking elite status within the organizations they serve. The program guides participants through the mindset, behaviors, and relational depth required to serve as a HITA at the highest levels of leadership.

During the ATA program, participants will identify, refine, and strengthen their ability to:

• Successfully navigate the dynamics and pitfalls of establishing rapport with senior leaders
• Engage in sophisticated interpersonal communications and relationship-building
• Understand the underlying forces that facilitate forming deep, trusting relationships with senior executives
• Function as a strategic partner rather than as a tactical, technically oriented vendor
• Establish trust with executives who may be wary of internal or external change practitioners
• Deliver information, perspectives, and recommendations that leaders are able to appreciate and act on even when these insights prove uncomfortable to hear
• Leverage themselves (not just their tools and techniques) as part of the value they provide the leaders they support

It’s Not for Everyone

This is not a course of study for those new to facilitating change who are still learning the basic foundational underpinnings of their discipline. ATA is a graduate-level professional development program intended for two types of practitioners: those who are already serving top executives and want to strengthen their ability to establish and maintain leader relationships, and those who aspire to one day work as a HITA with C-suite executives and other senior leaders.