An Axe & Arrow Proposal Prepared For:
|
Vertical Divider
|
Josh Zimmerman, Global Talent Development Leader
|
ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS ANALYSIS
Kong stands at a pivotal pre-IPO moment, a journey demanding not just product innovation, but world-class leadership to propel its brand and secure its future. To achieve Aghi's vision of an IPO and establish Kong as an undisputed leader in the tech landscape, we must cultivate a caliber of leadership that not only drives exceptional performance but also elevates our brand, attracting and retaining the industry's most sought-after talent. This foundational investment in leadership development isn't merely about personal growth; it's a strategic imperative that ensures our internal capabilities match our external ambitions, fostering a culture of distinction and operational excellence that will define Kong's next era of success and provide clear, measurable returns on investment.
- Elevating Kong's Brand & Attracting Top Talent: A unified, "world-class" leadership program establishes Kong as an employer of choice, critical for attracting and retaining the elite talent necessary for IPO success and sustained growth, leveraging our unique "Leadership Certification" to signal our commitment to excellence and brand cache.
- Optimizing Performance & Driving Results: By embedding Kong's "Inspire, Coach, Inspect" and "Results Matter" principles through practical conversational skills (e.g., effective 1:1s, goal setting, feedback), leaders will significantly enhance team productivity, accountability, and the efficient execution needed to achieve aggressive pre-IPO milestones.
- Mitigating Risk & Enhancing Legal Compliance: Equipping managers with sophisticated feedback and crucial conversation skills (as part of "Disagree and Support") directly reduces instances of poorly handled performance issues and associated legal exposure, ensuring a compliant and fair workplace critical for public company scrutiny.
- Boosting Employee Engagement & Retention: Improving manager effectiveness and support—as measured by a 10-point increase in manager satisfaction scores—directly impacts employee retention, transforming leaders into "Talent Magnets" who cultivate loyalty and reduce costly first-year turnover, thus safeguarding our human capital investment.
- Fostering Strategic Agility & Decision Quality: Empowering senior leaders to "Zoom Out" for vision setting, "Speed Up the Clock" through prioritization, and "Make the Right Calls" with precision ensures Kong can navigate the complex, rapidly evolving landscape inherent to a pre-IPO tech company, translating into agile and impactful business decisions.
Program
|
This leadership development initiative aims to achieve the following:
|
PROPOSED SOLUTION
Our proposed solution offers two distinct, yet integrated, leadership programs designed to align seamlessly with Kong's "Leadership Certification Future State FY26" framework. Each program is meticulously crafted to address the unique developmental needs of different leadership levels, while reinforcing a cohesive, Kong-specific leadership culture. Axe & Arrow will act as a dedicated partner, driving the design, development, and facilitation, ensuring deep integration with Kong's unique lexicon, principles, and strategic vision. Both programs will leverage pre-work, interactive "live sessions" (including "real play" scenarios and peer practice), and Kong-branded materials to ensure maximum impact and practical application, contributing to Kong's overall "Leadership Certification" journey.
|
PROG 1: EMERGING LEADERS PROGRAM
The Kong Leadership Conversations Series Specifically designed for Kong's new and emerging leaders (Senior Manager+), equipping them with the foundational skills to effectively manage their teams while simultaneously leading for impact. This program integrates Kong's core principles into practical, actionable conversational frameworks, enabling leaders to "Build the Foundation" and "Strengthen the Core" of their leadership capabilities. Participants will master essential dialogues around feedback, goal setting, and the art of enabling their teams, crucial for navigating the daily complexities of leading at Kong and developing their direct reports. |
PROG 2: SENIOR LEADERS PROGRAM
Kong Catalyst Kong Catalyst is the next step for leaders who've outgrown a one-on-one lens. Where Leadership Conversations builds the foundation of managing people, Catalyst asks a harder question: how do you lead when your decisions ripple across teams you don't own, priorities you don't fully control, and tensions that don't have a clean answer? Participants arrive having already proven they can lead people. Catalyst pushes them to zoom out — to see the organization as a system rather than a collection of workstreams, and to practice the judgment that comes with operating at that altitude. The program is built around Kong's own leadership principles: Zoom Out for strategic vision, Speed Up the Clock through sharper prioritization, Make the Right Calls under ambiguity, and Disagree and Support when the right answer isn't the popular one. A signature experience, not a licensed one. Rather than build the program around an off-the-shelf simulation, Catalyst uses a set of original decision-making exercises designed and owned by Axe & Arrow — no per-seat licensing, fully customizable to Kong's own strategic questions. Instead of one long simulation, participants move through several shorter activities, each surfacing a different leadership tension: what it costs to solve the easy problem instead of the important one, why information has to be shared out loud instead of assumed, and how teams that don't stop to ask "what actually matters here" leave real value on the table. These are the exact muscles a leader needs the first time they're asked to manage across a boundary instead of within one. Cadence. Catalyst is designed to run roughly twice a year, in person, so it becomes a fixture on the calendar rather than a one-off training moment — something leaders anticipate and hold each other to, the way a certification would work. Format options:
Catalyst is one part of Kong's broader leadership pathway — Leadership Conversations builds the foundation at the manager level; Catalyst carries that forward as leaders take on teams, not just people; and a future enterprise-level offering would extend it further still for VPs and above. |
|
Ingrid and her team have been amazing to work with. They are experts and great partners in developing leadership training for our team. I lost count as to how many participants have said the training they received was the best they have ever taken. My organization identified a need to build strong leaders. We worked with Ingrid to co-create a program to address areas such as influencing, compelling conversations, and executive presence. Despite participants having to get out of their comfort zone, they were completely engaged, embraced the learnings, and had fun throughout the experience. I have nothing but high regards for Ingrid and her team!
- Willie Lee, VP of Marketing Operations, GOOGLE
|
INVESTMENT
The following investment represents a commitment to installing a world-class Management Operating System at Kong, designed to drive measurable performance, retention, and strategic agility across our two most critical leadership tiers:
|
The Leadership Conversations Series: A foundational investment in our newly promoted leaders to install a consistent management cadence that ensures team-wide ownership and speed.
|
Kong Catalyst: A two-day in-person event with follow-up peer coaching. An elite, strategic intervention for senior leadership to master high-stakes decision quality and unified execution.
|
2026-2027 INVESTMENT |
INDIVIDUAL PRICING |
PACKAGE |
KONG LEADERSHIP CONVERSATIONS 3 cohorts | 12 participants per cohort | VIRTUAL
|
$23,700 |
(Three Pack) $101,100 |
KONG CATALYST 2 Days | up to 18 participants per cohort | IN-PERSON
|
$44,450 |
(Two Pack) $88,900 |
TOTAL |
$68,150 |
$190,000 |
TOTAL COST PER PARTICIPANT |
$2,271 |
$2,638 |
HOW WE MEASURE IMPACT
Built-in measurement from Day One
Every behavioral claim is backed by data. Pre- and post-program surveys mirror one another so progress is visible—to the participant and to their leader.
|
Participant Self-Assessment
A behavioral survey anchored to Kong's 9 Leadership Principles. Completed before Module 1 and again after Module 6 to show individual growth per principle. |
OLT Observer Survey
A mirrored survey completed by each participant's direct leader, enabling a pre/post gap analysis between self-perception and observed behavior. |
Keep/Change Pulse
A brief qualitative check-in after every module ensures the program evolves in real time—and surfaces wins worth amplifying across the cohort. |
|
“I was challenged to bring a performance management program to over 300, globally dispersed managers. Our managers were effective at leading for technical results but needed to accelerate their transformation as people leaders.
Axe & Arrow hit the right note across a diverse level of needs. They used surveys, interviews and a pilot to create a highly engaging, rapid, applied learning program to meet our leaders where they most needed help. This enabled them to apply their new skills immediately back on the job. Over the course of one year, Axe & Arrow elevated the quality of four key performance conversations with 300 of our managers across the globe. Now our leaders are having more frequent and meaningful performance and career conversations and are receiving higher engagement ratings from our employees. Axe & Arrow Coaching has produced lasting results for my organization. They continually provide fresh ideas in the most current leadership practices. They also vastly increased the confidence of our managers and helped us scale our programs quickly. If you are looking for a world-class learning partner that takes time to understand your needs then you have found them." Julie Hasset, VP, Chief of Staff, SaaS Engineering, Oracle |
|
About Your CoachINGRID WIESE
Ingrid brings over twenty years of experience to this engagement, having helped thousands of leaders worldwide transform their communication style to drive greater influence and organizational impact. Her expertise is built on a unique foundation of high-stakes negotiation; beginning her career with the US State Department in Eastern Europe, she coached political leaders through complex conflict resolution and peace negotiations. This background provides her with a rare and practical depth of perspective on how to navigate the "friction" essential to leadership, which she further honed by executing strategies that raised over $100 million for major NGOs. Ingrid backs this real-world experience with rigorous academic training, holding Advanced Certificates in Influence and Leadership from both Harvard Law School and M.I.T., as well as a Master’s in International Relations from Syracuse University. As the founder of Axe & Arrow Coaching and senior faculty for the McKinsey LEAD program, she blends the psychological acuity of a mediator with the strategic focus required by top-tier organizations. Her client list includes global giants like Google, Facebook, Disney, and Microsoft, where she acts as a trusted partner in helping managers evolve into strategic leaders. |
Why Axe & Arrow?
|
We Create Custom Solutions
We are not a training organization. We are a problem solving partner, helping you move your organization from point A to point B. Our solutions dig deep into the underlying needs of your people, and we co-create fully customized learning solutions, tailored to the unique challenges of your organization. |
|
We Stress Practical Application
It's not enough to raise awareness or simply educate your people. We equip leaders with practical tools and practice them immediately in the workshop to transform mindsets and behaviors in the workplace. Our ongoing learning and coaching plans help leaders sustain their skills and mindsets and transform the way they lead. |
|
We Infuse Energy Into All Our Offerings
We believe great learning happens when audiences are passionately engaged in the content. This means energized coaches and participant environments designed to boost engagement and focused learning. We use layered learning experiences that involve self-reflection, group discussion, gamification, simulation and case studies. |
|
We Can Scale Quickly
With 200+ coaches across 10 countries, we can quickly spread learning and impact to all members of your geographically dispersed teams. With our cohort systems we can launch your global learning experience tomorrow. |
|
We Are Virtual Experts
We've been running successful VILT programs for over a decade with a 98% VGE participant rating. We are experts at engaging our audiences with a variety of interactive tools that draw audiences into a safe and intimate learning experience. Our coaches set the benchmark for excellence in VILT. |
