Back to Basics Leadership Workshop.
A practical, no-fluff workshop that helps companies level up their leaders and team members. Built on real experience leading teams across global technology and outsourcing organizations.
Why companies run this workshop
The problemMost companies promote strong individual contributors into leadership roles and hope they figure it out. The result is a management layer with inconsistent skills, unclear expectations, and people who still work like senior team members instead of leaders.
Promoted for skill, not prepared for the role
Great engineers, analysts, or operators become managers without a playbook, training, or an honest conversation about what the job actually requires.
Inconsistent seniority across the same layer
One manager is ready for the next level. Another is still learning the basics. That gap makes alignment, delegation, and performance management harder for everyone.
Managers still doing the work instead of leading
Without a clear baseline, middle managers keep solving tasks themselves instead of building the people, systems, and trust that scale.
No shared language for leadership
When every manager defines "good leadership" differently, feedback, hiring, and promotion decisions become subjective and slow.
Also for team members ready to grow
The same four dimensions teach individual contributors how to manage up, deliver value, build peer trust, and prepare for the next step. It helps companies raise the bench before they hand people a team.
This workshop gives your leadership layer one common baseline: clear expectations, practical tools, and one concrete action they can use on Monday.
How the workshop works
4 / 2hrEvery session is built around real situations from the room. No slideware, no theory, no generic frameworks. Just honest conversations, practical tools, and a take-home guide.
Full program
4 sessions, 2 hours each
- Live on-site or remote
- Covers all four dimensions of professional impact
- One concrete action per session
- Take-home guide for every participant
Keynote / single session
One focused talk
- Ideal for larger groups or a first taste
- Pick one dimension or the leadership gap
- Real stories and immediately usable ideas
- Optional Q&A and discussion
Real stories
Every topic starts with a real situation from the field, not a textbook case.
Name the gap
We make the expectation vs reality gap explicit, so the room sees the real problem clearly.
One action
Each session closes with one concrete thing each participant can do on Monday.
Take-home guide
Participants leave with a practical guide they can keep using after the session.
Four dimensions of professional impact
01 / 04Managing Up
Making your boss your most important client: following up, escalating problems early, and communicating clearly.
Managing Yourself
Sustaining your drive and balancing your well-being, including living your life beyond work.
Managing Teams
Mastering the core concepts of leading and developing people, and stopping working like a team member.
Managing Sideways
Building trust and navigating peer relationships: influence without authority.
About Mateo
Facilitator
Mateo Bervejillo is a CEO, author, podcaster, and musician with more than fifteen years leading teams across global technology and outsourcing organizations, from first-time supervisor to running operations at scale.
He is an attorney by training, but spent most of his career in outsourcing. He started leading teams in 2009 at Tata Consultancy Services, where he learned process, documentation, quality, and the fundamentals of outsourcing. He later led a 60-person P2P team spanning Procurement, Legal, and Accounts Payable.
In 2013 he joined Altisource, a US company with a captive center in Uruguay, where he led teams of 170+ people at peak across Uruguay, the US, and India while managing a 10,000+ vendor network in the US. He learned P&L ownership and how to drive aggressive cost reduction while improving vendor performance across the board. After founding a startup in 2020, he joined a software company as Ops VP, moved into sales and revenue growth, and later became CEO of Xseed, where he led a shift toward the US market and staff augmentation, growing the team from 5 to 100+ people.
Career path
Tata Consultancy Services
Started leading teams. Learned process, documentation, quality, and outsourcing. Ran a 60-person P2P team.
Altisource
Led 170+ people at peak across Uruguay, the US, and India. Managed a 10,000+ vendor network and P&L cost reduction.
Startup founder
Founded a startup, learned what failure teaches, then joined a software company as Ops VP and moved into sales.
Xseed
Partner, then CEO. Shifted focus to the US market and staff augmentation. Grew the team from 5 to 100+ people.
From 32 chapters to your Monday morning.
Most new leaders are promoted for their technical skills, then left to figure out the rest on their own. No training, no playbook, no real preparation. The workshop takes the book's 32 short chapters, drawn from over fifteen years leading teams across global technology and outsourcing organizations, and applies them to the team you lead today.
- Each topic confronts a common expectation with how things actually work.
- Every session closes with one concrete thing you can do to get better.
- Built for first-time leaders and anyone sharpening the fundamentals.
Praise for Back to Basics
5.0 out of 5 starsThe leadership playbook I wish I had on day one
“It's exactly what it promises: back to basics. No long theories, just practical advice and real world examples. Great quick read for both new and experienced managers.”
Adrian Halaburda · Verified Purchase
Real talk from someone who's actually been in the trenches
“As someone working toward their first leadership role, this book is gold. Short chapters, zero fluff, and every one ends with something you can act on right now.”
Aaron G. · Verified Purchase
Great resource for new leaders, useful reminders for experienced ones
“Organized into managing up, managing yourself, managing teams, and managing sideways, giving readers a 360 perspective on influencing an organization.”
Dean Barker
Request a session
Tell me about your team and what you need. I'll get back to you within two business days with availability and next steps.
Ready to level up your leadership layer?
Bring the workshop to your team, or join an upcoming session. Available on Kindle, Paperback and Hardcover if you want to start with the book.