Ensemble

A six-month leadership circle for Charlotte’s emerging leaders.

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Ensemble is a small, carefully chosen circle of peers who meet in person, every other week, to become more impactful leaders. Members leave with a clearer picture of how they lead, real movement on their hardest challenges, and a bench of trusted peers who will tell them the truth.

The founding cohort is limited to eight seats. Applications open August 24.

For the leadership challenges that don’t have a playbook.

 

You've worked hard to get good at what you do, and it has paid off in the form of greater responsibility: a team, a bigger mandate, decisions that carry more weight.

But leading people brings a different kind of challenge. Maybe two of your strongest team members can't seem to work together. Maybe a high performer you inherited is stalling, and gets defensive whenever you try to name it. Maybe you're carrying out a decision you didn't make and don't fully agree with. Or maybe you've started to notice that the instincts that got you here are the same ones wearing you down.

Some problems are technical. The problem is clear, and solving it comes down to know-how: updating a pricing model, say, or running a tighter meeting. You're already good at that kind of thing. The challenges that keep you up at night work differently. The problem itself is murky, reasonable people see it differently, and any real solution asks you to change something about how you operate. It might be a habit, a belief, or an approach you've trusted for years.

Nobody hands you a playbook for challenges like these, and they rarely yield to another business book or a two-day training. They yield to sustained, honest work in the company of people who are in it with you. Ensemble was built for exactly that work.

What is Ensemble?

A trusted group of peers, working on real leadership challenges together.

Ensemble is a six-month, in-person leadership circle: a small, curated group of Charlotte leaders who meet every other Tuesday evening to work on their actual leadership challenges, guided by two experienced facilitators.

At the heart of each session, one or two members bring a live challenge to the group, and the circle works on it using a structured format called Inquiry Council. It is a group coaching method with roots in the oldest ways humans have done their hardest thinking: in council, in circle, together. The structure keeps the group away from quick advice and inside genuine curiosity, where the questions people ask you help you think better than you can think alone.

You'll also be learning to coach as you go. Deep listening, asking questions that open up another person's thinking, and helping someone get unstuck without doing their thinking for them are among the most transferable leadership skills there are. You'll practice them in every session and take them back to your team.

What’s Included:

  • A 360° Review

    Before the circle first meets, you'll receive candid, anonymized feedback from the people around you at work, gathered through a process adapted from the 360s Worksong runs for its executive coaching clients. You'll learn how you're actually landing, where you're stronger than you knew, and where the growth is.

  • Half-Day Opening Session

    On Saturday morning, October 24, where you'll receive your 360, lay the group's foundations, and launch the circle together.

  • 1:1 360 Debrief Session

    In the weeks after launch, you’ll get a 50-minute 1:1 debrief with a facilitator to unpack your 360 feedback and support you in identifying the next steps in your development path.

  • 11 Evening Group Coaching Sessions

    We’ll meet every other Tuesday from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, running through late April.

  • Practices and Resources

    Throughout the program, we’ll share practices, resources, and leadership frameworks to support your growth, including short reflection work and training in the listening and inquiry skills the circle runs on.

  • Closing Session & Celebration

    We’ll end well with a closing session and special dinner to mark the good work we’ve done together over the course of the program.

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Who this program is for:

 

Ensemble is built for emerging leaders: you're leading people, or about to be, your responsibility is growing faster than your job description, and you're beginning to suspect that your next stage of growth depends more on self-awareness than on accumulating more expertise.

Members come from every kind of organization. Tech, healthcare, nonprofits, professional services, ministry, and founder-led companies all produce versions of the same human challenges, and the mix makes the room smarter.

What matters most is how you show up. The circle depends on members who bring their real challenges honestly, who give as much help as they receive, and who treat attendance and confidentiality as firm commitments.

Ensemble probably isn't the right program if you're mainly looking for tactics, content, or a networking group, or if protecting the Tuesday evenings isn't realistic in this season of your life. If you feel drawn to it and unsure whether you're ready, that uncertainty is usually a good sign. The application and a short conversation will help us both find out.

Format & Investment

  • Cohort Size

    6–8 leaders, curated for mix and fit

  • Opening Session

    Saturday, October 24, 2026 · 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM

  • Bi-Monthly Sessions

    Every other Tuesday, 6:00 – 8:00 PM · November 10 – April 20

  • Location

    In person at the historic E.E. Hulick House, 1816 E. 7th St, in Charlotte's Elizabeth neighborhood

  • Included:

    • 360° review and private debrief

    • 12 facilitated sessions

    • Resources and practices between sessions

    • Closing celebration

  • Investment

    $4,500 for the six-month program (or six monthly payments of $750)

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  • Ensemble includes a 360° review adapted from the process Worksong runs for its executive coaching clients, where a standalone engagement starts at $5,000. This is the founding cohort, and the price reflects that; future cohorts will be priced higher.

  • Many participants have their company fund Ensemble as professional development. It's a straightforward request, and we'll give you a ready-to-send funding request that makes the case to your manager or HR.

  • We also hold a small number of reduced-rate seats in each cohort so that cost alone doesn't keep the right person out of the room. If that's your situation, mention it briefly in your application.

Meet the Facilitators

*Andy and Ria are brother- and sister-in-law.

Andy Crissinger

Executive Coach & Facilitator

Andy is an executive coach and the founder of Worksong, where he partners with founders, CEOs, and executive teams navigating growth and transformation. Before Worksong, he spent a decade helping build Reboot into a premier executive coaching firm in the venture-backed startup ecosystem, serving as Director of Coaching. For the past four years, he has also helped design and facilitate the Overton Fellowship, a selective, cohort-based leadership development program in Birmingham. Andy brings a distinctive approach that integrates practical business frameworks with deep psychological insight, informed by his own leadership experience across education, pastoral ministry, and startups. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife and three kids, and spends his free time playing tennis, gardening, and writing songs.

Licensed Therapist & Facilitator

Ria Crissinger

Ria is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and founder of Ria Crissinger Psychotherapy in Charlotte, NC. For more than six years in private practice, she has helped adults, couples, and families navigate personal growth, strengthen relationships, and move through life's most meaningful transitions. Her work is informed by depth-oriented approaches, including psychodynamic modalities and Internal Family Systems (IFS), equipping her to recognize patterns that shape how people connect and thrive. In leadership development, she brings the same qualities that define her clinical work: deep curiosity, thoughtful presence, and a finely tuned ear to recognize what lies beneath the surface. Ria lives in Charlotte with her husband, their three children, and an energetic pup. On weekends you'll likely find her with a cup of coffee perusing antiques.

What Leaders Say about Our Work:

"Andy has been instrumental to my journey and company's success. His breadth and depth of coaching experience have helped me get to the core of an incredible variety of issues at different company stages and personal challenges. We've now worked together for several years, and the value continues to compound."

Amir Nathoo · CEO, Outschool

“"I especially appreciate Andy's astute observational skills — he is able to see and identify what can often feel intangible to a team — and by doing so, help a team examine what is blocking performance. I trust Andy deeply and absolutely recommend his coaching and facilitation as a way for an individual, team, or organization to drive better results."

Steph Yiu · CEO, WordPress VIP

"My work with Andy was nothing short of transformational and I am forever grateful for the path it put me on. I'm a better father, husband, and leader because of it."

Logan Kosmalski · Co-Founder & CEO, Pro Skills Basketball

Frequently Asked Questions

Please feel free to reach out to us with any additional questions: hello@worksong.co.

  • Yes. Ensemble is a group coaching program. Sessions are facilitated using professional executive coaching methods: structured peer inquiry, skilled listening, candid feedback, and practices that build self-awareness and capability over time. Worksong's coaching adheres to the ethics of the International Coaching Federation.

  • The program asks for the opening Saturday morning, a two-hour session every other Tuesday evening, and roughly 30 to 60 minutes of practice between sessions. Attendance is what makes a circle work, so if the Tuesday evenings can't be protected, it may be better to wait for a future cohort.

  • Participants in Ensemble commit to complete confidentiality. What members share in the circle stays there, and members agree not to raise each other's stories outside the room unless invited to. This agreement is what makes it possible to talk about real things, and every member signs it.

  • Every member is interviewed before joining, and we build the cohort deliberately, balancing industries and roles and selecting for the qualities that make a circle work: honesty, generosity, and commitment. We also screen for conflicts, so you won't be placed with direct colleagues or with competitors in sensitive positions.

  • You'll nominate five to eight people who see you work, typically your manager, peers, and direct reports. They complete a short, thoughtful questionnaire anonymously, and we compile the responses into a report you'll receive and process at the opening session, followed by a private 1:1 debrief. Participants in programs like this consistently name the 360 as one of the most valuable parts of the experience.

  • Often, yes. Leadership development for someone with growing responsibility is exactly what many professional development budgets exist for. We provide a ready-to-send funding request template, and Worksong can invoice your company directly.

  • Plan to attend everything: the dates are published up front, and the circle's value depends on people being there for each other. We also know that six months of real life includes the occasional unavoidable conflict. If you have to miss a session, we ask for as much notice as you can give. One or two absences over the program won't break your experience or the group's; if you already know you'd miss more than that, this probably isn't your cohort, and we'd love to have you in a future one.m description

  • Yes, please apply. The application is short, and it leads to a conversation where fit gets figured out in both directions. You'll hear from us either way.

Apply to Join the Founding Cohort

Applications close on September 25. After you apply, we'll set up a short conversation with Andy or Ria.

Decisions come within a week of that conversation, and enrollment closes on October 2nd, so the 360 process can begin.

You'll hear from us either way.

APPLY NOW