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ATA:
Your Path to Executive-Level Influence
Practitioner Frustrations
Most experienced change professionals enjoy success at lower organizational levels, but for many, securing deep influence with top executives feels out of reach. You offer astute observations and well-thought-out recommendations, yet they go unheard or are not valued to the extent you think they should be.
- Instead of being considered a trusted advisor who offers insight and wisdom, too often I’m viewed as an extra pair of hands and expected to simply do as I’m told.
- I’m held accountable for making sure projects reach their intended outcomes despite executives who can’t or won’t follow my guidance about what is necessary to ensure success.
- I am supposed to help guide important changes, but I’m expected to do so without making anyone uncomfortable, discussing issues people want to avoid, or suggesting that leadership could be part of the problem.
The reality is that technical expertise in a certain field isn’t enough to have a meaningful impact on senior leaders. To truly make a difference, you must master the art of strategic influence, moving beyond being a tactical resource to becoming a High Impact Trusted Advisor (HITA).
Executive leaders responsible for significant change need access to advisors who can leverage extensive experience, wisdom, and insight as they provide guidance for navigating the pitfalls of realizing major initiatives. HITAs provide this kind of support.
Why Such a Focus on the Top Tier?
The Advanced Trusted Advisor (ATA) program is calibrated toward serving the upper echelon for two reasons: First, advising senior executives gives you the greatest opportunity to make broad, deep, and lasting impact. Why? Because this is the altitude from which you can have the largest effect on the largest number of people.
Second, the demands and risks involved in advising top executives are more challenging than at any other level and require unique preparation. The added benefit is that mastering advisory rapport at the executive level doesn’t just position you for success in the C-suite; it sharpens your ability to serve as a trusted advisor at any level of leadership, from supervisor to CEO.
The Program
ATA is not just another skills training program promoting yet more tools and techniques—it’s a journey into mastery. By the end of the program, you will be prepared to:
- Deliver a level of value you might have thought was out of reach
- Strengthen your ability to develop extraordinary influence
- Assess and refine the capabilities required to impact senior leaders at the highest levels
- Understand how your mindset needs to shift to best serve your client
- Refine your advisory approach to maximize your strengths and minimize any potential liabilities
- Be confident in your ability to add value at the executive level
Instead of focusing on the specific advice a practitioner offers, the course emphasizes the dynamics of their interaction with senior leaders that determine how that advice is received and acted upon.
ATA does not focus on the technical guidance a practitioner provides but instead on the nature of the leader/practitioner rapport within which guidance is conveyed.
Through experiential learning and structured reflection, you will learn how to:
- Build and deepen the kind of relationships that allow you to operate as a HITA
- Navigate the unique risks and responsibilities that come with advising top executives
- Cultivate the courage to offer candid insights and recommendations that leaders may initially resist
- Leverage your strengths and mitigate blind spots to enhance how you engage with senior leadership
- Move from being viewed as a service provider to being recognized as a strategic partner who shapes high-stakes decisions
- Elevate from technical proficiency to strategic mastery
- Develop trust-based relationships that go beyond transactions, ensuring executives see you as an indispensable advisor
- Position yourself as a strategic partner brought into complex, high-risk initiatives rather than being confined to tactical execution
ATA is intended for change professionals who have conquered the technical aspects of their field and are ready to focus on developing deep, trust-based alliances with senior leaders facing challenging situations.
Focal points in the program include:
- Defining Attributes – What makes HITA work different from providing typical executive support
- Success Factors – The key conditions required for exceptionally influential relationships with senior leaders to flourish
- Underlying Processes – The hidden dynamics that either strengthen or undermine executive relationships
- Mindsets for Success – How your assumptions about interacting with senior leaders shape your ability to serve as a HITA
- Aligning with the Right Executives – How to recognize and engage leaders who will most appreciate your insights and distinctive advisory approach
- Engagement Guidelines – How to set clear expectations with leaders that foster extraordinary influence
- Navigating Pitfalls – The common challenges that strain or even sever trusted advisory relationships
- Leveraging Uniqueness – How your distinct character and presence add value to the leaders you serve
- Self-Management for HITAs – How to cultivate the emotional resilience and practices needed for high-stakes advisory work
Who is ATA For?
ATA is designed for seasoned change practitioners, including:
- Change Management Experts seeking to move beyond frameworks and concepts and become strategic influencers
- HR, OD, and Leadership Development Professionals aiming to more effectively shape executive decisions
- Project Managers & Transformation Leads ready to expand their sphere of influence
- Executive Coaches & Management Consultants who want to elevate their credibility and advisory impact
Are you an experienced change practitioner who…
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- Struggles to be seen as a strategic partner? They way you are perceived keeps limiting you to projects on the periphery rather than allowing you to engage in high-stakes strategic endeavors.
- Faces resistance when trying to influence senior leaders? Despite your expertise, your guidance often gets overlooked, diluted, or second-guessed, leaving you underutilized and exasperated.
- Seeks greater impact with upper-echelon executives? You are already advising senior leaders, and they value your input, but there are times your insights and recommendations don’t land as you intend, and you want to deepen your influence capability even more.
If any of these challenges resonate with you, the Advanced Trusted Advisor (ATA) program can help you break through these barriers and elevate your profile with top executives.
What to Expect
This is a rigorous, graduate-level program that calls on participants to deeply investigate complex issues and dynamics. Over several months, participants engage in 18 virtual sessions that involve:
- Preparation: Before meetings, there are significant readings addressing an array of challenging concepts, assignment questions, self-assessments, and introspective reflection.
- Cohort Sessions: Each meeting includes full-cohort discussions, small-group collaboration, and 1:1 breakouts where participants employ the HITA mindset to address real-world challenges. Role-plays, experiential exercises, and problem-solving scenarios are used to ensure practical, real-time application of key concepts.
- Re-entry Activities: Following each meeting, there are opportunities to apply the insights and lessons learned to current work circumstances or to planning how to address likely future situations.
Why Choose the ATA Program?
Most professional development programs for executive advisors are centered on the tactics of the work—but they don’t prepare you for the relational depth and strategic influence required to truly shape upper-echelon decisions.
ATA is different.
It is for experienced change professionals who are already well-versed in their methodologies. Having solid technical foundation allows a shift in focus to concentrate on how you show up in high-stakes conversations, how you build trust with senior leaders, and how you navigate the pitfalls that hamper bonding with leaders at the upper levels.
ATA is unique in its:
- Core Emphasis — The program is structured around nurturing rapport instead of exposure to more tools and techniques.
- Design for Seasoned Practitioners — The program is tailored for those who are already proficient with the technical aspects of their work and are ready to expand their influence by fostering deep trust with senior leaders.
- Focus on Executive-Level Influence — Navigating the challenges of gaining credibility and influence with senior leaders is a crucial component of the program.
- Perspective on Methodologies — ATA isn’t about the tools you use; it’s about the relationships that determine their impact. Influence comes from trusted rapport, not processes or techniques. That’s why ATA is methodology-agnostic, focusing on who you are as an advisor, not the mechanics you apply.
- Opportunity to Pursue Mastery — Change professionals have limited development opportunities after earning their methodology certifications. Mastery isn’t about acquiring more credentials; it’s about refining how you engage with senior leaders in a way that maximizes the expertise and resources you already possess.
- Experiential Learning Model — A mix of insightful readings, introspection, cohort discussions, demanding role-plays, and real-world application enables deep, durable learning.
- Supportive but Challenging Environment — The program’s title is a clue: Advanced Trusted Advisor, with an emphasis on “advanced.” In a safe but “stretching” setting, participants are encouraged to examine how they currently operate, as well as to uncover greater capabilities.
- Community of Experienced Peers — ATA cohorts bring together seasoned change professionals from diverse specialties and global backgrounds, all committed to expanding their executive influence. The program’s intensive learning, shared insights, and deep discussions promote lasting professional relationships that extend well beyond the program.
- Facilitation by Daryl Conner — As a seasoned practitioner and thought-leader, Daryl brings more than five decades of experience serving as a strategic advisor to senior executives of major organizations worldwide. (See top right sidebar for details. Click + to expand.)
Meet Your Facilitator:
Daryl Conner
For over fifty years, Daryl has educated and advised strategic leaders and veteran change practitioners in many of the world’s most successful organizations, helping them to understand and navigate the challenges and opportunities they face during transformational change.
- Cofounder of :
- Conner Partners, a consulting firm that equips senior executives in the for-profit sector with change execution architecture as they implement transformational endeavors critical to their organization’s future.
- Conner Advisory, a consulting firm providing change execution guidance to senior leaders in the civil society sector, particularly international NGOs and
nonprofit organizations. - Conner Academy, a professional development center providing advanced learning opportunities for seasoned change professionals.
- Author of Managing at the Speed of Change (1992), a foundational book in the change management canon.
- Known for coining and deeply exploring concepts like “burning platform,” “realization” vs. “installation,” “individual resilience,” “profound commitment,” and “paradigm leaps.”
- His work bridges psychology, leadership, strategic advisory, and systems thinking in practitioner-orientated ways.
How You’ll Benefit from His Guidance
- His focus on stretching to new horizons — He elevates the role of change professionals from tactical resources to strategic advisors.
- His viewpoints and written materials are evidence-informed and experience-driven — The perspectives he shares are drawn from decades in the trenches rather than purely theory.
- His blend of truth-telling and empathy — He is direct and makes no attempt to sugarcoat the challenges of advising the upper echelon, but he offers his views with
a compassion that can only come from someone who has experienced the pitfalls firsthand. - His attention to augmenting “doing” with “being” — He encourages adding value to “what we do” by bringing forward the uniqueness of “who we are.”
- His active engagement — He provides hands-on guidance through expert facilitation and personalized coaching, a cornerstone of the ATA experience. He also shares real-world examples from his extensive experience advising senior executives, making the learning deeply practical and applicable.
- His work appeals to experienced change professionals looking to go deeper — Think of exposure to his lessons learned and insights as a “postgrad” layer to add atop your basic foundational certifications.
Testimonials
Here is a sample of responses from past participants when we asked them to offer a comment that might help someone decide if ATA was a good fit for them:
Frequently Asked Questions
About the ATA Program
Q: What sets ATA apart from other professional development programs for change practitioners?
A: Unlike traditional training that focuses on methodologies, tools, or best practices, ATA is centered on how to cultivate deep, trust-based relationships with senior leaders. It’s designed for practitioners who are already skilled in the technical side of their work and now want to increase their executive influence by refining the way they engage with top-tier leadership.
Q: Does ATA follow a specific change methodology?
A: No, ATA is not tied to any one approach. The program is focused on developing your ability to build trust, credibility, and influence regardless of the specific tools or techniques you use.
Q: What is a High Impact Trusted Advisor (HITA), and how does ATA help me become one?
A: A HITA is a change practitioner who has built exceptional influence with senior leaders navigating significant endeavors that are critical to their organization. ATA helps you refine the skills, mindset, and behaviors needed to establish yourself as this kind of a trusted partner, enabling you to move beyond being viewed as a tactical resource and into strategic advisory work.
Who Should Enroll?
Q: I’m early in my career. Is ATA the right program for me?
A: AATA is not a beginner-level program. It is specifically designed for experienced change practitioners who have already established technical expertise and are looking to advance their strategic influence at the executive level. If you are still building foundational knowledge in your field, this program would not be the right fit at this stage in your career. Please contact us if, after you complete your basic training and gain more field experience, you reach a point where serving as a HITA to senior leaders becomes a priority.
Q: What types of professionals typically participate in ATA?
A: ATA attracts seasoned change practitioners from various disciplines, including:
- Change management
- Human resources and organizational development
- Strategic planning and business transformation
- Project and program management
- Executive coaching and management consulting
If your work involves supporting senior leaders through complex transitions and you want to elevate your role from tactical expert to strategic advisor, ATA is designed for you.
Q: How do I know if I’m ready for ATA?
A: You may be a strong candidate for ATA if:
- You’re looking to shift from tactical to strategic influence but struggle to gain traction at the executive level.
- You are frustrated by leaders not acting on your guidance, particularly when you know it’s in their best interest.
- You already advise senior executives and want to deepen your impact and increase your credibility.
- You are willing to examine your habits and limitations, challenge your existing boundaries, and refine how you engage with top leaders.
Program Structure & Experience
Q: How is the ATA program structured?
A: ATA is a multi-month, small-cohort, interactive program that includes:
- Pre-work: Readings, self-assessments, and reflection exercises to prepare for discussions
- Live Cohort Sessions: Engaging conversations, small-group work, and real-world application exercises
- Post-session Application: Encouragement to experiment with applying what is being learned to relevant situations in your current role
Q: Is ATA an online or in-person program?
A: The program is delivered virtually through real-time, interactive sessions. This allows participants to engage with like-minded practitioners from diverse specialties and locations who are also pursuing the HITA role.
Q: How much time should I expect to invest in ATA?
A: Participants should plan to fully engage in all eighteen sessions (three hours each), plus a two-hour orientation, and to dedicate additional time for pre-reading and reflection. Most participants spend several hours per week preparing for each class and then applying what they learned after the sessions.
Q: What happens if I miss a session?
A: Attendance is strongly encouraged because the program is built on interactive discussions and group exercises. That said, all sessions are recorded and archived so participants can access them at any time.
Enrollment
Q: Is there an application process for ATA?
A: Yes. Go here to register for the program.
Q: How much does ATA cost?
A: ATA tuition is $3,500 (USD).
Q: How can I get additional questions addressed?
A: For a more detailed description of the ATA program, click the button below. If you still have questions, please reach out to Daryl@conneracademy.com.
Is it Time to Raise Your Game
The ability to operate as a High Impact Trusted Advisor isn’t something you achieve overnight—it’s an advancement that requires heightened self-awareness, bold action, and the right guidance. It calls for more than methodological proficiency—it’s about who you are and how you engage with senior leaders. Being a HITA requires stepping into your most genuine professional self, offering undiluted truth, and forging partnerships that drive real transformation.
If you feel called to practice your craft at the highest levels of leadership, ATA provides an opportunity to expand your potential, sharpen your strategic presence, and elevate your impact.
Are you ready to move beyond functioning as a tactical resource and step into being valued as a strategic partner to top executives? Are you prepared to explore the internal shifts needed to create heightened external impact? If so, ATA provides the guidance, frameworks, and community of learning peers to support that journey.
Consider joining the next ATA cohort. To register, click the button below.