A 2-Day Leadership Retreat for ACAMIS Middle Leaders
Lead Forward
Reflect. Reground. Reposition.
Beijing International Bilingual Academy
May 7-8, 2027
Dates
Friday & Saturday
May 7-8, 2027
Time
May 7 Fri: 9:00AM - 6:00PM
May 8 Sat: 8:00AM - 4:00PM
Certificate Program
10 Hours of Professional Development will be Awarded
Early Bird Price*
ACAMIS Members: USD 400
Non-members: USD 480
*Available until April 6, 2027.
Leadership doesn't become easier with experience - it becomes more expansive.
As leaders take on greater responsibility, complexity, and visibility, the challenge shifts. It is no longer about acquiring more tools or strategies, but about sustaining clarity, energy, and authority while navigating constant demands.
Lead Forward is a two-day, in-person retreat designed for experienced middle leaders who want space to pause, reflect, and intentionally reposition how they lead, without adding more to their already full plates.
This retreat combines structured reflection, leadership insight, restorative wellbeing practices, and peer dialogue to support leaders in strengthening their leadership stance, renewing their capacity, and increasing their long-term impact.
Essential Question
How can I lead with clarity, sustainability, and influence in the year ahead - without over-functioning or burning out?
Who This Is For
This retreat is designed for:
Middle leaders and senior leaders with sustained responsibility
Leaders who value reflection, depth, and professional honesty
Those seeking renewal and clarity, not another checklist
Purposes & Outcomes
By the end of the retreat, participants will:
Make sense of the past year of leadership, identifying key patterns, pressures, and learning.
Understand how leadership load, stress, and over-responsibility impact decision-making and effectiveness.
Strengthen self-regulation, boundaries, and energy management as core leadership capacities.
Clarify the values, strengths, and behaviours that anchor their leadership.
Articulate a clear leadership stance that guides how they show up under pressure.
Leave with renewed clarity, grounded confidence, and a shared sense of connection with peers.
This is not a compliance-driven training or action-planning workshop. It is a carefully facilitated leadership experience that supports depth, renewal, and meaningful recalibration.
Pricing
ACAMIS Members
USD 500
USD 400 pp*
Non-members
USD 580
USD 480 pp*
*Early Bird Discount ends on April 6, 2027.
Retreat Structure
The retreat is structured around four connected sessions, delivered across two days, with a strong emphasis on integration, reflection, and application through lived leadership experience.
Day 1 | May 7 Fri.
Sense-Making and Renewal
Session 1
Extracting the Learning: A Leadership Year in Review
9:00AM - 10:30AM, 15’ break, 10:45AM - 12:15PM
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Participants begin by reflecting on the past year of leadership - acknowledging achievements, examining challenges, and identifying patterns that have shaped their work.
Through guided reflection and dialogue, leaders will explore:
Where leadership energy was well spent
Where they may have over-functioned or carried unnecessary load
What the year has revealed about their leadership habits and pressures
This session creates a shared foundation for intentional growth and change.
Session 2
Leading Under Load: Wellbeing, Boundaries, and Sustainable Authority
1:15PM - 2:45PM, 15’ break, 3:00PM - 4:30PM
-
Leadership effectiveness is inseparable from leader wellbeing.
This session reframes ‘self-care’ as a leadership responsibility, exploring how stress, nervous system regulation, and boundary management affect judgement, presence, and influence.
Participants will:
Examine the hidden costs of chronic leadership pressure
Understand the link between wellbeing, authority, and team culture
Learn practical strategies to protect energy, clarity, and decision-making quality
Restorative Outdoor Experience (End of Day 1)
Day 1 concludes with a facilitated outdoor restorative experience, designed to help leaders physically and mentally process the learning from the day.
Through guided reflection, movement, and quiet dialogue, participants are invited to:
Release accumulated leadership load
Reconnect with themselves beyond the role
Restore focus and emotional balance
This experience is intentionally non-performative and accessible, offering space to reset rather than “do more”.
Day 2 | May 8 Fri.
Identity, Influence, and Leadership Posture
Session 3
Visioning for Impact: Values, Strengths, and Leadership Identity
9:00AM - 10:30AM, 15’ break, 10:45AM - 12:15PM
-
Leadership vision is not only about aspiration, it is about consistency.
In this session, participants will explore:
The values and strengths that underpin their leadership
How they want to be experienced by others
What they need to protect, strengthen, or let go of to lead with integrity
Leaders will refine a values-anchored leadership vision that is practical, authentic, and sustainable.
Session 4
Leadership Stance and Influence: Who I Am Becoming as a Leader
1:15PM - 2:45PM, 15’ break, 3:00PM - 4:30PM
-
The retreat concludes by shifting focus from what leaders do to how they show up.
Rather than action planning, this session supports participants to:
Identify personal leadership drift patterns
Clarify their leadership stance under pressure
Articulate a small number of intentional commitments that guide future behaviour
Participants leave with a clear internal compass, a leadership posture they can return to when decisions are difficult and demands are high.
Lead Forward offers experienced ACAMIS leaders the rare opportunity to step out of the day-to-day, reconnect with what matters most, and return to their roles with renewed clarity, steadiness, and purpose.
It is leadership development that honours complexity, protects wellbeing, and supports leaders to lead forward with intention.
Facilitators
Claire Peet
Leadership Development and Professional Learning Consultant, Contracted ACAMIS PD Coordinator
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Claire Peet is an experienced international education consultant specialising leadership development and professional learning programming. She works with international schools across Asia to support learning and development systems, sustainable change implementation and leadership growth pathways.
Dean Clayden
Director of Professional Learning, Senior Consultant, Trainer and Speaker
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Dean Clayden has extensive experience in international and bilingual education, having held key leadership roles in teaching, learning, and professional development. His career spans multiple UK and international schools, including two prestigious institutions in Shanghai, China. As Director of Professional Learning for a group of schools in China, Dean has extensive experience of consulting and partnering with leaders to build coaching cultures that enable teachers and leaders to thrive.
Learn with Peers at
Beijing International Bilingual Academy
No.1 Yumin Road, Houshayu, Shunyi District, Beijing, China 101300
Dr. Andrew Miller
Head of Academics / Academic Principal 学术校长
Recommended Hotels
Atour Hotel Tianbei Road, New International Exhibition Center, Beijing
北京临空新国展亚朵酒店
1st Floor, Courtyard 35, Shuangyu North Street, Shunyi District, Beijing
北京市顺义区双裕北街 35 号院 1 层
Contact:
Luo Yuhan 罗裕涵
Tel: 13693073776
-
Rate includes two breakfasts, 20%-off based on the online price. (~ ¥ 400) (优惠政策：含双早，网络价格 8 折（约 400 元）)
Hampton by Hilton Beijing Linkong New International Exhibition Center北京临空新国展希尔顿欢朋酒店
Building 1, Courtyard 35, Shuangyu North Street, Houshayu Town, Shunyi District, Beijing
北京市顺义区后沙峪镇双裕北街 35 号院 1 号楼
Contact:
Li Gen 李根
Mobile: 18611340512
-
Discount Policy: Rate includes two breakfasts, free room upgrade available. (~¥480) (优惠政策：含双早 可免费升级房型 (约 480 元))
Early Bird Now Open
🐦
Early Bird Now Open 🐦
Pricing
ACAMIS Members
USD 500
USD 400 pp*
Non-members
USD 580
USD 480 pp*
*Early Bird Discount ends on April 6, 2027.