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trusted operator academy
You have the right person. The role just grew faster than the support did.
You've watched them step up every time you needed them to. You know what they're capable of. You're just waiting for the role and the person to finally catch up to each other.
THE PROBLEM NOBODY NAMES
There is someone in your business you trust. You have trusted them for a while now.
They know the work. They show up when it matters. And somewhere in the last year or two, the gap between what you need from them and what they can currently give you has gotten harder to ignore.
Not because they are not capable. Because the role got bigger than the support did.
You have probably said some version of: I need you to be more strategic. Or: I need you to stop solving things personally and start building systems. Or you've said nothing, because you're not sure how to say it without making them feel like they're failing.
They are not failing. They are under-developed for a role that most businesses never develop anyone for.
That is the gap TOA closes.
WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENCE
Most leadership programs take people out of their work to develop them. Case studies. Cohorts in conference rooms. Frameworks that have nothing to do with the actual business sitting in front of them.
Your operator comes back more informed. The business is exactly the same.
In the Trusted Operator Academy, your operator builds the structure inside your actual organization, applied to your real problems, alongside a small cohort of peers navigating the same terrain. The development happens in the work, not adjacent to it.
Twenty weeks. Fourteen sessions. A more capable operator, a clearer picture of what the business needs, and the momentum to build it.
The Program
The Trusted Operator Academy is a 20-week cohort experience for operators in founder-led businesses, the people in COO-adjacent roles who are ready to lead at the level the role requires.
Four arcs. Twenty weeks. Six to eight seats per cohort. A small cohort of peers navigating the same terrain.
Every session answers the same question: how does mastering this make me more trustworthy, and what does that trust make possible for the business?
$6,500 per seat.
Sponsored by the founder on behalf of their operator.
THE FOUR PROGRAM ARCS
The program runs across four arcs, each building on the last.
Who You Are
Your operator builds the foundation before anything structural can land. Values, role clarity, systems thinking, and the trust architecture of the founder/operator relationship. Everything else in the program is in service of this.
How You Operate
Your operator learns to steward the system's resources, authority, capacity, and focus so you can trust the business is being held well without you in the room. Decision ownership, governance, financial fluency, and priority integrity are all built here.
How You Lead
Your operator builds the conditions for others to do their best work. People leadership, change adoption, culture stewardship, and operational rhythm, applied inside your actual organization with your actual team.
Who You're Becoming
This is where the work gets integrated and owned. Your operator leaves with clarity on what changed in the business, what they are now capable of, and what comes next. The program ends. The work does not.
The Founding Cohort
The first cohort starts October 15, 2026. Six to eight seats.
Founding cohort members receive benefits that future cohorts will not.
Drop your email to find out what they are, and to stay in the loop as program details and registration opens up.
Is this right for you?
The right founder has someone in the business already. Trusted, capable, carrying more than is sustainable. They are not looking to fix their operator. They are ready to invest in developing them.
The right operator is already in the role. Ready to build. Not waiting to be ready.
If that is not where you are, this is not the right moment. If it is, the founding cohort is the right way in.
for the operator
Trusted with the role. Ready to lead it.
The expectations are real. The responsibility is real. And the gap between where you are and where the role needs you to be is not a performance problem. It is a development gap, and most businesses do not have a way to close it.
This program was built for you. Not for leaders in general. Not for executives at large organizations. For the operator inside a founder-led business who is already trusted, already capable, and ready to build.
Fourteen live virtual sessions across twenty weeks. The weeks between sessions are where the work gets applied and what comes back to the room is never hypothetical.
Six to eight seats. Fall 2026.
Ask your founder to sponsor your seat.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Trusted Operator Academy is a 20-week cohort program for operators in founder-led businesses, the people in COO-adjacent roles who are responsible for keeping execution moving as the organization grows. Every session is applied to real work inside the participant's actual organization, alongside a small cohort of peers navigating the same terrain. It is not training, not coaching, and not consulting. It is a structured development experience that produces a more capable leader and a more functional organization simultaneously.
The founder (business) sponsors the seat on behalf of their operator. The program is designed for founders who have someone in the business they trust, a right hand, a director of operations, a general manager, an operations manager or lead who is capable but has never had structured support for leading at this level. The founder invests in their operator's development. The operator does the work.
Most leadership programs develop people away from the work, through case studies, frameworks, and content that has nothing to do with the business in front of them. In The Trusted Operator Academy, the operator builds the structure themselves, inside their actual organization, applied to their real problems in real time. The result is not just a more capable leader. It is a more functional organization, built by the person who will own it when the program ends.
The right operator is already in the role, trusted, capable, and carrying more responsibility than they have ever had structured support for. They do not need to be ready in the sense of having everything figured out. They need to be ready to do real work, apply new thinking inside their actual organization, and show up consistently for 18 weeks, across 14 sessions. If your operator is someone you trust and you have been waiting for them to operate more strategically, they are ready.
The Trusted Operator Academy is a SOLVED Collective program.
Learn more about Lindsay Sheldrake and SOLVED Collective.
START with TRUST
Most engagements begin with a conversation. Book a discovery call and we'll look at where your business is, where trust is breaking down, and what would help most.
Have questions? Read Our FAQs
Fractional executive support for founders of growing service businesses. We build the operational structure that makes trust possible and stepping back safe.
Located in Calgary, Alberta | Serving clients across Canada
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