Category Archives: Mentoring

A Deliberately Developmental Experiment

When the founders at Upside approached me to develop a business-wide coaching programme, they were clear they wanted to do something different. It felt appropriate that a scaling company that puts talent and the development of talent at the heart of its organisation should embrace a new approach to developing its people. Fascinated by how we can build organisations and develop individuals for the future, and already drawing on Robert Kegan and colleagues’ work on adult development in my coaching practice, I introduced them to the concept of the Deliberately Developmental Organization (DDO).

This article unpacks how we developed a deliberately developmental coaching programme for Upside, and what we’ve learnt so far along the way. If you’re a leader in a high-growth startup who wants to know how to embed a deliberately developmental culture in your business, or if you’re interested in DDOs generally and would like to learn more about them through a real life example, then join us on this journey of discovery.

Continue reading →

Stop telling entrepreneurs what to do. Start helping them think

Everyone has an opinion, advice is everywhere. It’s what to do with it that’s hard. If we really want to help entrepreneurs grow into the best CEOs, then we should stop telling them what to do and start helping them think. Because, in a VUCA world, it won’t necessarily be the entrepreneurs who have more information who will be leading the most successful businesses of the future, it will be those who develop their ability to think and act in more complex ways.

Continue reading →

How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back – Summary

In How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back (Amazon UK, US) authors Sally Helgesen and Marshall Goldsmith identify 12 habits that commonly hold women leaders back as they endeavour to advance to the next stage in their careers. This article provides a summary of those 12 habits, plus a list of powerful questions posed to you by myself and Lynn White, Principal Partner at WDI Consulting. We hope this summary, and our questions, will help you to explore your own habits and unleash your full leadership potential, and the potential of your team and organisation.

Continue reading →

Why entrepreneurs need a coach, mentor & therapist

Like any high-performing individual, leaders need to wrap a professional support team around them if they are to give themselves the best chance of success. That team must be trustworthy, objective, and acting always in the leader’s best interests. This post unpacks the difference between a coach, mentor and therapist and explains why, together, they can make up a such a cohesive support team.

Continue reading →

Trillion Dollar Coach – Summary

Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell is a book about a man who helped build some of America’s greatest companies, including Apple and Google. A former college football player and coach, Bill didn’t enter the business world until he was thirty nine. Moving quickly though through executive roles, he went on to coach the likes of Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, Ben Horowitz and Bill Gurley, to name just a few. He passed away in 2016, leaving a legacy of growing companies, successful people and an enormous amount of respect. The book is essential reading for any manager or leader operating in a fast-moving, high growth business.

Continue reading →

Do these 2 things to get better at coaching your employees

The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever is one of the best books I’ve read for managers and leaders who want to use a coach approach with their employees but don’t have the time or inclination for formal training. It’s short on theory but long on practical tools and techniques that are a shot to the heart of great coaching.

Continue reading →

What is the difference between coaching & mentoring?

The words coaching and mentoring are often used interchangeably, though there are in fact important differences. In his book Coaching for Performance the late Sir John Whitmore, explains what the difference between coaching and mentoring is. Whitmore is the founder of the coaching movement in the UK. The book is widely considered to be the industry gold standard for performance based coaching.

Continue reading →