What an intensive is
An intensive is one to three concentrated days with a coach or consultant, away from the office, to reset priorities and build a sustainable operating rhythm. Instead of an hour every week or two, you spend whole days on the problem. Intensives suit leaders who can't find space for weekly sessions, who want a clean break to think, or who are at a turning point: a new role, a company sale, a promotion, or a season that has simply gone on too long.
What usually happens
Providers design intensives differently, but many follow a similar arc:
1. Before the days. A questionnaire or a call about your role, your calendar and what's draining you. Some ask for a sample of your calendar. 2. Day one. A close look at how your time, energy and decisions are actually spent, and what's driving the overload. 3. Day two. Designing changes: what to stop, delegate, restructure or protect, and the conversations those changes will need. 4. Day three, if there is one. Turning the design into a plan for the first weeks back, with specific commitments.
Time outdoors, walking sessions and quiet time to think are often built in.
Where intensives happen
Some take place in a private meeting room in your own city; others at a retreat setting a drive or a flight away. A setting away from home helps many leaders switch off from daily demands, but it adds travel time and cost. Ask where the provider usually works and whether they'll come to you.
Preparing
Clear your calendar properly: no "quick calls" during breaks. Tell your team who to contact instead of you and what can wait. Bring an honest picture of your typical week. Decide in advance what you'd most like to leave with, and say it on the first morning.
What you leave with
A good intensive ends with a written plan: changes to your calendar, decisions you'll delegate and to whom, conversations to have, and how you'll protect recovery time. Ask the provider what the written output looks like before you book.
Follow-up
The days themselves are the easy part; the first weeks back are harder. Many providers include, or offer, follow-up sessions over the following months to help you keep the changes in place. Ask what's included and what costs extra.
Choosing a provider
Ask how many intensives they've run for leaders at your level, how they structure the days, how they handle confidentiality, and what follow-up looks like. Ask to speak with them before you book; a few minutes will tell you whether you'd want to spend whole days in their company.
What an intensive is not
An intensive is coaching and education, not healthcare. It isn't a substitute for a doctor or mental health professional, and a good provider will say so if what you describe needs one.
Group intensives
Some providers run small-group intensives, where a handful of leaders from different organizations work through the same program together. They cost less per person and many leaders value hearing peers describe the same pressures. The trade-off is less time on your own situation and a little less privacy. Ask how big the group is and who else usually attends, and whether participants agree to keep each other's situations confidential.
The directory's part
ExecutiveBurnoutPros introduces you to one independent provider of intensives serving your area. It doesn't run intensives or take part in them.