LATERAL LEADERSHIP · TRAINING FOR TEAMS
Build a self-organizing team that's more motivated and gets better results
Self-organization still needs leadership: self-leadership and lateral leadership. That means leading without formal authority over anyone.
Leadership based on the JEDERSHIP® principle.
- In-house
- 5 to 17 participants
- On-site or remote
- English or German
Leading laterally means leading as peers, with leadership shared across the team
This in-house lateral leadership training matters because ...
... leadership is everyone's job.
- everyone needs the same vision and has to work toward the same goal
- everyone should take responsibility and commit
- it makes constructive collaboration possible
- people are more satisfied and motivated when they feel heard and valued
- that's how you get better results for your customers
What is lateral leadership?
Lateral leadership means “leading from the side”: leading without formal authority or a manager’s title. Anyone in the company can take it on, whatever their place in the hierarchy or the org chart.
Learn from Germany's lateral leadership expert
Alex Keller
Author of JEDERSHIP
“I encourage participants in my trainings to speak openly, and I see it as my job to create the space for that. There’s room to debate, learn, network and laugh.”
The training is run by Alexander Keller, who has become one of Germany’s leading trainers and experts on lateral leadership. He created the JEDERSHIP® principle and wrote the book “Jedership: Warum Führung alle etwas angeht” (Why leadership is everyone’s job, in German), a standard work on modern leadership without formal power.
His trainings pair what’s in the book with years of hands-on work in agile transformations. You’ll find more about his approach, the book and the thinking behind it at jedership.com.
The JEDERSHIP® program for better lateral leadership and teamwork.
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The in-house JEDERSHIP® training is built so that employees develop their self-leadership and their lateral leadership skills.
That prepares them to work well in an agile environment and to take charge of their own development. When people act early, handle conflict constructively and talk to each other clearly, they create a workplace where everyone can adapt to change.
In that kind of atmosphere, people can reach their full potential, on their own and as a team.
JEDERSHIP® is a holistic approach to leadership built on personal responsibility and on looking after working relationships. It combines self-leadership with leading others.
WHAT'S INSIDE
What does the in-house lateral leadership training cover?
The training is designed so that every participant takes something useful back to their daily work, whatever their current role.
Understanding lateral leadership
Participants learn the basics of lateral leadership and how to lead effectively without formal power.
Practical tools
You get proven tools and strategies to put things into practice quickly and lead well, even without an official mandate.
Case studies, exercises and role plays
Hands-on exercises and case studies help participants turn theory into practice and work through their own challenges of leading without authority.
METHOD
What the lateral leadership seminar covers
Participants learn to give themselves permission to make decisions and take responsibility, without waiting for constant instructions.
Participants practice needs-based communication and learn how active listening and empathy build trust.
Leading without formal authority creates a positive, collaborative team dynamic where everyone brings their strengths.
The seminar gives participants tools for leading others. Even more, it gives them tools for leading and reflecting on themselves.
What participants say about our in-house lateral leadership trainings
“The training was very interactive, with exercises along the way. At the start Alex promised we’d see familiar methods with fresh eyes. That’s exactly what happened. Well worth it!” (translated from German)
“Interactive training: you gather experience right away and then talk it through. Participants’ current challenges are built into the training.” (translated from German)
SELBST bewusst | wirksam | sicher FÃœHREN
Alexander Keller's book on self-leadership and lateral leadership
The first JEDERSHIP book (in German) covers topics that keep getting more urgent: self-leadership, self-organization, shared or agile leadership and lateral leadership. Its JEDERSHIP principle gets you to better lateral leadership in three steps: INSIDE, OUT, IN.
Lateral leadership means winning followers instead of applying pressure
Lateral leadership is leading without official power
When everyone in the company learns lateral leadership, you get a culture built on collaboration, new ideas and people who act before they’re asked. That pays off in lasting success, a competitive edge and an organization that moves better. And, of course, in people who are happier at work and beyond it.
The lateral leadership seminar builds awareness of your lateral leadership role
Leadership is a matter of attitude. And all of us carry some responsibility for leading ourselves and the people around us, even without an explicit leadership role.
That’s why the lateral leadership training is open to anyone who wants to learn more about leadership, communication and building working relationships.
It’s a particularly good fit for managers with or without direct reports, new managers and typical lateral leadership roles, for example:
- Product Owners
- Project managers
- Scrum Masters
- Agile coaches
- Team members
Two options
Learning lateral leadership
Every team works differently. That’s why the lateral leadership training comes in two flexible formats that fit around your daily work:
Compact 2-day workshop (on-site)
An intensive in-person training at your company.
The workshop covers the core skills of the JEDERSHIP® principle in a compact format: the basics of self-leadership, effective communication techniques, team dynamics, conflict resolution and purposeful delegation. It includes hands-on discussion of real leadership and conflict situations that participants bring from their own work.
5-week program (remote)
An interactive, live online group coaching format.
The program is built to make the change stick in everyday work. It combines five interactive live calls on Zoom (90 and 180-minute sessions with input, exercises and Q&A) with ongoing support between sessions. A detailed digital workbook, an interactive group board and close support in the group chat help participants put it into practice straight away.
When and where does lateral leadership matter?
Organizational structures keep getting more complex. They have to, to keep up with a complex market.
It also means the old leadership structures and levers of power no longer fit.
You see this especially in matrix organizations, project teams and agile cross-functional (Scrum) teams. Agile leadership very often means lateral leadership, too.
Lateral leadership isn't new, and your organization probably has it already.
Network structures have no artificial, formal distribution of power. Members of a project or product team have no authority over their teammates. Nobody can force anything through with the usual rewards and penalties.
So the different roles have to find other ways to win people over to their cause and keep them on board. That’s lateral leadership.
Leading laterally with the JEDERSHIP principle
Leadership works in three directions
Questions about the lateral leadership training
JEDERSHIP breaks with the classic idea of leadership. Its core message: good leadership isn’t about your title or your place in the hierarchy. It’s about your attitude. That makes leadership everyone’s business.
Applied to lateral leadership (“leading from the side”), it means you take responsibility, coordinate projects or move people without having formal authority. You’re not the official boss, but you lead through trust, persuasion and cooperation.
The JEDERSHIP principle doesn’t build lateral leadership on power structures. It builds it on three psychological directions, each one resting on the one before:
1. INSIDE: Leading yourself
The foundation for leading from the side is you. If you can’t manage yourself, you can’t guide your colleagues.
Self-reflection: You know your strengths, values, needs and emotional triggers.
Authenticity: When you know who you are and what you stand for, people can rely on you and approach you. That’s the basic requirement for building the most important currency in lateral leadership: trust.
2. OUT: Leading others (lateral leadership in practice)
You can’t give orders or threaten consequences, so you have to move people another way.
Pull instead of push: You lead by inspiring people and setting a clear vision. You create a pull that people want to follow on their own (followership).
Needs-based communication: You listen actively and try to understand what different stakeholders want, so you can find real win-win solutions.
Psychological safety: You set clear guardrails and build a culture where mistakes are okay and conflicts get raised openly and resolved directly.
3. IN: Being led
In the JEDERSHIP principle, leadership isn’t a one-way street. This direction is about how you deal with influences from outside.
Asking for the right conditions: You take an active role and get exactly the guardrails, resources and freedom you and your team need from your managers or the system.
Staying in control of your reactions: You learn to stay calm when things get difficult or you meet resistance, keep control and actively protect the relationships in your team.
In agile workplaces, matrix organizations and cross-functional project teams, the old command-and-control structures fail. As hierarchies get flatter, a leadership vacuum often opens up.
Lateral leadership based on JEDERSHIP fills that gap by sharing responsibility across the whole team. Projects don’t stall just because the boss has no time to decide. The people involved organize themselves and lead together as equals.
You can book the JEDERSHIP lateral leadership training for your team in two formats:
- As an online program (remote): guided group coaching that runs for 5 to 8 weeks, depending on the version.
- As a live workshop (on-site): a compact in-person training that takes 2 days.
Yes. Besides the team workshops, the program is also available as individual 1:1 coaching.
This format is aimed at current and future leaders who want to work on their attitude and be more deliberate about the impact they have.
What the 1:1 coaching focuses on:
- Strengthening your self-leadership, gaining confidence and showing up more deliberately.
- Concrete tools for resolving conflict calmly and holding steady in difficult situations.
- Strategies for sharing responsibility across the team instead of carrying everything alone.
- An authentic, reflective leadership style as the basis for trust and real self-organization in the team.
GET STARTED
Ask us about lateral leadership training
Fill in the form and tell us about your team. We’ll send you details on formats, content, pricing and booking options, with no obligation.