Inclusive Spaces Consulting

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Lincoln, NE
Inclusive Spaces Consulting

Helping organizations build healthier, more human-centered workplaces through evidence-informed leadership, workplace wellness, and culture strategy.

09/28/2026

Here at Inclusive Spaces, we approach workplace dynamics a bit differently. We believe:

➡️ A workplace can have a burnout problem without having a resilience problem.

➡️ A team can have a communication problem and NOT need communication training.

➡️ An employee can look disengaged without actually lacking motivation.

➡️ A leader can struggle with delegation without simply needing to “let go of control.”

One of the things I keep coming back to in my work is the difference between a symptom and a root cause.

Let's be honest, workplaces are FULL of well-intentioned solutions aimed at the thing we can see:

🔥 Burnout? Offer EAP and stress-management resources.

💬 Communication issues? Schedule a training.

📉 Engagement is down? Add a social committee—and make sure the all-hands meeting has PIZZA!

😬 Conflict? Train them on yet ANOTHER framework for having difficult conversations.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes those things do help.

💡But what if burnout is being reinforced by a sense of chronic urgency and unclear priorities?

What if the communication problem is actually a psychological safety problem?

What if people aren't lazy or unmotivated—their work just doesn't feel meaningful, expectations keep changing, or their effort consistently goes unnoticed?

What if the leader who won't delegate is operating in a system where mistakes aren't safe—and they don't trust anyone else with the level of perfection they believe is required?

In all these scenarios, treating the symptom might make things FEEL better without changing the conditions that keep recreating it.

I call that “fake peace.” 💯

You know, the kind of peace that still requires everyone to walk on eggshells?

This is a big part of how I approach workplace strategy.

I'm interested in the people, absolutely.

But I'm also interested in what's happening AROUND the people: the expectations, norms, leadership behaviors, workflows, incentives, unspoken rules, and all the little things we've normalized because “that's just how it works here.”

So the focus of the work isn't necessarily, “How do we get this person to change?”

More often it's, "What in the workplace is making things harder than they should be?"

And THAT question can take us somewhere very different. 💛

09/14/2026

Final call: Applications close today! 📢

The Fall 2026 Founding Cohort of the Empowered Leadership Journey begins October 15.

This six-month virtual experience is designed for people-centered leaders who want to:

✨ Communicate with greater clarity and compassion
✨ Navigate conflict with more confidence
✨ Set boundaries and delegate without guilt
✨ Coach others toward ownership and growth
✨ Lead with greater intention and self-awareness

Participants receive six monthly Leadership Labs, monthly Office Hours, a Hogan MVPI leadership assessment, and a private 45-minute Hogan debrief—all within a small, confidential cohort.

You do not need to have “manager” in your title. This Journey is also designed for aspiring leaders, informal leaders, project and program leaders, and people who meaningfully influence others.

If you’ve been considering it, today is the day! 💚

Learn more and apply here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/qqUSzPVCPm

09/12/2026

The application deadline has been extended through 9-14 for Inclusive Spaces Consulting 's signature leadership development experience: The Empowered Leadership Journey. Over the 6 month Journey, our founding cohort will explore their values-aligned leadership identity, gain more insight into how they show up as leaders, and gain practical skills they can start practicing in their own environments immediately.

This experience is being facilitated by Inclusive Spaces Founder & Principal Workplace Consultant Maggie Thompson, an organizational psychologist dedicated to making work a place that feels safe for people to show up, do their best work, and be treated as a valued human being - all without compromising accountability or performance.

Multiple funding options, including employer sponsorship, are available. Learn more and apply here ➡️
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/qqUSzPVCPm

09/11/2026

ANNOUNCEMENT:
A few of you reached out after applications closed to say you had missed the deadline. As I finalize the founding cohort, I do have a few seats still available so I’m opening one short, final application window!

The Empowered Leadership Journey is a six-month experience for emerging, newer, and informal leaders who want practical support with the parts of leadership that rarely fit neatly into a training manual:

• Leading from your identity and values
• Setting boundaries and delegating without guilt
• Navigating conflict and difficult conversations
• Coaching others without taking over
• Putting leadership insight into everyday practice

We’ll meet one Thursday each month from 4:00–5:30 p.m. Central, beginning October 15. The Journey also includes a Hogan MVPI assessment and individual debrief with me, monthly Office Hours, and a small cohort where we can learn and practice honestly together.

And because funding has been one of the biggest questions, there are several ways to make the investment possible:

• Full employer sponsorship
• Employer and participant splitting the cost
• Professional development, leadership development, or staff-training funds
• A $500 deposit followed by monthly payments of approximately $292
• A limited $1,500 paid-in-full access rate for eligible nonprofit professionals

I can also provide materials to help you request employer funding and invoice your organization directly.

The final application window closes Monday, September 14 at 5:00 p.m. Central. Because the Journey begins next month, applicants should be prepared to confirm their participation and funding promptly.

If this sounds like the support you’ve been looking for, or someone immediately came to mind, the application link is in the comments. 👇🏼

08/26/2026

🔥 Coming in with another workplace HOT TAKE...

Do people need to get outside their comfort zones to grow and develop? Absolutely.

Do we have to throw people in the deep end and make them suffer because that's how we learned? Absolutely not.

Discomfort and psychological safety are NOT mutually exclusive! 📢

Research on workplace learning shows that psychological safety creates important conditions for people to ask questions, seek feedback, discuss mistakes, experiment, and learn.

That doesn't mean lowering expectations or removing challenge. It means creating an environment where taking the interpersonal risks that come with learning doesn't also mean risking embarrassment, punishment, or loss of credibility. 💯

People can be stretched AND supported.

They can be accountable AND still have room to learn.

They can make a mistake, own it, understand it, adjust, and try again.

Psychological safety isn't the absence of discomfort. Sometimes it's what makes productive discomfort possible.

And that's a very different approach to developing people than simply throwing them into the deep end and hoping they learn to swim.

08/22/2026

Inclusive Spaces is proud to be a part of this important event, and would love to see you today between 12-5pm!

As champions of neurodiversity and inclusion, we understand the importance of setting people up for success. The Autism Support Unit is one way that we can do that here in our community.

If you would like to support but are unable to attend the event, we would appreciate a small donation (every little bit helps) at www.autismsupportunit.com on the fundraiser tab.

Thanks for helping to set our autistic neighbors up for success!

08/18/2026

“You may walk in thinking you are going to learn about leadership, but you may leave learning just as much about yourself.”

This reflection from an Empowered Leadership Journey pilot participant captures something essential about the experience:

Leadership development often focuses on what effective leaders should do. But knowing the right behavior doesn’t automatically make it easier to practice - especially when we’re under pressure, navigating conflict, setting a difficult boundary, or trying to release control.

That’s why the Empowered Leadership Journey combines evidence-based leadership development with:

✨ Reflection on the values and patterns shaping how you lead
✨ A Hogan values assessment and individual debrief
✨ Practice and application between sessions
✨ Monthly Office Hours for real leadership situations
✨ A consistent, supportive cohort
✨ Six months to reflect, practice, and grow

Self-awareness matters, but its real value comes from turning insight into intentional practice.

Applications for the Fall 2026 founding cohort are open for 10 MORE DAYS through August 28!

Learn more and apply here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/qqUSzPVCPm

08/17/2026

A goal tells us about our desired outcome.

A system turns that intention into repeated practice through the habits, norms, processes, and structures that shape what happens over time.

We need both! Goals provide direction, while systems determine whether that direction becomes reality.

At Inclusive Spaces Consulting, we examine that alignment at every level.

In the **Empowered Leadership Journey**, we explore participants’ internal systems: the beliefs, values, habits, stress responses, and learned patterns shaping how they lead.

In team and organizational engagements, we examine the surrounding ecosystem: roles, relationships, expectations, workflows, incentives, and workplace norms.

Because the visible challenge is rarely the whole story.

Difficulty delegating might be rooted in perfectionism, unclear expectations, or a culture that rewards over-functioning.

Recurring team conflict might reflect unclear roles, competing priorities, or an environment where honest conversation doesn’t feel safe.

We don’t stop at the visible part of the iceberg. We explore what lies beneath it and how those underlying pieces interact to produce what we see.

That’s where sustainable change begins: not by repeatedly treating the symptom, but by aligning the everyday practices and systems underneath it with the outcome we’re trying to create.

08/10/2026

How did YOUR stomach feel last night?

And leaders - how do you think your employees’ stomachs felt?

Sunday-night dread isn’t always caused by workplace culture...But when that tightness is consistently connected to unclear expectations, unsustainable workloads, unresolved conflict, low psychological safety, or uncertainty about what version of a leader will walk through the door on Monday morning?? That’s data. 💯

Culture isn’t just what an organization says it values, it’s what people’s bodies have learned to expect.

So before answering on behalf of your employees, consider a harder question:
How would you actually know how they’re experiencing your workplace?

What signals are you paying attention to, and what might your team not feel safe enough to tell you?

This kind of awareness is at the heart of the Empowered Leadership Journey: helping thoughtful, people-centered leaders better understand their impact, respond with greater intention, and create healthier experiences for the people they lead.

Applications for the Fall Founding Cohort are now open. Learn more here ➡️ https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/qqUSzPVCPm

08/03/2026

Applications are officially open! ✨

The Empowered Leadership Journey: Fall 2026 Founding Cohort is a six-month experience for leaders who care deeply about leading well - but want greater confidence, clarity, and consistency in how they show up.

It is designed especially for leaders in people-centered and helping professions who are navigating real challenges like:

➡️ Communicating through tension
➡️ Delegating and setting boundaries
➡️ Coaching, developing, and supporting others
➡️ Better understanding the impact of their leadership
➡️ Becoming less reactive and responding more intentionally
➡️ Leading well without sacrificing their values in the process

This will be an intentionally small cohort of just 5-7 participants.

The experience includes six monthly Leadership Labs, an individual Hogan assessment and debrief, monthly Office Hours, practical tools, and opportunities to apply the learning between sessions.

📅 October 2026–March 2027
💻 Virtual cohort
💛 Five to seven participants
💰 $2,250 founding investment; $500 deposit
📝 Applications due August 28

I’m also honored to offer 📣 one fully sponsored seat for a leader working within a nonprofit organization 📣 who may not otherwise have access to this kind of professional development. Applicants can indicate their interest in the sponsored seat directly within the application.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and enrollment may close earlier if all seven seats are filled.

Learn more and apply here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/qqUSzPVCPm

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Lincoln, NE

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https://www.linkedin.com/company/inclusive-spaces-consulting, https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggiegossardthompson/, https:

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