I support deep thinkers with big jobs to do more of what they’re here to do.

Let’s break down what this might mean for you.  

(This page will make more sense if you’ve read this one.)

1. You’re a deep thinker. 

You are aware of how entangled life is with itself. That we're at an unprecedented junction of empire collapse and climate catastrophe. 

You think about and reflect/meditate on your place in the world and want to be using the time you have left in the most effective way. 

You've done a not-insignificant amount of learning about oppression and dominance, see your place in both of those continuums, and know you could do more in your work and life to be dismantling the systems that cause harm and to be growing new ways of working. You try and nurture the parts of yourself that have been harmed and unpick the parts of you that cause harm.

You read/listen to books and podcasts that bring you insight into… I dunno, everything. And you talk about… everything with, as my friend and colleague Randi Buckley would say, context, nuance and discernment. You do your best to listen deeply to others.

You think about the future of humanity and the future of the more-than-human world. 

You try as hard as you can to believe another world is possible and you imperfectly strive to embody that as much as you can in the way you lead and just are in the world.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you have some kind of formal or intuitive spiritual practice. 

As a long-term daily meditator, I welcome any part of your spirituality and faith you’d like to bring with you. You won’t need to edit that out with me for the sake of ‘professionalism’.

2. You have a big job.

You may well be CEO and that’s definitely a big job, no matter what size your organisation.

But you might also be leading a smaller part of an organisation. 

You could be a writer or other type of public thinker. 

Or maybe you run a one-plus-support consultancy that is working on big things.

The main thing is: your job feels big to you and you know that, either directly or through roots and ripples and seeds, you affect, or want to affect, a lot of people with your work.

And therefore you’re realising that trying to work stuff out inside your own head isn’t working anymore, but you need someone who can at meet you eye-to-eye, heart-to-heart, and keep pace (and depth). You don’t want to be the smartest or wisest person in the room.

Meg has been amazing to work with as I navigate leading in complexity. She has helped me make sense of how organisations and people in them behave and how one can lead in a way that unleashes the power of the collective. She created a space for me to challenge my own assumptions and gently held me to account for doing what I said I would! Transformative coaching for me as a leader.’

Sacha Romanovitch, CEO of Grant Thornton 2015 – 2018, currently CEO of Fair4AllFinance and Co Chair of the Inclusive Economy Partnership

3. You’re here to do something. 

Maybe you already know what you’re here to do.

Maybe, in fact, you’re already working on it. 

The other possibility is you suspect there’s something else the world is asking of you but you’re not quite sure what it is. 

I love this Frederick Büchner quote (that came to me via the brilliant Quaker Parker Palmer) that our vocation is

“the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Both parts of that are important - both our own introspection to listen to what calls us but also, particularly at this pivot point in history, what the world needs from us.

No matter what you’re actually doing for work right now, we need support to discern who we want to be and how we want to do what we’re doing. 

So that’s three parts of my mission clarified:

I support deep thinkers with big jobs, to do what they’re here to do. 

That leaves two questions.

What support can I offer?

And who am I?

4. I support you through coaching. 

So we’ve established: you've got this responsible role. And it can be difficult, sometimes, to live up to people’s expectations, especially your own. People need so much from you, but inside, it’s a bit more, er, chaotic at times, right?

Knowing which decisions to make, how to communicate difficult stuff and navigate sensitive situations is tough. Then there's the emails, the meetings, maybe the budgets plus the kind of public persona you have to inhabit.

And how do you hold on to your alignment, the urgency your part in creating another world?

It can feel like you rarely catch a breath.

Not that you don’t (sometimes) love your job, and believe you’re doing something good. You know you’re doing your best, but, sheesh is it hard.

I know. I am responsible for the strategic and operational working of a big service. It’s wild. 

With me as your coach, you have someone who is completely in your corner. And you have dedicated time for you to just think. And process. And maybe offload. And plan. And decide.

I’m a huge advocate for you when we’re together, but that doesn’t mean I’m not gently challenging. That's because I believe in your potential, in your growth and in your evolution as a leader.

We go slow to go fast, because I want you to make decisions that Future You will be proud of.

So if you feel like you’d like some regular time to think strategically, and more importantly, make sure your work aligns with your personal values, I’m here.

Doing this leadership gig without a coach is unnecessarily hard.

When you have a coach, you start really having dedicated time to think things through. You begin to get a sense that things aren’t about to crash over you.

Any nagging regret you might have about taking on all this responsibility begins to ebb. You feel less like the clock is ticking away your life because you’re more able to make decisions that sit well with your values. Reflecting helps you become a more congruent person.

You get a boost of strength when you have someone outside of the situation to sense check things with. 

You also have less friction getting done what you actually need to get done. For example, you’re more able to find the balance between fighting your corner and including others, because you’ve had time to think it through!

Organised, scheduled reflection time gives you more perspective so you’re less thrown when inevitable obstacles crop up. This means less drama in your life, which can be a relief.

And ultimately, because you’re getting more of the important stuff done, you’re more able to switch off at the end of the day and live your whole life. 

Working with me is like borrowing some extra insight (and steadiness and compassion) when you need it.

By lending you my brain and heart, I give you extra processing power. We look both at what’s in front of you and what’s ahead of you so you can find your way forward. Sometimes we’ll zoom out to long time horizons, systemic impact and your role in the world. 

At other times we’ll zoom in on the detail of a meeting or conversation or a dilemma that’s looming.

As a coach, I hold the space for you to grow.

I support leaders to get even better at taking wise and timely action. In order to do this, leaders need to increase their capability and capacity in several ways.

• Leaders need to think in terms of multiple timelines. We need to be able to be in the moment right now, plus think about next week and next month and next year, as well as thinking ten, maybe twenty, heck, even fifty or a hundred years ahead.
  
  

• Leaders need to look this messy, broken, beautiful world in the eye. By the way, this includes your messy, broken, beautiful work!

  There’s something profound and necessary about not turning away from complexity, about embracing non-binary spectrums, about facing uncertainty, paradox and mess. Sometimes we want things neat and they’re just NOT. In fact, if you can be somewhat at peace with the chaotic truth of the world then you can still take wise and timely action, instead of freezing or getting overwhelmed.
  
  

• Leaders need to spot systemic patterns and flows of history. The ability to go ‘This is (partially) an example of this...’, or ‘This is a bit like this and this…’, 'This feels a bit like...' or ‘Something like this has happened before…’  means you can discover links that allow deeper change to happen.
  
  

• Leaders need to embrace their own humanity and the humanity of others. We have to grow the ability to include more and more people’s perspectives in deeper and deeper ways. This is a hallmark of someone who can find plans and solutions that are sustainable, supported, robust and inclusive. It's also vital that you work within your limits as a human being, so that things are sustainable in the long-term. 
  
  

• Leaders need be aware of the quality of their awareness. Thinkers like MIT’s Otto Scharmer are reflecting old, old wisdom:  the better the awareness of the intervenor, the more effective the system intervention. How warm, how open, how gently focused, how wide, how steady and how still you are when thinking, listening, speaking and doing, is key to how deep your influence can be.

You and I work together at many levels.

Sometimes we go in really high-level, finding our way through the complexity and mess from a philosophical, conceptual, perhaps spiritual, viewpoint.

Sometimes we’re right down there with our feet on the ground. We're building clear plans for meetings, presentations, conversations or writing you’ve got coming up soon.

Sometimes we’re right in the middle of your human life, working on how you can be present and manage your commitments.

It’s my job to support you in becoming the leader you want to be, moment-to-moment, and, frankly, the leader the world needs you to be.

Which leaves the final question: 

5. Who am I?

You’ve heard a bunch about me here but there’s more here.

FEE

Leadership coaching is

£900 GBP/month

for one or two sessions/month

On a three- to six-month renewable contract

paid in advance.

That’s c. $1150 USD/month - get the current rate here

Meg and I have worked together for years on maximising my natural existing strengths and supporting me to live into a new level of leadership. The work has been reflective, supportive and challenging, I have not only used the work we have done together to maximise my effectiveness, but the work has had considerable effect on the work I have done with others, and across my whole institution. I like the fact that Meg is also on a continual journey herself!

Professor Helen Higson, Provost and Deputy Vice Chancellor at Aston University

Let’s discuss the details of how we might work together.

To be clear, I actively welcome phone/online coaching clients.

As, since 2020, I’ve had a a day job, I currently take clients on Fridays anytime from 8am to 5pm, UK time and some Saturday mornings, with space for between four and six ongoing clients at any time. 

That means if you’re in North/South America, we can speak in your morning. If you’re in Australia/NZ/Asia, we can do your late afternoon/early evening.

And if you can get to Manchester, UK, let’s do it face-to-face!

WHAT A LEADERSHIP COACHING SESSION WITH ME TENDS TO LOOK LIKE

• You book in a time and date. (I’ve got a super-handy calendar booking link where you just book the time straight into my schedule - as far in advance as you want.) Sessions tend to be between 60-90 minutes but we can plan for 2 hours if you sense that’s what you’re going to need.

• Before we meet, I spend some time using all my meditation experience to make sure I’m really present and able to be totally with you. 

• We meet at the agreed time, and catch up on what’s happened in your life recently.

• I say, "So, what do you want to talk about?"

• You start talking.

  I listen. Often for ages.

I’m listening for what you’re saying, what you’re not saying, what’s behind what you’re saying, how what you’re saying fits in a wider context and what the energy and shape is of what you’re describing.

I listen for structure, for patterns, for when you’re being most you - and I gently question areas where I suspect you’re not paying enough attention.

I listen in stillness, just asking clarifying questions, often with a super-serious look on my face (apparently - sorry!). 

I ask questions.

Sometimes I might get you to go up to patterns.
Sometimes I might get you to zoom in to detail. Sometimes you just find what you need to know by talking it out.

I often ask questions about things that strike me as incongruent or that it seems like you glossed over.
I sometimes help you to step out of your perspective.
I sometimes help you to go under the topic, to explore emotions or find connections.

All to help you find your way through. 

I know you’re not scared of emotions and neither am I - in fact, they’re a vital part of your life as a leader. So our conversation never sidesteps how you're feeling.

Some coaches are a bit funny about giving advice but if you request it, I’ll weigh in at times; especially if there’s an idea from group dynamics, conflict resolution and so on that I think will benefit you. I’ll give you reading homework if that’s your thing, or just explain useful concepts and frameworks to you in the moment.

Sometimes I might share my perspective, my instinct, what I’ve seen work elsewhere or what this reminds me of.

Whatever happens, you end up in a place of considerably more clarity and usually with obvious next steps.

Sometimes I’ll give you some homework which can be something to work on, something to try out or something be aware of between now and our next session together.

• We finish on time. I know you have places to go and work to do.
  
  

• If you need support or want to share something outside of our sessions, maybe you’ll What’sApp me. At times I might check in to see how a meeting went, or whatever.

Rinse. Repeat.

Although I find the lens of vertical development really useful, I don’t coach via a particular methodology but constantly draw from a variety of stuff I’ve metabolised along the way. I’m a total nerd about so many aspects of group and individual life - you get the results of my metabolising!

If you suspect this might be the right time for you, get in touch.

We'll book in a 15-minute chat to check if we both feel it's right. 

If we both want to go ahead, we'll agree and I'll invoice you so you can pay in whatever way works (PayPal, Purchase Order, bank transfer...)

You pay, you book in sessions and we start!

Just 'finished' - these things never finish - a few months of coaching with Meg and I can say it's one of the best things I've done for myself both professionally and personally. So much thanks, Meg.

Kate Towsey, Research Ops Manager, Atlassian

Use the button below to book in a 15-min chat.