Leadership Accelerator: Practical Tools for Leading Teams

Cody Wright

Apple University | 20+ yrs Leadership

Clare Gobel

Rethink Skills Founder | Startup HR Exec

Covered by the Maven Guarantee

Practical tools for leading teams, applied in real time

You were promoted because you're good at the work. Now you’re expected to lead others, clarify expectations, build trust, manage performance, and deliver results, often without clear guidance or time to figure it out.

Most leadership programs explain what good leadership looks like. They don’t show you how to lead in the conditions you’re actually working in.

Leadership Accelerator , a collaboration between Plumeria and Rethink Skills, helps you move from doing the work yourself to leading the work through others. Each week you get a practical tool from Cody and live coaching from Clare, then put both to work with your actual team.

How it works:

☑️ Practical tools. Learn practical tools from Cody you can use right away.

☑️ Live coaching. Bring a real challenge and work it through live with Clare and the group.

☑️ Real work, not simulations. Apply every tool to your team, not a hypothetical case.

☑️ Built for change, not theory. Each week layers a new tool onto the last, so by the end they're working together as part of how you lead.

By the end of Leadership Accelerator, you’ll have a repeatable set of leadership tools and the confidence that comes from using them in practice.

What you’ll learn

Step into your role with intention and use practical, people-first tools to create clarity, accountability, and empowered teams.

Redefine your role as a leader

Shift from doing the work yourself to leading through clarity, focus, and shared ownership

See how leaders create impact by enabling others, not by over-functioning

Gain confidence in where to spend your time and energy as a people leader

Create clarity across roles, priorities, and working models

Define roles, expectations, and priorities so your team knows what success looks like

Communicate clearly while maintaining trust and autonomy

Reduce confusion, rework, and frustration through better definition of the work

Build accountability through care and trust

Support accountability without fear, pressure, or constant oversight

Practice people-first approaches that balance empathy with performance

Create conditions where your team takes ownership and follows through

Apply leadership tools immediately

Put each tool to work with your team on a real challenge every week

Sharpen your approach through coaching, peer discussion, and real-world practice

Leave each session with clear actions you can take right away

Protect your time and energy for what matters most

Focus your attention on the highest-impact work instead of everything at once

Build sustainable rhythms so you lead well without running yourself down

Make deliberate calls about where to spend your time, and where to pull back

Develop your team through better conversations

Give feedback and run check-ins that help move people forward

Understand what actually motivates each person on your team

Turn everyday conversations into ownership and momentum

Learn directly from Cody & Clare

Cody Wright

Former Apple | L&D and CX leader | 20+ years experience

For over a decade at Apple, Cody was brought into organizations across the company to rethink leadership, customer experience, and learning design.

With a background in music composition, he brings a unique blend of creativity and analytical thinking, allowing him to identify root causes and design solutions that drive meaningful change.

Cody is the founder of Plumeria, where he partners with leaders and teams to bring clarity to roles, expectations, and day-to-day management—helping managers shift from doing the work themselves to leading teams that are aligned, accountable, and effective.

He is also the co-founder of Rethink Skills, which focuses on replacing outdated performance management practices, like annual reviews, with more continuous, human, and effective approaches to growth.

Career highlights

10+ years leading learning, leadership, and culture initiatives at Apple

Founder of Plumeria, advising leaders on clarity, performance, and people-first management

Co-founder of Rethink Skills, reimagining modern performance management

Trusted advisor to teams at adidas, ServiceNow, and Universal Studios

Led enterprise learning and leadership programs across multiple industries

Known for practical, people-first leadership approaches that scale

Clare Gobel

Founder of Rethink Skills, 20+ years leading HR for Tech Startups

Clare is driven by a single mission: to help people thrive at work through meaningful, targeted skill development.

With more than 20 years experience leading Performance at fast-growing, VC-funded startups, and thousands of hours of manager coaching experience, Clare brings unique insight and practical solutions that help people and teams achieve their best work.

As the founder of Rethink Skills, Clare is focused on developing programs and tools that help people increase their performance in ways that matter to both the individual and the organization.

Career highlights

Over 20 years as a strategic HR leader and trusted advisor for tech startups.

Founder of Rethink Skills, changing the way people think about performance.

Known for practical, objective, and results-driven approach to performance, centered on human connection.