For leaders who manage people

Leadership gets real when relationships get hard.

How you show up in those moments, with your team, your peers and your organisation, is what separates good leaders from genuinely great ones.

I work with people leaders who are capable, committed and ready to go beyond the surface of leadership. Not just what you do, but how you relate. That's where the real people work is.

Not sure where to begin? Start with your 1:1s. It's where most of your leadership actually happens.

Start with the 1:1 Meeting Reset
Client Access
Relational Leadership Method

Leadership gets real when relationships get hard.

For managers figuring this out in real time, without a manual, without enough support, and without anyone telling them it's okay to find this difficult.

Not sure where to begin? Start with your 1:1s. It's where most of your leadership actually happens.

Start with the 1:1 Meeting Reset
THE TRUTH NO ONE SAYS OUT LOUD

Most leadership training skips the hard part.

The ones in the real moments.

It teaches you what good leadership looks like. It gives you a model, a framework, a checklist. And then you head back to work, and by the following week, old habits creep back in.

Knowing what good leadership looks like and actually doing it under pressure, with real people, in real moments, are two completely different things.

Start Your Journey Here

START HERE · SELF-PACED WORKSHOP

Start with your 1:1s.

It's where most of your leadership actually happens, and where it most often slides into status updates. The 1:1 Meeting Reset shows you how to turn that half hour into the conversation that builds trust, ownership and better thinking in your team.

  • Why 1:1s drift, and the three design flaws behind it
  • Four leadership moves, from resetting the purpose to closing with direction
  • The silence skill, and what to say when it gets awkward
  • Your toolkit: pre-planners, the Conversation Page and the Relational Agreement

Work through it in your own time, then take one thing straight into your next 1:1.

See what's inside →

Get the workshop, $97
REAL WORDS FROM REAL MANAGERS

The kind of thing you don't forget.

 "

Brooke held the room so carefully, sharing practice insights with a strong focus on the intersection of practice and lived experience. She is a skilled and evidence-based presenter, and her time and expertise is much appreciated.

 

 TH - Lecturer 

 "

I can't explain how much more confident I feel approaching difficult conversations! My manager has recently given me phrase for my increase in confidence since I did the course, which is very motivating as I take on more leadership responsibilities in a period of change for my team,
I have learned more through the RLM course than I have from countless people management books, podcasts and even face-to-face training sessions. I use the tools ALL the time at work (and also my personal life too!)"       

 LT - Manager CSO

 "

The RLM leadership training has been wholeheartedly different from other leadership trainings I have attended - in the best way possible. 
 
The information and resources are engaging, direct, and authentic with a clear connection to the actual day to day moments in my role as a TL. The modules link knowledge to practice really well, and the tools and conversation prompts have been really effective in my 1:1's.  The uniqueness of this training is how the RLM is personalised to your individual skillset. It strengthens your gaps in knowledge and practice whilst also acknowledging and validating what you already are doing really well. I love how the content is structured in a way that you can return to it during live issues that you are managing. In practice, it's meant I have returned to particular modules or tools not only to prepare for those harder conversations, but I have also used them as a reflective prompt post conversation to further unpack the outcome and continue my development. Couldn't recommend this training any more!  
 

Sam - Team Leader NFP

Relationships are the missing piece.

You're doing well in your role. You're respected, reliable and known for getting things done.

But when conversations carry weight, when there's resistance, emotion or power at play, even committed leaders can feel something's off.

You've done the leadership programs. You've read the books. You show up and try to do things the right way. And still, when relationships get complicated, you don't feel fully equipped. Your influence in those moments doesn't land the way you know it should.

This isn't about ability. It's not a personality flaw. It's about how you relate to the people around you, and that's the part most leadership development never touches.

When you get the relational side right, influence follows. Decisions land differently. Conflict gets resolved and trust gets built. People move with you rather than around you.

That's what the Relational Leadership Method develops.

Brooke

Join the RLM Program Today
 

NEW · ONLINE GROUP LEADERSHIP COACHING

Leader2Leader founding cohort

For managers who know they're holding themselves back and are sick of second-guessing. Five places, live online, founding price $1,150.

Registration closes Monday 12 October

00

DAYS

00

HOURS

00

MINS

00

SECS

Register your interest

Where to start

_

1:1 COACHING
Start Here

_

LEARNING SPACE
Start Here

_

THE RLM
It's All Here

MEET BROOKE

I built collabbWAY because I kept seeing the same thing.

Managers who were committed to doing good, working incredibly hard, and still feeling like they were getting it wrong. It wasn't because they lacked commitment. It was because nobody had ever taught them the practical side of leading people, not just the theory.

I work differently from many leadership consultants, and that's by choice. My background in social work, blended with years of leading and managing teams in complex workplaces, gives me a perspective many leaders haven't come across before.

Most leadership programs teach people what good leadership looks like. They don't teach what to do when a direct report goes quiet in a 1:1, when a team meeting tips sideways, or when you've got ninety seconds to hold a standard without losing the relationship. That gap, between knowing and doing, is where most leadership development falls over.

If you're a leader in health, aged care, education or community services, this was built for you.

My Why

Start small. It's free.

Not ready to commit to anything yet?

That's completely fine.

 

My relational leadership playbook is what every manager needs:

Leadership Is The Small Moments.

The playbook has the words for 30 hard moments every manager faces, with what to actually say when the room tightens.

 

The Space Between - collabbWAY Blog

The Space Between is where relational leadership lives - in the moments, conversations, and connections between people. Written by Brooke Baxter of collabbWAY, it's a home for practical ideas on leading through relationships, designing healthier organisations, and building the kind of trust that makes teams actually work. Part reflection, part provocation, always grounded in real practice.

Leading The Person Above You

Sep 20, 2026