Our Story
From accidental manager to a community of 6,800+.
The story of how one struggling manager's search for a better way to lead became a community of thousands, and a new way to develop managers entirely.
The challenge · 2020
In 2020, Josh Gain experienced what millions of managers face: the jarring transition from individual contributor to people leader. Promoted from his successful sales role at Gartner because he hit his targets, he suddenly found himself responsible for developing others, with virtually no preparation for a completely different role.
Like so many accidental managers, Josh was overwhelmed. The skillset that made him successful in sales, individual drive, personal accountability, direct results, did not translate to managing people. He was facing a complete change of mindset, skillset and responsibility, and the minimal training he received felt disconnected from the daily reality he was living.
Minimal training
Thrown into the deep end with little guidance on how to actually manage people.
A complete mindset shift
From driving personal results to developing and empowering others.
Reality versus training
Traditional training felt theoretical, disconnected from the real challenges of the job.
I was struggling, feeling isolated, and the training I did receive didn't match what I was actually facing every day. I knew there had to be a better way to learn how to be a manager.
The discovery
Determined to figure out what effective management actually looked like, Josh took an experimental approach. Instead of waiting for the next corporate training session, he started seeking out real insight from real people who were succeeding in the same kind of role.
- Finding other managers on the same journey to soundboard ideas and problems
- Connecting with mentors who had already walked the path
- Taking small insights from courses, books and events to experiment with
- Holding himself accountable by sharing his learning journey openly
The weekly email
To hold himself accountable, Josh started writing a weekly email about what he was learning, who he was speaking to, what was working and, crucially, what he was failing at. The vulnerability and the honesty resonated. What began as accountability for Josh became a lifeline for other managers who felt just as isolated and unprepared.
What enabled Josh to develop wasn't off-site training days or theoretical frameworks. It was community learning.
Our journey
From a weekly email to a movement.
What started as one struggling manager holding himself accountable has become a community changing how management development works.
2020
The accidental manager
Josh was promoted from a successful sales role at Gartner straight into management, the classic accidental manager story. Like so many others, he received minimal training and was thrown into the deep end, facing a complete change of mindset, skillset and responsibility that left him overwhelmed.
ChallengeIsolated and unprepared for the reality of people leadership.
Early 2021
The weekly email experiment
To hold himself accountable, Josh started writing a weekly email about his management learning journey: what he was learning, who he was speaking to, and crucially, what he was failing at. It started with just three other new managers at Gartner.
ChallengeBuilding real vulnerability into professional development.
Mid 2021
The kindling of community
The managers who joined weren't just reading. They embraced learning together, sharing their struggles and wins, getting vulnerable about their challenges. They started meeting virtually, supporting each other, and trading real knowledge from their daily management lives.
AchievementReaders became active learning partners in each other's growth.
2021
The leap of faith
As COVID hit and the community grew with managers struggling in a virtual world, Josh faced a choice: continue his corporate trajectory, or serve this growing community. He chose community. He quit his job, raised seed capital, and 10X Managers was born.
ChallengeChoosing purpose and community over corporate security.
Dec 2021
LeadersLab launches
LeadersLab was born: a community-focused development platform built to help leaders develop through community and insight, not just another repository of content and courses. It embodied everything Josh had learned about what actually works.
AchievementA platform that puts community learning ahead of content consumption.
Sign Up For A Free Trial of LeadersLab→Jul 2022
The Manager Strength Index
We launched our proprietary assessment technology, benchmarked against the wider community. It reveals blind spots and helps managers become more self-aware about how they can best develop.
AchievementTechnology that personalises development against community benchmarks.
Jan 2023
Community cadence established
The community was thriving: monthly events, new weekly content, regular interaction. We had built a development cadence that worked for our managers, proving community-driven learning could scale.
AchievementA sustainable engagement model that scales community learning.
Dec 2023
1,500 managers strong
Our community had grown to 1,500 managers, all learning from each other, experimenting with insights, and turning knowledge into habit. The methodology was working at scale, and word was spreading organically.
AchievementProof that a community-first approach works at scale.
Jan 2024
Bespoke development launches
We launched our enterprise offering: bespoke programmes that replicate the community methodology inside organisations. Not just delivering training, but delivering measured change, as true partners in transformation.
AchievementThe methodology proven in enterprise settings across industries.
See Our Methodology→Dec 2024
AI-enhanced development
The future arrived with Tensai, our AI coach making world-class coaching available around the clock, and the Execution Plan that personalises the journey for every manager. Technology enhancing human connection, not replacing it.
AchievementAI that enhances human development rather than replacing it.
Today
6,800+ managers and growing
Over 6,800 managers in our community, 100+ B2B clients across 12 industries, and a team of 20. We now offer three development journeys: Ignite for individuals, Accelerators for cohorts, and Bespoke for organisational transformation.
AchievementBuilding the future of management development, one manager at a time.
See evidence of the great work we do→
How we do it
What Josh learned for himself became a method for everyone we work with.
Every client gets a dedicated Performance PartnerA Performance Partner is responsible for creating the conditions that enable your managers and leaders to solve the real problems on their plate.A dedicated 10X expert who embeds into your business and is accountable for whether your managers actually execute. Not a trainer who turns up and leaves: someone your people know by name and can pick up the phone to.See full explanation of a Performance Partner who embeds into their team. Not a trainer who turns up, delivers and leaves, but someone their managers know by name, accessible long after the workshop, and measured on whether their people actually move. We call it Performance Partnering.
Our mission
To develop managers and leaders by helping them solve the real problems on their plate.
The three principles it runs on
01
Data
We surface what is really going on, then prove whether it moved. We don't measure learning. We measure movement.
“Your CFO sees results, not attendance sheets.”
02
Community
Managers learn fastest from each other. We unlock the intelligence already inside your business instead of importing a guru.
“A community, not a guru.”
03
Execution
We take responsibility for what happens after the room: the commitments, the cadence, the accountability. Development happens through action.
“Action is the default, not the hope.”
Where we are today
A thriving community, from startups to the Fortune 500.
Our managers aren't just consuming content. They are actively experimenting, sharing insight and growing together, and becoming better leaders in the process.
6,800+
managers in the community
100+
B2B clients
12
industries
In their words
“I have been on a lot of previous management and leadership development courses, and this one really was the best.”
“10X Managers is doing a terrific job to accelerate global awareness and help transform the way leaders lead.”
“Your LeadersLab platform is amazing, such a great idea and way to help managers be the best they can be with ideas and suggestions.”
“It was great to get into the depths of how to hold more difficult conversations with confidence, and when the right time is to have them.”
We're only just getting started
Every struggling manager deserves better than being thrown into the deep end.
That conviction still drives everything we build. We have replaced teachers talking at groups for days with embedded partners who help managers solve the real problems in front of them, and a community of thousands who grow together along the way.