This four-night experience brings together emerging and established entrepreneurs and leaders from the LSE network to strengthen their negotiation skills and leadership presence through immersive, hands-on learning in Marrakech. Set within a private riad, the retreat creates an atmosphere of focus and exchange, blending structured learning with reflection, connection, and cultural discovery.
Through real-world negotiation, reflective dialogue, and connection with local culture, participants explore how influence, empathy, and adaptability shape impactful leadership.
Find out more about the retreat here.
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An Immersive Learning Journey
Over four transformative days, participants will experience Marrakech as both a classroom and a mirror for leadership. Guided sessions on confidence and presence set the foundation for authentic communication and influence. In the city’s historic souks, participants put theory into practice through live negotiation challenges, learning to navigate complexity and emotion in real time. Beyond the marketplace, moments of stillness—a traditional hammam, dinner under desert skies, and a reflective hike in the Atlas Mountains—create space to integrate lessons on empathy, adaptability, and resilience. The result is a deeply human learning experience that sharpens instinct, strengthens leadership presence, and reconnects participants to purpose.
Core Pillars
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Negotiation as Navigation: Practical, real-world negotiation in the Marrakech souks, followed by guided debriefs linking influence, strategy, and cultural intelligence. Participants gain confidence to navigate complexity, advocate for value, and engage across differences.
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Empathetic Leadership and Presence: Interactive workshops on confidence, empathy, and decision-making under uncertainty. Leaders strengthen their presence, listening, and capacity to inspire trust and collaboration.
Programme Overview
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Day 1: Arrivals and welcome tea, opening dinner, and orientation circle to set individual and collective intentions for the days ahead.
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Day 2: Morning workshop on confidence and authentic leadership voice. Afternoon guided souk walk focused on observation and persuasion in practice. Evening dinner in the Medina with facilitated reflections on communication and cultural awareness.
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Day 3: Morning negotiation challenges in the souks, applying real-time learning with local traders. Afternoon hammam experience and rest for integration. Evening Agafay Desert dinner with a reflective dialogue on adaptability and influence under pressure.
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Day 4: Morning guided hike in the Atlas Mountains exploring endurance, clarity, and leadership under uncertainty. Afternoon group session on empathy and influence, closing dinner at the Riad and integration circle to capture insights and commitments.
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Day 5: Breakfast and informal farewells before transfers.
This retreat offers more than a change of scenery, it’s a shift in perspective. By engaging with Marrakech’s markets, landscapes, and communities, participants develop practical tools for negotiation and adaptive leadership while reconnecting with curiosity and confidence. They leave with sharper instincts, deeper empathy, and renewed clarity in how they lead and influence.
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Learning Outcomes
In the souks, every interaction is a negotiation. In the desert, every silence teaches presence. This retreat invites leaders to step into unfamiliar spaces, listen differently, and lead with deeper empathy, clarity, and confidence.
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Strengthen negotiation and influence through hands-on cultural practice.
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Build leadership presence
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Develop entrepreneurial resilience and empathy under uncertainty
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Foster meaningful peer and alumni connections
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Return with renewed confidence and actionable tools
“At first glance, the Marrakech Medina looks chaotic: lamps, rugs, leather, all motion. But underneath is a highly structured dance of give and take...It's one of the world's best classrooms for influence, value creation, and reading human behavior." – Deborah Choi
Meet your host: Deborah Choi
Deborah Choi is an entrepreneur, negotiation coach, and leadership facilitator who has built and led ventures across three continents. She is the Managing Director of Founderland, Europe’s fastest-growing community for underrepresented founders, and has raised over €2M in philanthropic and venture funding to advance inclusive entrepreneurship.
A sought-after negotiation and leadership coach, Deborah has guided executives, founders, and investors through high-stakes conversations and complex decision-making. Her approach blends strategy and empathy, drawing on twenty years of business-building experience and a deep understanding of influence in cross-cultural contexts.
Based between Berlin and Marrakech, Deborah calls both cities home. Over the past decade, she has cultivated a rich local network of artisans, hosts, and cultural partners that anchor each retreat in authenticity and connection. Her facilitation style combines rigor with reflection, equipping participants to lead, negotiate, and communicate with clarity and confidence.
Date: April 14th-18th 2026
Location: Marrakesh, Morocco
Cost per person: £2500, including private room with ensuite bath, meals prepared by local chefs, local transport, excursions and facilitation. Excludes transportation to Morroco.
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