Green Tara Leadership
Alumni Community

Don't sign up if you intend to sit in the stands. The Leadership Circle is a court, and you're playing from the moment you walk in. The Circle creates a laboratory for human interaction — a microcosm. The dynamics that play out in your career, your relationships, your leadership all surface in the room. But unlike real life, you get feedback in real time. I came thinking I'd evaluate the program for my team. I walked out having seen my own armor for the first time.

The program provided a space where I felt emotionally safe and challenged, where I could be vulnerable without being judged, and stretched without being pushed. Since the program, I'm making decisions with greater clarity and confidence. I've had difficult conversations I would have delayed before and walked away feeling more connected. I'm delegating more effectively, creating real ownership in my team. Most importantly, I feel lighter and more at peace.

Through this experience, I've become the kind of person who dares to give feedback, even when it's difficult, and can navigate conflicts with clarity. I gained the confidence to deliver difficult feedback openly and honestly, resulting in a significant financial outcome for myself and my family. Most importantly, this experience helped me see my inner self and embrace my authentic leadership style. My energy has shifted to an entirely new level, and I feel more empowered than ever.

I have participated in many soft skills development programs over the last 4 decades. To my surprise, the level of interactions among participants in ILC were very deep and genuine. Everyone participated with intellectual candor and emotional bravery. I walked away with a stronger sense of myself because my peer participants served as an honest mirror for me to see myself at various angles.

The Influential Leadership Circle was a truly transformative experience that reshaped how I think about leadership. I had been caught in the constant cycle of delivering — numbers, targets, outcomes — believing leadership was something built at work. The ILC reminded me that leadership isn't only about checking boxes or following frameworks, nor about what I can do better, but rather it's about how I choose to show up, connect, and lead with authenticity and intention.

Nothing was taught in that Circle in the traditional sense. No framework. No model. But something shifted, and the shift didn't fade. Now, when a hard feeling shows up, I no longer rush to tell myself "be strong." I let it flow in. I let it flow out. I name it. I lead differently because of it. I let my team see that I carry the same worries they do. When someone brings me a heavy emotion, I no longer try to fix it. I just stay with them in it.

The three-day Circle was genuinely transformative. Through the T-group process, I recognized an important blind spot: I often spoke from my head while holding back what came from my heart. I began to see how that gap limited my connection not only with others, but also with myself. The facilitator's perceptive and compassionate facilitation created both the safety and the challenge I needed to confront this honestly. Since then, I have felt more confident practicing open, heart-led communication. At work, I notice subtle cues of connection more clearly and listen more intentionally to people and what is happening around me. As a result, I feel more connected to both my colleagues and myself. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who wants to lead with greater empathy, authenticity, and influence.

I came into the Circle wondering whether my presence was too much or not enough. I tended to operate in extremes — either giving myself fully or withdrawing altogether. Circle created a unique environment for me to test those assumptions about myself, receive feedback from others on how I was coming across, and practice new approaches. Somewhere in those three days, I stopped monitoring how I was landing and started focusing on what felt true to me in the moment. And in that, I got to experience a full range of emotions, from vulnerability to joy, in a way I rarely let myself. I realized my hypersensitivity, which I had long seen as a burden, was actually a superpower. I also shifted from believing vulnerability was risky to experiencing firsthand that it's what creates real connection. Not as a concept. I knew that conceptually. But as something I felt in the room with real people. What stood out most was the quality of facilitation. The facilitator and observer created a level of psychological safety I haven't experienced in any other program, where people could genuinely open up, connect with their own emotions, and connect deeply with each other. That kind of environment is the foundation everything else rests on, and it was done exceptionally well.

I came to the program during a period of low energy, hoping to learn how to navigate difficult conversations. Unexpectedly, I learned to listen to what my heart had been trying to say after a long time of ignoring it. The Circle gave me a safe space to practice, look more deeply within myself, and activate all three brains — my head, heart, and gut. I learned to recognize and name my emotions more precisely, especially anger and sadness, so I could better understand where they came from. I now feel more able to share my truth, approach difficult conversations and feedback more effectively, make tougher decisions, and lead with renewed energy.

Taking part in the Influential Leadership Circle Program was highly insightful for me to understand how others perceive my actions and intentions. The program provided an opportunity to get valuable feedback and to experiment with different approaches for leading. Tara helped the participants reach breakthroughs as a group.

This powerful Circle transformed how I show up in both personal and professional relationships. I've gained tools to manage emotions more effectively, build deeper connections, and foster a more positive presence to achieve better outcomes.

The Influential Leadership Circle isn't just another leadership program; it's where real change takes root. Professionally. Personally. Quietly at first, then all at once. Tara leads with presence: calm, clear, deeply human. She brings wisdom and warmth. She listens. She sees. And she moves the room without needing to take it over. What sets this experience apart isn't just what's taught — it's what's unlocked. People don't just participate, they lean in. They open up. They do the work. Because Tara makes it safe. And she makes it matter. If you're looking for a leadership journey that reshapes how you show up — not just at work, but in the world — this may be it.

The most profound shift for me was learning to lead from the sincerity of my heart — to influence not through force or frameworks, but through presence and authenticity. I uncovered a quiet inner strength I hadn't fully trusted before, and left with both deeper self-knowledge and practical tools I now apply daily.

I found myself more open to receiving feedback and learning how people truly relate to each other. Since the program, I've started doing mood check-ins with my team and listening more deeply without jumping in with advice. I managed to navigate a tough conversation and finally move forward with a cross-functional project I had been stuck on for months.

I came expecting frameworks. I left with something harder to name — and far more useful. The shift since has been slow and quiet. Which is how I know it was real. I listen differently now. I hold space for my team with more intention. The reflections I received from people I'd known for three days were more accurate than feedback I've gotten from years of working relationships. To any leader who suspects there's more to understand about how they lead and how they're experienced by others — this is where you go.

For years, I'd been guided by the traditional leadership playbook: emotion is weakness, logic and reason must prevail. Over three days, that belief was dismantled. I discovered that emotion isn't something to suppress; it's a source of wisdom that deepens reason and sharpens judgment. I've become more open, more present, and more authentic — not just with my team, but with my friends and family. This experience doesn't just make you a better leader; it makes you a fuller human.

For me, this Circle was not only about becoming a better leader at work. It helped me become a better husband, a more present person, and someone more ready to build the kind of life, relationships, and future I actually want.

The experience proved to be unlike anything I've experienced before. I entered hesitant, but left with a new purpose for myself and a new view on how I interact with others in order to be a good leader. The Circle experience awakened a new confidence within me to realize my bigger purpose. It also helped give me the confidence to take a leap as an entrepreneur and start my own company.

This program was spot-on in delivering a 'learning lab' experience where subtle human and interpersonal dynamics are made conscious and observable to the entire group. I've gained wonderful tools to make space for others and address limitations in my communication approach. I haven't done other leadership programs anywhere close to the effectiveness or great experience this Circle delivered.

The Influential Leadership Circle is one of the most impactful investments I have made in myself. I learned more through peer interaction and hands-on, practical learning than I have through other leadership programs. I would absolutely recommend this program — you can expect to gain skills right away and to see your learning have an immediate impact on your relationships.

What drew me to the Influential Leadership Circle was the depth. It wasn't about tools — it was about awareness and emotional intelligence in leadership. After Circle, I learned how to give and receive feedback more clearly. Less personal, more constructive. I can be honest without creating tension, and receive feedback without taking it as an attack. What makes Circle different is that it helps you see your strengths and weaknesses, and learn through experience. From there, things shift naturally. I'd recommend the Circle to leaders who want to lead authentically and sustainably.

The Influential Leadership Circle sharpens how you think, communicate, and show up. That's had a clear impact on how I make decisions, handle conversations, and lead day-to-day.

Over the course of three intensive days, I learned that others follow me because I raise the bar, ask difficult questions, create safe spaces, build community, and care deeply. I learned that my warmth and my courage are not separate. I learned that I do not need to manufacture confidence from scratch. It is already there. I just need to water it. I left feeling seen, heard, and held by a group of strangers-now-friends. I also left with the kind of clarity I know I will be drawing from for decades. This was the best professional development investment I have made in my career.

I joined the Green Tara Leadership Circle on the strongest recommendation of my friend and co-founder, who had completed an earlier Circle. I had a clear understanding of what to expect going in and still came away with a transformative experience. Since completing my Circle, I've recommended the experience to all of my closest peers in Vietnam. The Circle is about being a better human. It is a total immersion into deep reflective work that connects head, heart, and body. I've rarely felt safer and closer to other humans than I did over these three days.

What made me curious was the T-group methodology. It's a room where you have to show up, interact, and feel how you came across to others. What I didn't anticipate was the mirror it holds up. I knew how I came across intellectually. I'd never felt how others experience me in the room. It's refreshing to feel the people around me had seen me far more differently than I ever saw myself.

This is actually about debugging the human side of leadership. There are programs that unpack the logical side, but nothing that looks inward at heart-based leadership. I had this idea that emotions had no place in the workplace — that they were a tax, and that feelings were basically stupid. I don't think that anymore. Feelings are super important and getting in touch with them is worth the time.

The Circle was an incredibly valuable learning experience. Not only did we learn a clear, step-by-step framework for leading and communicating, but we were also able to apply those lessons right away. Gaining perspectives from the other leaders participating and connecting with them were unique and deeply rewarding. As an entrepreneur navigating the often-unpredictable daily grind without clear feedback, this program gave me the exact clarity I needed to identify what was holding me back.

Three days in the Circle, and a fist I hadn't known I was clenching quietly let go. Nothing about my work changed — the responsibilities and pace of decision-making remained the same. The change wasn't in what I do, but in how much I had been holding my breath while doing it. Now, I listen for what sits beneath the words, and I allow a difficult moment to be just that — a moment, rather than an emergency. My days are just as full, but I meet them with a steadier heart.

This experience is for people who live almost entirely in their head — who've built a career on thinking and analyzing — and have rarely operated from their heart brain. The Circle lets you actually experience what that feels like, not as a concept but in your body. And what surprised me is that it doesn't come at the cost of being effective. Learning to bring love and compassion — to yourself first, then to others — turns out to make you a better leader, not a softer one.

It created a safe space for us to step beyond our comfort zones — something that is rare in everyday life. Whether we took a small step or a bigger risk in experimenting with how we showed up, and whether we spoke from rational thought, honest emotion, or instinct, no one judged us. I later applied one of the lessons from the Circle while on vacation with my parents, and it transformed how I approached an important moment in our relationship. At the end of the day, our relationships define the quality of our lives. No amount of success or money matters if we cannot share it meaningfully with the people we love. Joining the Circle is an investment you won't regret.