What you want
to know.

You train in groups of 6–12 with professional Gladiator instructors — athletes and martial arts experts trained specifically to work with executives. This means controlled physical pressure situations, not free fighting.

Typical elements include coordinated partner exercises, team formations under time pressure, and scenarios that deliberately create uncertainty. Everything takes place within a secured, pedagogically supervised framework.

No. The exercises are scalable and designed for ordinary office fitness levels. Most participants are executives between 35 and 60 — not competitive athletes.

What matters is not fitness, but willingness: the willingness to deliberately enter uncomfortable situations and learn from them. That is the real training.

No. All physical activities are led by certified instructors who work exclusively with executives. Participant safety is the highest priority — every exercise has clearly defined stop signals.

The difference from martial arts: we use physical pressure situations as a learning environment, not as competition. No one has to prove anything.

Classical trainings work with knowledge: models, frameworks, role plays in conference rooms. Gladiator Leadership works with experience: genuine physiological activation, real pressure sensation, real group decisions under uncertainty.

What happens in the body is the same as in a critical negotiation, a board conflict or a crisis — only within a controlled setting, with a debriefing afterwards.

The format is developed for experienced executives: CEOs, CFOs, COOs, Managing Directors and leadership teams from the second tier upwards. Participants typically bring 8–25 years of leadership experience.

What matters is not the title, but the situation: anyone who leads under genuine pressure — in restructurings, growth phases, crises or complex negotiations — will feel the transfer immediately.

Yes — and often particularly well. Those without a sporting background enter unfamiliar terrain. That very unfamiliarity produces the strongest learning effect: you cannot fall back on old patterns. That forces genuine engagement.

Many participants describe the moment of not being able to do something as the most valuable of the workshop — because it shows how they actually respond to loss of control.

Explicitly yes. The framework is based on virtues — not on gender, physique or strength. Disciplina, Virtus, Comitatus are universal leadership principles. The physical elements are designed so that all participants are challenged equally.

Feedback from female participants often shows that the unfamiliar framing is particularly effective — precisely because it lies outside familiar leadership norms.

Both. The public workshops (Flagship, Deep Dive) can be booked by individuals — you will meet executives from other industries and companies, which enriches the exchange.

Companies book closed formats for their leadership team: from the entry-level Flagship to the 12-month Annual Program. Details are available on the B2B page.

The workshop price includes: the complete programme delivery, all instructors and equipment, venue use at Villa Borg, catering throughout the day, and the psychological individual or group debriefing.

Not included: travel and accommodation (we are happy to provide recommendations on request).

A poor decision in a critical negotiation, burnout at leadership level, or an avoidable escalation in the boardroom — each of these events costs many times the workshop price.

In concrete terms: top management coaches charge €3,000–5,000 for a single day of individual coaching, without the infrastructure, group chemistry or physical experience layer. Gladiator Leadership delivers the same psychological depth plus an experiential space that simply does not exist elsewhere.

For corporate bookings (closed groups from 6 persons), individual terms are discussed during the strategy call. These depend on group size, format and the desired follow-up programme.

For the Annual Program and Premium Retreat there are no standard prices — these formats are individually designed and priced.

As a rule, yes. Executive development is tax-deductible as a business training expense in most countries. We issue a full invoice with VAT itemised separately.

Please clarify the tax treatment with your finance department or tax adviser — we are glad to assist with the necessary documentation.

The Flagship Workshop and Deep Dive take place at Villa Borg in Perl, Saarland — a unique venue: a faithfully reconstructed Roman country estate from the 1st to 4th century. The location is part of the experience.

Perl is centrally accessible: approximately 45 minutes from Saarbrücken, 90 minutes from Frankfurt, and close to the Luxembourg and French borders. Premium Retreats and the Annual Program take place at changing venues.

Comfortable, movement-friendly clothing (no specialist sports kit required). Appropriate footwear for outdoor terrain. All other materials — equipment, documents, notepads — are provided.

Recommendation: arrive rested. The most valuable learning happens when you are fully present — not when you are still mentally in your last meeting.

German and English. International groups or companies with mixed teams can book the workshop entirely in English. For mixed groups, we agree the preferred language in advance.

Public workshops: 6 to 12 persons. This size is deliberately chosen — small enough for genuine group dynamics and personal debriefing, large enough for team-dynamic exercises.

Corporate formats (closed groups): flexible, depending on the leadership team. The optimum is 8–16 persons. For larger teams we design parallel tracks.

Gladiator Leadership connects three fields of knowledge: ancient virtue philosophy (7 virtues as a leadership compass), modern organisational psychology (stress physiology, decision research, group psychology) and somatic learning (embodied cognition — the insight that body and mind are inseparable in learning).

The debriefing after each exercise is methodologically structured so that the physical experience is consciously translated into leadership behaviour — and does not remain as an isolated memory.

That is the critical question — and the reason every format includes a follow-up. A one-off experience without follow-through fades. That is why the 30-day follow-up conversation in the Flagship Workshop and the 90-day coaching in the Premium Retreat are not optional extras but methodological necessities.

Measurable behavioural changes — calmer decision-making, more direct feedback, clearer presence in conflicts — are typically reported by participants as consolidated after 4–8 weeks.

Lasting impact requires lasting accompaniment — which is why the Annual Program exists.

Every participant receives written transfer materials after the workshop: a personal reflection on the virtues activated during the workshop, along with concrete behavioural impulses for everyday leadership.

The agreed follow-up conversation (30 or 90 days after the workshop) serves to name what has changed, identify what still needs work, and define the next steps.

The strategy call is not a sales conversation — it is a diagnostic conversation. 30 minutes to understand whether and how Gladiator Leadership fits your current leadership situation. No obligation.

Book an appointment directly or send us a short enquiry — Ulysses Wagner responds personally within 48 hours.