Specialist leadership change support

The challenge

Leadership development often oscillates between two extremes.

On one side, generic coaching that focuses on personal effectiveness but remains detached from the real challenges of running change, improving flow, or leading excellence. On the other, change programmes that place heavy expectations on leaders without giving them the reflective space and specialist support to evolve their leadership practice.

In Services and Tech organisations, leaders are increasingly asked to:

• Lead operational excellence without reverting to control

• Drive flow and delivery while reducing overload

• Hold strategy while conditions keep shifting

• Lead change across teams they do not directly manage

Many leaders are capable, committed, and experienced — but lack a trusted, specialist thinking partner to help them work through these challenges deliberately.

Leadership becomes reactive. Learning stays implicit. Progress depends too much on individual resilience rather than intentional development.

Our point of view

Leadership capability develops through practice, reflection, and specialist challenge.

Some leadership topics are broad and systemic — which is where Systemic Leadership Coaching plays its role. Others are highly specific: leading LeanTech excellence, holding flow, deploying strategy, or steering complex change.

In those cases, leaders benefit from coaching that:

• Is grounded in clear playbooks and proven practices

• Stays tightly connected to what they are actually trying to change

• Evolves over time through reflection and iteration

• Balances support with challenge

Specialist leadership coaching is not about giving answers.

It is about helping leaders see their reality differently, sharpen their judgement, and act more intentionally in complex situations.

What we design and improve

We offer specialist leadership coaching anchored in three core practice areas:

• LeanTech & Operational Excellence leadership

• Flow leadership and delivery effectiveness

• Strategic leadership and strategy deployment

(This service complements — but does not replace — Systemic Leadership Coaching, which focuses more broadly on system dynamics and leadership stance.)

We deliver this service in two main formats.

1. Focused leadership coaching programmes

This format is used when leaders have a clear development focus they want to work on.

• A structured programme of 8 sessions

  (intro session / 6 coaching sessions / wrap-up session)

• Coaching focuses on one leadership practice area

• We take time to understand the organisational context, including conversations with relevant stakeholders where appropriate

• Sessions provide continuity and depth on the chosen topic

These programmes are often run as recurring cycles, with checkpoints every six sessions, and can be organised on a retainer basis.

2. Leadership "sparring partner" for change

This format is designed for leaders actively leading change and needing a close, trusted sparring partner.

• Monthly in-person or virtual sessions

• Regular gemba connection in the area of change the leader is working on

• Development of a kata with the leader:

  
  

  • Reflection on the past month

  • Questions, tensions, and difficulties encountered

  • Reframing of the situation

  • Intentional refocus for the coming month

  
  

• Fortnightly check-ins to maintain momentum and focus

This approach works particularly well for:

• Leaders in charge of transformation or improvement

• Executives navigating complex trade-offs

• Change leaders who lack a safe space to think out loud

• Tech leaders (please see our specialist programmes for CTOs/CIOs/Change leaders)

The cadence keeps change intentional, grounded, and continuously evolving.

The business outcomes

• Leaders develop practical mastery, not abstract insight

• Clearer judgement and better-quality decisions

• Stronger leadership presence during change

• Improved alignment between leadership intent and team behaviour

• Change initiatives held more deliberately over time

Leadership development translates directly into organisational impact.

How to start

We begin by clarifying:

• The leadership practice area to focus on

• The nature of the change or challenge the leader is facing

• Whether a focused coaching programme or a sparring partnership is the right fit

Sessions are organised through our coaching platform, allowing flexible booking, confidentiality, and continuity. Programmes typically run in six-month cycles, with options to extend as leadership scope and complexity evolve.

Some leaders engage for a defined development objective. Others retain this service as an ongoing leadership support mechanism during periods of sustained change.