The Thinking Partnerships Course
THE
THINKING PARTNERSHIPS
PROGRAMME
Change how you listen for the rest of your life.
There are very few places left where a person can think, uninterrupted, and be met with someone else’s full attention. Meetings move fast. Conversations get noisy with advice, opinions, and the next thing on the agenda. So much of what people are really capable of thinking and doing never quite gets the breathing space it needs.
The Thinking Partnership Programme is where you discover how to create that breathing space.
Rooted in Nancy Kline’s Thinking Environment® approach, this programme teaches the Thinking Partnership Session: a structured way of paying attention to another person that allows them to think for themselves, often more clearly and more courageously than they thought possible. You’ll learn it as both Thinker and Thinking Partner, working with real issues that matter to you, alongside others doing the same.
It’s a genuinely human skill, and once you have it, you take it into every conversation you have from then on.
What you'll discover...
Across the programme, you’ll explore all Ten Components of a Thinking Environment, put them into practice, and experience their effect for yourself. You’ll learn:
- The Thinking Partnership Session | A repeatable structure for giving someone your complete, uninterrupted attention
- The Three Streams of Attention, and how to hold them in balance in real time
- Four Building Block Applications | Thinking Pairs, Dialogue, Rounds, and Open Discussion | for bringing this quality of thinking into meetings and groups, as well as one-to-one
- The discipline of listening without interruption or judgement | A subtle, demanding skill, and a hugely powerful one
- How to build genuinely Incisive Questions®, that gently remove the untrue assumptions holding someone’s thinking in place
- A deeper awareness of your own thinking, gained through real time spent as the Thinker, working on something that matters to you
You’ll leave with a practical process you can use immediately, and an understanding of the connection between attention and thought.
Who is this for...
No prior experience of the Thinking Environment is needed, just a genuine willingness to listen, to think, and to be honest.
It’s the natural next step if you’ve completed a Foundation course and want to go deeper into one-to-one work, and it’s a prerequisite for the Time to Think Coach qualifying course.
Why it matters...
Organisations and teams benefit enormously when the people leading them can genuinely listen. Leaders who’ve done this work are able to:
- Unlock independent thinking in the people around them
- Build trust and connection that holds under pressure
- Make more thoughtful decisions, having learned to pause with a question before rushing to answer it
- Develop others through attention
- Bring a calmer, clearer quality of thought into every conversation they’re part of
The result is more capable, confident thinkers, right across a team or organisation, and a culture where everyone’s thinking genuinely counts.
What makes his different...
I’ve spent over 25 years helping senior leaders and organisations think more clearly, working from the same conviction throughout:
that people already have what they need to think well, and simply need the right conditions to do it in.
I’m accredited by Time to Think as a Coach, Teacher, and Facilitator, and this work sits at the very heart of everything I do at The Clear Thinking Partnership.
I bring warmth, curiosity, and a healthy dose of boldness to this programme, because I believe clear thinking should feel human. You’ll find honest attention, real practice, and space to think properly about what genuinely matters to you, created by someone who has spent a career learning how transformative that can be.
Whether you’re here to sharpen a coaching practice, lead your team differently, or simply reclaim some of your own independent thinking, you’ll leave with something you can use straight away, and a way of listening that changes how you show up everywhere else.
The practical details...
Format | 2+1 days
Two consecutive days together, followed by a third day a few weeks later to consolidate and deepen your practice
Timings | 9.30am–5.00pm on the in-person days, 9.30am–3.00pm on the online day.
Full commitment to all three dates is essential
Group size | Limited to 4–6 participants, so everyone gets real practice time and proper attention
Location | Hosted near Blackpool, on Lancashire’s Fylde Coast, at a carefully chosen local venue
Fee | £975 + VAT per person, including programme materials and refreshments on the in-person days
What’s included | An open invitation to join our complimentary Thinking Partnerships Practice Group after the programme, to keep thinking alongside others in our growing network.
A deck of Cards for Clear Thinking to support your independent thinking going forward
Upcoming cohorts | Programmes run every month throughout the year, except August and December, which means we can build a cohort around the availability of the people taking part
Register your interest via the link below, and we’ll be in touch to talk through the details and find dates that work for your cohort.
What others think...
“I have had the privilege of taking part in the Thinking Partnership Programme – and it’s left me feeling inspired! The experience reminded me how powerful it is to give space for thinking, to listen deeply, and to ask the right questions rather than supplying answers.
I really want to express my appreciation to Bev Holden as the host. I valued your warmth, your ability to create a safe and open environment, and the way you guided us through each exercise with clarity, energy, and encouragement. Your approach made it easy to engage fully, reflect honestly, and feel supported while experimenting with new ways of thinking. This programme has left me thinking differently about conversations, collaboration, and leadership. It’s a reminder that creating space for others – and for ourselves – to think clearly and freely can transform the way we work.” Amy Brailsford, Grand Theatre
Ready to think differently...
If you’re curious about what becomes possible when someone gives you their full attention, and you’d like to learn how to offer that to others too, I’d love to hear from you.
The button below will take you to a form where you can register your interest without any obligation.