Leadership For Complexity
Build your adaptive capacity to lead with courage, clarity, and connection.
About
At Adaptive Leadership Training, we empower individuals, teams, and organisations to navigate complexity with greater courage, clarity, and connection.
Founded by Kyende Kinoti, our work is rooted in the principles of Adaptive Leadership and the African philosophy of Ubuntu — “I am because we are.” We believe that leadership is not about titles or control, but about mobilising people and communities to rise to the moment and lead change with purpose, especially when the answers aren’t clear.
Kyende brings a decade of experience across global development, civic participation, philanthropy, and open government. She has worked with organisations such as Feedback Labs, the Open Government Partnership, and the National Democratic Institute — designing and delivering programs that elevate community voice, democratise leadership, and navigate systems change.
We cultivate spaces where leadership is practiced in relationship — where people listen deeply, wrestle with tough questions, and move forward together. Our approach centres connection, trust, and shared learning. Whether you’re navigating uncertainty as an individual, a team, or an organisation, we work alongside you — not as experts with all the answers, but as partners in uncovering them. We believe leadership, like Ubuntu, is something we build in community.
Individuals
Grow your adaptive leadership capacity through interactive workshops, deep-dive learning, and peer coaching. Build the courage and clarity of mind to lead in uncertain times.
Teams
Strengthen collaboration and resilience while addressing specific adaptive challenges. Uncover gaps, build trust, and align around shared purpose and direction.
Organisations
Co-create leadership development programs that foster alignment, agility, and deep cultural change. Deliver tailored and comprehensive programs grounded in real-world challenges and case studies.
Services
Introductory Workshops
Engage with the foundations of Adaptive Leadership in a dynamic, interactive setting. These 1–3 day workshops combine experiential and case-in-point learning, as well as, reflection. Participants explore core concepts:
- Holding space for reflection
- Identifying the leadership gap
- Distinguishing adaptive from technical challenges
- Distinguishing leadership from authority
- Thinking politically
- Peer coaching
Workshops are offered publicly or within organisations.
Adaptive Facilitation for Teams
Facilitated sessions designed to support teams navigating complexity.
We create space for courageous conversations, alignment around shared goals — helping teams surface adaptive challenges, explore diverse perspectives, and strengthen collective resilience. Ideal for moments of transition, conflict, or strategic change.
Deep Dives
Advance your practice through immersive, multi-session learning focused on real adaptive work. In addition to building on the foundational concepts, participants explore:
- Embracing emergence
- Stakeholder mapping
- Developing and communicating a value proposition
Includes one-on-one check-ins and peer learning over two phases spaced several months apart to apply learning in context.
Available publicly or within organisations.
Customised Leadership Programs
Partner with us to design a leadership journey tailored to your organisation’s context and needs. These offerings are ideal for strategy sessions, team retreats, and can also be designed as a leadership offering to your organisation’s constituents.
Programs may include:
- Guest speakers
- Team coaching
- Internal and external focus areas
Co-created with you, these offerings foster alignment, agility, and sustained cultural transformation.
Why Choose Us
Experienced Across Sectors and Cultures
Kyende has over a decade of experience in leadership learning and training. She has learned and worked across a wide range of global contexts — from young adult and university merit programs to government ministries, civil society networks, and philanthropic foundations.
Facilitator and Trainer of Leaders Globally
Kyende has designed and delivered training for over 300 professionals across 150+ organisations globally — including ministers, mayors, nonprofit leaders, and philanthropists. Her facilitation style is adaptive yet structured—designed to draw out reflection, insight, and action across diverse groups.
Certified in Adaptive Leadership
Kyende is a Certified Adaptive Leadership™ Facilitator. Her training is grounded in Adaptive Leadership frameworks developed at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Adaptive Leadership is a transformative approach helping people lead more effectively in times of uncertainty, conflict, and change.
“Kyende is a powerful voice of leadership for dialogue, understanding, and interconnectedness in aid, philanthropy and governance. Her skillful deep listening and empathic engagement reflect a dedication to nurturing personal growth and respecting the agency of those she serves. Kyende exemplifies adaptive leadership guided by a loving ethic, fostering genuine connections and meaningful change in global communities.”
– Eric Martin,
Adaptive Leadership Expert, Leadership Coach and Facilitator
“Kyende has been such an asset to the Feedback Labs team! Her accountability, thoughtfulness and attention to detail has allowed her projects to thrive. She brings creativity, curiosity and a calm demeanour to any meeting and asks good, insightful questions that push the whole team to be better.”
– Britt Lake
CEO, Feedback Labs
“Kyende’s dedication to open and transparent government is more vital than ever in today’s world. Her work aligns powerfully with ACA’s mission to democratize leadership—ensuring that leadership is more inclusive, accountable and reflective of the communities it serves.”
– Adaptive Change Advisors
To lead is to live dangerously because when leadership counts, when you lead people through difficult change, you challenge what people hold dear—their daily habits, tools, loyalties, and ways of thinking—with nothing more to offer perhaps than a possibility.
― Ronald A. Heifetz and Martin Linsky, Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading