Coaching
Coaching for leaders and high performers
I work one-to-one with senior leaders and high performers, people whose decisions shape a business and the working lives of those in it, and whose responsibilities rarely end at the office door. Few of them come to be fixed. What they want is a clearer understanding of how they work, so they can decide what comes next with more freedom and less habit.
Three shapes the work can take
Coaching with me usually takes one of three shapes, and we'll work out together which one fits.
A single decision
Some people come with one decision in front of them, usually one with lasting consequences. We take the time to look at it properly, with someone who has no stake in which way you go.
A particular season
Sometimes it is a stretch of time that asks more of you than usual, such as a new role, a crisis that needs steering through, or a move to a new place. Coaching runs alongside it for as long as it is useful.
A longer look at yourself
For others it is a chance to step back and see themselves with fresh eyes, and to find potential and perspectives that have been hard to reach alone. This usually runs for around a year.
Working with your patterns
Everyone has ways of thinking and acting that have served them well and become second nature. Much of coaching is noticing those patterns together, then looking at the space around them: where the differences are, where there is room to try something new, and what becomes visible once you look past the habit to the person underneath.
Sometimes the pattern is exactly the strength you need, and the work is to use it more deliberately. Sometimes it is what is holding you in place. Either way, we work it out together, at your pace, with the situations you are actually facing.
I've sat in the chair
I came to coaching from leadership, and I haven't left it behind. I've held Managing Director, Sales Director and Commercial Director roles, and I still hold executive roles today. When you tell me about a difficult board conversation, a team pulling in different directions, or what it feels like to be the one who has to decide, I'll recognise it, because I'm living a version of it too.
How we begin
- 01
A 20-minute chat
We talk about what is going on and what you would like to be different. It is a chance for both of us to see whether this feels right.
- 02
A free 90-minute coaching session
If it makes sense, we have a full coaching session together, so you can see what the work is like for yourself. There is no obligation to carry on afterwards.
- 03
What happens next
A first session usually ends in one of three places:
- aWe have reached an insight that has shifted something meaningful for you, and the work is complete for now, with no need to go further.
- bThe most useful next step is something or someone else, such as a book worth reading or a person worth meeting, and I'll point you towards it.
- cYou would like to see what it might look like to do more, and we talk through what that would involve for what you are working on.
I work with a small number of people at any one time, so occasionally there may be a short wait before we can start.