Who do you think out loud with?

It's lonely at the top. Your partner and your friends don't really get it, and you can't say it all to your team. So a lot of senior leaders end up carrying the big decisions on their own, running the conversation in their head at two in the morning.

That's where I come in. I'm the person you think out loud with, before the big conversation and after it.

Who is executive coaching for?

The leaders I work with are already good. They care about their people and their results, and they want to get better. Usually something has shifted or is about to:

• You're going for a bigger role, a promotion or a pay rise, inside your organisation or out of it.
• You've stepped into a bigger role and you're now leading people who used to be your peers.
• You're leading a team through a restructure, a merger or a tough quarter.
• There's a gap between how you operate and how you're read at a senior level, and you want to close it.
• There are conversations you've been putting off.
• You want to be clearer on your values and what you want to be known for as a leader.

If you've been thinking "I just need someone to talk this through with", that's usually the sign.

How does it work?

Weekly, one hour, online. At a stretch we go fortnightly. Never monthly, on purpose. When things are moving, a month is too long between sessions, and the coaching ends up being a catch-up instead of the place you do your thinking.

Calls between sessions. When things are tough you can call me outside our sessions: to sound board before a commercial conversation, to debrief after one, or to talk through how you're feeling. Leaders tell me this is the part they didn't know they needed.

Online only. Coaching runs online, so it works wherever you are and fits around a senior diary.

Six weeks minimum. Company-funded intensives run for 12, 18 or 24 sessions, with outcomes agreed up front with you and whoever is backing the coaching, usually your manager. If you're paying for it yourself, I have six and twelve session packages for that too. I keep a few spots each quarter.

What happens in the first six weeks?

We start with where you are right now and what you want to be different. You'll do your Everything DiSC profile with me early on, so we've got a shared language for how you work, what drives you and how you land on the people around you.

From there, each session works on what's real that week. A board paper. A tricky peer. A direct report who isn't stepping up. The conversation with the Chair, the CEO or your boss that you want to get right. We prepare for it together, and then we debrief it.

In the background, I keep reminding you who you are, what you stand for, what you're working towards and the fundamentals of leadership, so you stay consistent when the pressure's on. That's the Leadership Framework underneath it all: Clarity, Consistency and Connection.

What makes my coaching different?

I get operations, business strategy and the commercial side, and I get behaviour and language. Most leaders find coaches who are strong on one or the other. Having both in the same conversation is what helps you see things differently, and then work out exactly what to say and how to say it.

I'm direct when it helps you. If I think a move is the wrong one for right now, I'll tell you, and then we'll work out the right next step together. You'll always leave with something practical: the words to say, the ask to make, and a time to say it by.

I've written more about why senior leaders need someone to think out loud with, and if you're weighing up coaching for one leader or the whole team, have a read of the difference between team coaching and executive coaching.

Ready to talk?

If you're looking for someone to think out loud with, send me a message. I read every message myself and reply within 24 hours. We'll have a short call to see if it's a fit.