When the Next Chapter Has No Playbook
Ljubljana, Slovenia | 22–24 October 2026
A six-month learning journey for experienced leaders navigating the transition from a full-time executive career towards a new portfolio of contribution, purpose and possibility.
Applications are now open for our 2026 – 2027 Cohort.
Apply Now – To application
The Next Chapter May Be the Least Scripted One
After decades of executive responsibility, many leaders reach a point where the familiar career path begins to change.
What comes next may not be another full-time executive role. It may become a portfolio: board positions, advisory work, entrepreneurship, investing, teaching, non-profit or cultural engagement—or possibilities not yet imagined.
This transition brings unusual freedom. It can also bring uncertainty.
Navigating Uncertainty creates the space to step outside the everyday, explore what you want to carry forward, see new possibilities, and begin shaping what your next portfolio of contribution could become.
A Different Kind of Leadership Journey
Rather than another career programme or traditional executive education, participants learn through carefully designed experiences combining executive coaching, dialogue, art, place, reflection and peer learning.
Ljubljana becomes more than the setting—it becomes part of the learning.
And at the heart of the journey is a small group of experienced leaders facing a similar transition: bringing different perspectives, possibilities and ambitions, while helping one another explore an important question:
What do I want to do with everything I have learned so far?
What You Will Explore
The journey develops four capabilities for navigating this next chapter:
Seeing – Recognising possibilities beyond the roles and paths you already know.
Reframing – Moving from “What is my next position?” towards “What portfolio of contribution do I want to create?”
Adapting – Experimenting with new roles and ways of contributing without needing to know the final destination.
Renewing – Making more intentional choices about where to invest your experience, relationships, curiosity, time and energy.
The Journey
Before Slovenia
A virtual preparation session connecting with your guides to explore where you are in your transition, the questions you bring and what you want to discover.
Three Days in Ljubljana
Three immersive days create space to step beyond familiar roles and routines, see yourself and your possibilities differently, and begin shaping what comes next.
Through artistic encounters, unusual experiences, facilitated dialogue, reflection and conversations with peers, we move through three questions:
What do I want to carry forward?
What new possibilities can I see?
What might my future portfolio become?
Beyond Slovenia
Three Learning Labs over the following six months provide a space to experiment with possibilities, share what you are learning, refine your choices and see your emerging portfolio take shape.
What You Take Away
Participants leave with:
- Greater clarity about what they want from their next chapter
- New possibilities for how and where to contribute
- Greater confidence navigating a transition without a predetermined destination
- A Personal Navigation & Portfolio Map for priorities, possibilities and next experiments
- Renewed perspective on experience, identity, time and purpose
- A trusted community of peers navigating a similar transition
Who is this for?
Navigating Uncertainty is designed for experienced executives and leaders who are:
- approaching the transition from a significant full-time executive role
- recently out of such a role and considering what comes next
- beginning to build a portfolio across boards, advisory work, entrepreneurship, academia, non-profit, cultural or other activities
- already developing such a portfolio and wanting to make more intentional choices about its next phase
This is not about retirement. It is about renewing how—and where—you want to contribute.
Your Guides
Lidija Drobež is an executive coach, facilitator and creative practitioner with more than 25 years of experience supporting leaders through transformation and change. Fellow at Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School.
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Liselotte Hägertz Engstam is a board chair, executive coach, researcher and multimedia artist with extensive international experience in leadership, governance and organisational renewal. Fellow at Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School.
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Together, Lidija and Liselotte bring decades of executive leadership, board, coaching and creative experience—and their own experience of building portfolios beyond traditional executive careers—to create a journey that is both rigorous and deeply human.
Investment
Founding Cohort Early Bird: €1,150 (until 15 September 2026)
Standard Investment: €1,450
The investment includes the preparation session, the three-day immersion in Ljubljana, three continuing learning labs, coaching, learning materials, lunches and programme dinners. Travel and accommodation are arranged separately.
Explore Whether this Journey is For You
Participation is limited to a small group to create a trusted community of experienced leaders who can learn from and contribute to one another.
If you are approaching or navigating the transition beyond a full-time executive career—and beginning to ask what you want your next portfolio of contribution to become—we would be delighted to explore the journey with you.
22–24 October 2026 | Ljubljana
Have a Conversation with Liselotte and Lidija
Apply Now (Early Bird until Sept 15, Deadline October 1) – To application
Download the Brochure – Navigating Uncertainty Brochure
