From Carrying the Business to Leading the Business
RISE is a confidential peer advisory group for owners, CEOs, general managers and division leaders with full P&L responsibility who are ready to move from carrying too much of the business to leading it.
Job title matters less than responsibility. RISE is for leaders accountable for the people, performance and financial results of a business or business unit.
The RISE Collective
at a glance
Reflect | Inspire | Support | Elevate
- Greater Edmonton
- Monthly facilitated working sessions
- Small, confidential peer group
- Owners and leaders with full P&L responsibility
- Peer advisory, executive coaching and operating accountability
Is Your Business Still Too Dependent on You?
Many owners reach a stage where the business has grown, but the leadership system has not grown with it.
- You are still the person people come to for the final answer.
- You are still solving too many people problems.
- You are still carrying the strategy in your head.
- You are still jumping between sales, operations, finances, culture, people, customers, and the next urgent issue.
- You may have a strong team. You may have a good business. But if too much still runs through you, the business has a leadership bottleneck.
RISE exists to help you change that.
The goal is not simply to get more off your plate. It is to build the leadership capacity and operating culture that allow decisions to move closer to the work, accountability to hold, and the business to perform without everything escalating back to you.
What Is RISE?
RISE is a facilitated peer advisory collective for CEOs, owners, and entrepreneurial leaders who want more than advice, networking, or surface-level inspiration.
It is a confidential room where serious leaders work on real business decisions, leadership patterns, people-centred alignment, and the operating rhythm required for sustainable growth.
You are treated as a leader in motion.
The work is practical, honest, and grounded in the belief that people flourish when leaders create clarity, accountability, trust, and meaningful direction.
This is not a passive group. It is a working room.
The Shift RISE Helps You Make
From carrying too many decisions to building stronger decision-making around you.
From being the chief problem-solver to becoming the strategic leader.
From reactive firefighting to disciplined business rhythm.
From owner-dependent growth to leadership-led momentum.
From scattered people issues to people-centred alignment.
From isolated leadership to trusted peer challenge, support, and accountability.
From “I need to stay close to everything” to “I know where I create the most value.”
What You Work On Inside RISE
RISE gives you a structured space to work through the real issues that shape your business and your leadership. We work on challenges and opportunities, where you are now, and where you plan to go, and hold you accountable.
You will also work on:
- Strategic priorities
- Business rhythm and execution discipline
- People-centred accountability
- Leadership team capacity
- Delegation and decision rights
- Financial and operational clarity
- Customer and growth decisions
- Culture, trust, and alignment
- Succession, scale, and sustainability
- Your own evolution as CEO or entrepreneurial leader
The work is practical, direct, and connected to the decisions in front of you now.
RISE is for leaders who carry full responsibility for the results of a business or business unit.
You may be an owner, CEO, president, general manager or divisional leader. What matters is that revenue, margin, operations, people and growth ultimately land with you.
RISE is for leaders who are ready to do the work.
RISE is NOT
RISE works best for leaders who welcome honest challenge, take responsibility for their decisions and are prepared to follow insight with action. It is a working group, not a networking event or passive leadership program.
WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE THE ROOM?
What you bring in
- A decision you are carrying alone
- A leadership issue that keeps repeating
- A growth opportunity that feels promising but exposed
- A people or culture issue that needs more than a quick fix
- A strategy that needs pressure-testing before you move
What you bring in
- Clearer thinking
- Stronger options
- Sharper accountability
- Peer challenge from people who understand the weight
- A practical next step you can act on
- More confidence in how you lead the next stage
RISE is safe enough to be honest and honest enough to grow.
Why a Collective by Sage & Summit
RISE is facilitated by experienced business leaders and credentialed executive coaches who understand both the human and operational realities of carrying a business.
- Sage & Summit helps leaders build people-centred, high-accountability organizations.
- Marderé Birkill & Eric Potter have a combined leadership and consulting experience of 70 years!
- Our work combines executive coaching, team development, leadership training, strategic facilitation, and practical business rhythm.
- Our coaches are ICF (International Coaching Federation) certified, bound by the ICF Code of ethics, and they have extensive practical business leadership experience.
- RISE brings that work into a trusted CEO collective where insight becomes action and action becomes momentum.
We do not fix leaders. We grow them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the RISE Collective by Sage & Summit?
Who is RISE for?
Is RISE a networking group?
How does RISE help business leaders??
What makes RISE different?
What is the next step?
Ready to Stop Carrying Everything?
Staying as you are has a price. You are probably paying it already, quietly.
Changing has a price too. It asks for honesty, discipline, and a willingness to lead differently.
RISE gives you the room, rhythm, and peer challenge to make that shift with intention.
If you are ready to move from carrying the business to leading the business, start with the RISE Readiness Assessment or apply for a Fit Conversation.
