You were promoted because you're brilliant at what you do. Nobody taught you how to lead.
You're figuring it out as you go. Working harder than the role should require. Getting pulled back into delivery. Saying yes when you mean no. Replaying conversations at 10pm.
You don't need to keep doing it this way.
Above the Line is a nine-week programme for senior leaders in creative, events, experiential and exhibition agencies who are ready to make the shift properly, with the right frameworks, the right peer group and someone who has lived this world from the inside.
NEXT COHORT STARTS SEPTEMBER 2026 | 8 PLACES | £1,800
NEXT COHORT STARTS MARCH 2026. FOR MORE INFORMATION
Leadership that stabilises performance, protects profit & unlocks potential.
Above the Line is my signature programme for founders, executives & leaders who've stepped into greater responsibility and are quietly adjusting to who they've becoming next.
You didn't get here by accident.
All of the leaders I work with are highly capable. Trusted, respected, brilliant at what they do. What changes isn't their ability it's the nature of the role.
At a certain point, leadership stops being about doing great work and starts being about how your decisions land across the whole ecosystem: the client, the team and the business all at once.
That transition is rarely named. And almost never taught.
You were promoted because you were a strong operator. Then responsibility widened. Decisions carried more weight. Conversations felt more exposed. And nobody sat you down and explained what leading at this level actually requires.
So you're doing what capable people do figuring it out as you go. Working harder than you need to. Getting pulled back into delivery. Your team isn't always clear on what you expect. And underneath the confidence you show up with, something needs to shift.
This is costing you. In time, energy and headspace. And it's costing your agency too in slower decisions, avoidable escalations, and the quiet drain on performance that nobody names but everyone feels.
Above the Line is a nine-week programme that changes this. Not with theory with the frameworks, language and peer support that make the shift from doing to leading permanent.
Next Cohort Starts September 2026
You were promoted because you're brilliant at what you do. Nobody taught you how to lead.
You're figuring it out as you go. Working harder than the role should require. Getting pulled back into delivery. Saying yes when you mean no. Replaying conversations at 10pm.
You don't need to keep doing it this way.
Above the Line is a nine-week programme for senior leaders in creative, events, experiential and exhibition agencies who are ready to make the shift properly, with the right frameworks, the right peer group and someone who has lived this world from the inside.
NEXT COHORT STARTS SEPTEMBER 2026 | 8 PLACES | £1,800
You didn't get here by accident.
All of the leaders I work with are highly capable. Trusted, respected, brilliant at what they do. What changes isn't their ability it's the nature of the role.
At a certain point, leadership stops being about doing great work and starts being about how your decisions land across the whole ecosystem: the client, the team and the business all at once.
That transition is rarely named. And almost never taught.
You were promoted because you were a strong operator. Then responsibility widened. Decisions carried more weight. Conversations felt more exposed. And nobody sat you down and explained what leading at this level actually requires.
So you're doing what capable people do figuring it out as you go. Working harder than you need to. Getting pulled back into delivery. Your team isn't always clear on what you expect. And underneath the confidence you show up with, something needs to shift.
This is costing you. In time, energy and headspace. And it's costing your agency too in slower decisions, avoidable escalations, and the quiet drain on performance that nobody names but everyone feels.
Above the Line is a nine-week programme that changes this. Not with theory with the frameworks, language and peer support that make the shift from doing to leading permanent.
Next Cohort Starts September 2026
WHO THIS PROGRAMME IS FOR
Above the Line is designed for senior leaders and managers in creative, events, experiential and exhibition agencies who have grown up through the work and are now carrying responsibility for people, standards, clients and outcomes.
That includes Heads of Department, Client Services Directors, Heads of Events, Senior Producers, Account Directors and Delivery Leads.
You're already capable. You're already trusted. You've already proven yourself through delivery.
What's missing isn't effort it's the frameworks, language and structured support to lead consistently at the level the role now requires.
If your agency is sponsoring your place, this is also the section to share with your MD. The business case for investing in this programme is on the For Agencies page.
Above the Line is designed for senior leaders and managers in creative, events, experiential and exhibition agencies who have grown up through the work and are now carrying responsibility for people, standards, clients and outcomes.
That includes Heads of Department, Client Services Directors, Heads of Events, Senior Producers, Account Directors and Delivery Leads.
You're already capable. You're already trusted. You've already proven yourself through delivery.
What's missing isn't effort it's the frameworks, language and structured support to lead consistently at the level the role now requires.
If your agency is sponsoring your place, this is also the section to share with your MD. The business case for investing in this programme is on the For Agencies page.
These aren't aspirations. They're the specific behavioural shifts this programme consistently delivers.
You don't just leave this programme feeling 'more confident' you leave it leading differently.
You delegate and it stays delegated
You hold boundaries without guilt or over-explaining
You make decisions and move on (not replay them at 10pm)
You lead difficult conversations directly and calmly
You stop absorbing pressure and start directing it
Your team knows what's expected without you repeating yourself
You get your time back without sacrificing standards.
Your team feels it. Your clients feel it. Your agency feels it.
When a senior leader stops firefighting and starts leading, the impact doesn't stay contained to one person. It moves through everything beneath them.
In 9 weeks, here's what changes
Your team performs better because their leader leads better.
Up to 70% of team engagement is directly linked to the quality of leadership above them. In nine weeks your leader stops being the source of confusion and starts being the source of clarity. Projects run smoother. Expectations are set and held. The team delivers without constant hand-holding.
You stop losing the people you can least afford to lose.
Leaders who feel unsupported and under-developed leave or quietly disengage. People are five times more likely to consider leaving when they don't feel effectively led. This programme addresses the leadership behaviours that erode retention and replaces them with the ones that make talented people want to stay and grow.
The MD or Founder gets their time back.
Right now, too much depends on you. Difficult client conversations, team conflicts, delivery decisions that should never reach your desk, they all land with you because the leader below you doesn't yet have the tools to hold them. Nine weeks from now, they do. That's not just development. That's the agency becoming less dependent on one person to function at its best.
The experience
A 9-week group programme
The Above the Line Programme runs over nine weeks and is limited to 8 leaders or managers small enough for real peer connection, structured enough for real change.
The experience includes:
⏺ Nine weekly live sessions facilitated by Suzy Malhotra, each focused on one leadership theme
⏺ A peer group at the same leadership level, agency leaders who understand your world
·⏺ Structured teaching, not just discussion
⏺ Real agency scenarios brought into the room, not case studies from other industries
⏺ Practical tools and frameworks you can apply immediately
·⏺ Support between sessions to embed learning before the next one
·Optional add-on: Private 1:1 coaching alongside the programme for leaders who want additional individual support.
Why 9 weeks?
Nine weeks provides the right amount of time to shift how you lead. Long enough to embed real change, short enough to stay focused and committed. Each week builds on the last, with one clear leadership theme per session so you always know exactly where you are and where you're going.
You don't pause your work to do this programme. You use your work to do it.
How You Will Learn
This programme blends three approaches deliberately so you leave genuinely capable, not just inspired.
THE PROGRAMME IS STRUCTURED AROUND NINE LEADERSHIP THEMES
The Curriculum
THE BUSINESS CASE
Why sponsoring a leader is a smart business move.
Many participants are sponsored by their agency and rightly so, because the return lands at the organisational level, not just the individual one.
Here is what the Head of Events at Callow Events reported after completing the programme: team culture score up from 6 to 8 out of 10, profitability on events improved, time drain from performance issues reduced, client turnaround faster. She stopped doing the heavy lifting in delivery and started leading the team doing it.
These are not incidental benefits. They are what happens when a senior leader stops being the bottleneck and starts setting the standard.
When agencies sponsor a place, they typically see:
— Fewer escalations reaching the MD or founder's desk
— Stronger team performance and clearer accountability
— Improved profitability through better planning and delegation
— Faster client turnaround as delivery teams strengthen
— Reduced time drain from underperformance and emotional bottlenecks
— Client relationships held with more confidence and less dependence on the top
At £1,800, this is one of the most cost-effective investments an agency can make in a key person and the team and clients around them.
If you're ready to put the case to your MD, the For Agencies page makes the full commercial argument for you.
Need help requesting employer sponsorship? Email [email protected] and I'll send you a short template to share with your MD or Finance Director.
who leads the programme
Above the Line is led by Suzy Malhotra
Founder of The Leadership Line
Suzy Suzy co-founded and ran 4D Design for nearly thirty years, an exhibition and events agency delivering global brand projects under real commercial pressure.
She knows this industry from the inside: the personalities, the client dynamics, the delivery pressure, and the leadership decisions that sit alongside all of it.
She is a qualified coach. The Above the Line framework is built on established coaching methodology not just experience. The combination of nearly thirty years inside the industry and a rigorous coaching foundation is what makes the work both practical and immediately applicable to agency life.
Participants consistently say the same thing: that this is the first time leadership has been explained in a way that actually matches what they're living. That Suzy can name what's happening when they feel it but can't articulate it themselves.
This work is practical, grounded and built around real leadership decisions not theory retrofitted to agency life.
practical details
Everything you need to know before you apply.
Cohort size: maximum 8 leaders and managers
Duration: 9 weeks
Start: September 2026
Format: Weekly live sessions on Zoom + peer support between sessions
Access: Life time access to session recordings, workbooks, trainings and resources
Investment: £1,800 per participant
This programme is regularly sponsored by agencies as a leadership and retention investment. If you'd like to put the case to your MD, the For Agencies page makes the full commercial argument for you.
For any questions before applying, email [email protected] or book a call.
WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY
"I was supporting the team and doing a lot of the doing as opposed to leading. Now I have definitely moved away from the heavy doing and my leadership style is more coaching and delegating.
My team look up to me now as a leader and I have created a safe environment. We're seeing better performance and great profit output from the team.
I feel like I've grown to be a good leader, fair to the team, and have created a safe space for my team. They respect me and my time."
Head of Events | Callow Events
"I was supporting the team and doing a lot of the doing as opposed to leading. Now I have definitely moved away from the heavy doing and my leadership style is more coaching and delegating.
My team look up to me now as a leader and I have created a safe environment. We're seeing better performance and great profit output from the team.
I feel like I've grown to be a good leader, fair to the team, and have created a safe space for my team. They respect me and my time."
WHAT PARTICIPANTS SAY
"I was supporting the team and doing a lot of the doing as opposed to leading. Now I have definitely moved away from the heavy doing and my leadership style is more coaching and delegating.
My team look up to me now as a leader and I have created a safe environment. We're seeing better performance and great profit output from the team.
I feel like I've grown to be a good leader, fair to the team, and have created a safe space for my team. They respect me and my time."
Head of Events | Callow Events
"I was supporting the team and doing a lot of the doing as opposed to leading. Now I have definitely moved away from the heavy doing and my leadership style is more coaching and delegating.
My team look up to me now as a leader and I have created a safe environment. We're seeing better performance and great profit output from the team.
I feel like I've grown to be a good leader, fair to the team, and have created a safe space for my team. They respect me and my time."
IS THIS THE RIGHT NEXT STEP?
It is if you recognise yourself in any of this:
You're already capable and already trusted but the role has grown and nobody has ever given you the frameworks to lead at this level properly. Y
ou're working harder than you should be. You're ready to change that not just feel better about it, but actually lead differently.
You work in a creative, events, experiential or exhibition agency and you understand that the pressures in this world are specific. Generic leadership advice doesn't cut it.
You're ready to commit nine weeks to doing this properly not as a course you sit through, but as a programme you actively work with.
If that's you, the September cohort has 8 places.
STILL NOT SURE?
Frequently Asked Questions
Question 1: Who is the Above the Line Programme designed for?
The programme is designed for senior leaders and managers in creative, events, experiential and exhibition agencies including Heads of Department, Client Services Directors, Heads of Events, Senior Producers, Account Directors and Delivery Leads who have taken on or are stepping into greater responsibility.
You're already capable and already trusted. What's missing is the structured support to lead consistently at the level the role now requires.
Question 2: Is this leadership coaching or training?
Both and that's intentional. The programme blends structured teaching with coaching and peer learning specifically because each approach does something the others can't.
Teaching gives you the frameworks and language. Coaching gives you the space to apply them to what's live for you right now. Peer learning gives you the perspective of eight other leaders navigating the same pressures in the same industry.
You leave genuinely capable not just inspired.
Question 3: Is the programme suitable for agency-sponsored leaders?
Yes and many participants are sponsored by their agency, rightly so because the return lands at the organisational level, not just the individual one.
If you'd like to put the case to your MD, the For Agencies page makes the full commercial argument for you. At £1,800 per participant, this is one of the most cost-effective investments an agency can make in a key person.
Question 4: How is this different from traditional leadership courses?
Three things make it different. First, it's built specifically for creative, events, experiential and exhibition agencies not generic corporate content retrofitted to agency life. The scenarios, the language and the frameworks all come from nearly thirty years inside this world.
Second, it runs over nine weeks rather than a single intensive day because real behavioural change doesn't happen in a room, it happens over time with structured support between sessions.
Third, it's led by someone who has lived what you're navigating not an external consultant working from a textbook.
Let's Connect
Leadership Coaching and Consultancy for Established Creative and Events Agencies
The Leadership Line works with MDs and founders of established creative, events, experiential and exhibition agencies navigating mergers, acquisitions, restructures and new leadership appointments building the leadership layer their agency needs to execute strategy and grow without the MD being the bottleneck.
Founded by Suzy Malhotra, with nearly 30 years co-founding and running a design and exhibition agency. This isn't coaching from the outside. It's straight talk from someone who has lived this world from the inside.
Based in Henley-on-Thames | Working with agencies across the UK and globally
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