Climbing Gym Leadership Program

Lead yourself, lead your team, shape the climber experience

A 7-week program for climbing gym managers and team leaders, built by organisational and sport psychologists who work in the climbing industry.

The program includes live online group sessions, plus shorter materials you can complete at your own pace between sessions. You'll also apply what you learn directly at work.

  • 5 live sessions, 90 minutes each
  • Thursdays, 10:00 UK time
  • 22 Oct to 3 Dec 2026
  • Early bird price: £599 / €699 per person (excl. VAT) until 30 September
  • Maximum 12 participants

The hardest parts of managing a gym are rarely the operational ones

You can handle the rota, manage a busy Saturday, and fix most problems that come up. But it's the people side of things that wears you out the most.

  • The conversation you have been meaning to have for three weeks.
  • The member of the staff whose standards have gone down and whom you appreciate too much to challenge.
  • The difference between the way you intend to lead and the way you behave at 6 pm on an evening when the staff is short.
  • The team that looks after the climbers well when you are there and does something else when you are not.

Most managers know what they should do. What's often missing is a practical way to make it happen when the day is busy, relationships are close, and your time isn't protected.

This program is about that part of the job.

The program for anyone responsible for leading people in a climbing gym

  • Site and department managers
  • Operations managers
  • Head coaches
  • Head setters
  • Programme leads
  • Customer experience managers
  • Shift leaders
You might be new to leading a team, or could have been doing it for years and want to be more intentional about it.

What matters is that you have genuine responsibility for supporting, developing, and dealing with the performance of other people. If you lead a team, this is for you.

This is probably not what you need if you are looking for:
  • management theory and schemes to study,
  • help with a specific employment or legal issue, or
  • consulting on your gym's commercial or operational model.


Those topics aren't part of this program. Here, you'll work on leadership topics by trying things at work and then discussing them with the group.

What you'll be able to do

The goal is to help you lead more intentionally, even when things are uncomfortable, uncertain, or hectic.

Lead yourself

  • Clarify the kind of leader you want to be, and use that to guide what you actually do
  • Recognise your behaviour patterns under pressure, and learn to choose a response instead of reacting
  • Tackle the difficult action (the feedback, the boundary, the decision) instead of postponing it
  • Stay present in the conversations that matter
  • Separate what you can influence from what you cannot control
  • Protect your own wellbeing to keep doing the job well

Lead  the climber experience

  • Describe the experience your gym intends to create clearly enough to train and coach it
  • Decide what takes priority when two good intentions collide, so standards hold across shifts
  • Give staff room to solve climbers' problems using judgment rather than policy
  • Handle complaints without becoming defensive
  • Lead your team in the way you want them to treat the climbers
  • Build conditions where staff contribute with ideas and take ownership

How it works

Five live sessions. Real situations from your own gym. What's said in the room stays there.

Between sessions...

You'll go through short written and audio materials at your own pace and try things out at work. Reading is kept light (about an hour a week) because real learning happens when you test something on the job, not just by finishing a chapter.

In the live sessions...

We focus on real situations. You bring an actual challenge, we work through it together, and you leave with something practical to try. Sessions are about conversation and addressing problems, not lectures. If something can be learned from reading, we won't cover it live.

The sessions are confidential.

Confidentiality is a condition of taking part: what participants share about their gyms, their teams, and themselves stays within the group. Nothing is recorded, and we do not report back to anyone's employer.

Groups are capped at 12.

The group is small enough for everyone to bring real situations into the room. At the same time, it's big enough that you get to hear how other managers approach challenges similar to yours.
Managers rarely have anywhere to discuss the parts of the job they find hardest, and the live sessions are intended to be that place.
Madeleine Crane,
Organisational and sport psychologist, Founder of Climbing Psychology and Unblocd

The time commitment: about two and a half hours a week

  • 90 minutes: the live session
  • About an hour: reading, audio, and a few exercises, taken in pieces whenever they fit
  • 12 hours in total: across seven weeks


Most of the learning happens on the job. You'll notice things differently as you walk the floor, have conversations you've been putting off, and let a staff member take on more responsibility. This all happens during your regular shifts, and that's where the real learning takes place.
Write your awesome label here.
You won't need to leave your gym for this training. Some exercises are optional, so if you have a busy week, you can skip them and still get the essentials.

Built by psychologists who have led teams themselves

The program combines insights from psychology about how people perform and how organizations function, with hands-on experience in leading teams.

Kaisa Soininen

Kaisa facilitates the live sessions. A performance and sport psychologist and business leader with 25+ years of experience leading teams of varying sizes at international companies.

She has managed people through growth, pressure, restructuring, and everything in between, and her psychology work focuses on values-based action, focus, stress management, and practical behaviour change.

She collaborates with climbing gyms, climbing organisations, and climbing medicine professionals to promote a healthy, sustainable, and psychologically informed climbing culture.

Co-founder and COO of Unblocd.

Madeleine Crane

Madeleine is an organisational and sport psychologist and a pioneer in climbing psychology. She has worked for 10+ years with climbing gyms, federations, coaches, and organisations internationally, including the Pro Climbing League, World Climbing Europe, and Google. She has extensive experience working 1-on-1 with head coaches on leadership development.

A former competitive climber, she also works with recreational and competitive climbers and is a strong advocate of sustainable performance culture in climbing.

Serial entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Unblocd and founder of Climbing Psychology.

Trusted by the global climbing community.

For the gym owners

Why this is worth the budget

Managers are the point where intent becomes behaviour.

No matter what standards, culture, or experience your gym aims for, it all comes down to the people running the shifts. Consistency only happens if managers know how to lead. This program helps build that skill directly.

Conversations happen earlier.

When feedback is avoided, it can lead to resignations, complaints, and slipping standards. Managers who can handle tough conversations save you money and trouble.

Standards hold when you're not there.

A big part of the program is about defining and communicating the climber experience clearly, so it doesn't depend on which staff member is on shift.

Staff development gets cheaper.

Managers learn how to keep developing their teams, so the benefits of this program reach even those who don't attend.

Managers stay.

Burnout and staff turnover in gym management are costly and disruptive. This program tackles both issues directly.

One place is £599 / €699 excl. VAT until 30 September. After that £650 / €750 per person.

Team rates apply from two participants, and we can invoice the gym directly.

Dates and schedule

All live sessions are on Thursdays at 10 UK time and run for 90 minutes.

  1. Thu 22 Oct at 10 am UK time (check your local time)
  2. Thu 5 Nov at 10 am UK time (check your local time)
  3. Thu 12 Nov at 10 am UK time (check your local time)
  4. Thu 19 Nov at 10 am UK time (check your local time)
  5. Thu 3 Dec at 10 am UK time (check your local time)


There are two-week breaks between the first and second sessions, and before the last one. This gives you time to put new leadership approaches into practice.

Registration closes 15 October, a week before the start, so that everyone has time for the short pre-course material.
I've led teams for 25 years, and some parts are still tough. Experience helps you spot situations faster, but it doesn't make hard conversations easier. What really helps is having practical tools to guide your focus and take action, even when it's difficult.
Kaisa Soininen
Performance and sport psychologist, Co-founder of Unblocd

Pricing

Early bird: £599 / €699, excl. VAT, until 30 September

£650 / €750 per person, excl. VAT

Team rates
  • 2 participants from the same organisation: £585 / €675 each
  • 3 or more: £520 / €600 each

Same organisation means shared ownership rather than the same site, so a multi-site operator sending one manager from each of three gyms qualifies. Team and early bird rates do not combine: you receive whichever is better.

Registrations must be paid within a week or, at the latest, by 15 October.

Our guarantee

Attend the first two sessions, complete the self-study, and if the program is not useful to you, ask for a full refund within seven days of the second session. 

Frequently asked questions

Do I need any particular background or previous training?

No. There are no prerequisites, and no prior study in psychology, management, or leadership is assumed. The program is built for working managers, and everything is taught through real gym situations rather than theory.

What if I can't make a session?

You receive a written summary and the tools from it, and continue with the self-paced materials. Sessions are not recorded. If you know in advance that you will miss more than one, talk to us before registering.

How confidential are the sessions?

Fully, and it is a condition of taking part. Everyone agrees at the start that what is shared in the group stays in the group. Sessions are not recorded, and we do not report on participants to their employer. People discuss their own staff and their own mistakes, and that honesty is where most of the value is.

Can my employer pay?

Yes. Register, fill in the company details and we will send the invoice. Payment is due within a week or latest by 15 October.

What if the program doesn't run?

The program needs a minimum of five participants. We will confirm or cancel by 15 October, and if it does not run, you will receive a full refund or a place in the next group.

Can more than one manager from a gym attend?

Yes, and team rates apply from two people. A mix of managers from the same gym often works well, since they can carry on the conversation at work.

What is not covered?

Employment law and other legal questions, therapy or clinical support, advice on specific personnel cases, and business or operational consulting. We can point you toward one-to-one coaching or a private group for your own gym if either would suit you better.

Full payment, cancellation, and refund terms

Please check the detailed terms.
Don't hesitate

Lead yourself, lead your team, shape the climber experience

The next group runs 22 October to 3 December 2026, and takes a maximum of 12 people.

Want to learn more?

Book a call to resolve any questions you have about the program.

If you're attending the ABC Walls Conference on 16 – 17 September 2026, contact Kaisa and meet in person.
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