The Grounded Leader
A deep-dive leadership communication program for specialists, consultants and leaders who want to build strong relationships with their stakeholders, stay grounded in a demanding environment and drive tangible progress at work.
Question for you…
When you retire, how do you want to be remembered as a leader?
Maya Angelou once wrote: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Leadership isn’t about big moments of genius. It’s about how you show up every day. It’s about how you nurture relationships. It’s about how you carry yourself and others through good times and bad, with integrity. It’s about having a vision and inspiring others with it. It’s about having the honest conversation, especially when it’s difficult. How you make people feel comes down to how you communicate in those moments. If it’s your ambition to evolve in how you listen and speak as a modern leader, then this program is for you.
Any of these ring a bell?
FIREFIGHTER TO VISIONARY
You are one busy Manager in Chief. Putting out fires on the daily. In a way, you like it – it makes you feel useful, needed. But deep down you know you got your head stuck in the sand, avoiding big questions you don’t have answers to. It’s time for more vision, and less troubleshooting. You see the next phase for your business on the horizon, but struggle to find the words to start telling that new story. It’s time for a reinvention of sorts: a new narrative is forged in the fire.
LESS CONFLICT, MORE EASE
You’re getting tired of all the endless debates. You struggle to keep your stakeholders on board and motivated. And if you’re honest, you feel bogged down too. You want to learn to turn the frustration into something more productive, and gain more control of the situation. You’re here for new ways to connect, persuade and progress, so that you can get more done with much less stress on all sides, and as a result find some joy in your work again.
FIERY, FUN, FABULOUS
You’re the Golden Girl/Boy who has everyone wondering how on earth you do it all. Smart and hardworking, you got grit! But the pressure of it has made you serious, and you overthink everything. You can’t seem to relax. You’re so busy hitting targets, you don’t have the time to explore what it is you really want. And you miss that cheeky, gung-ho energy you used to have. Sometimes you wonder where that person went? You want to lead – and live – with more inspiration, conviction and pizazz. A tall order? Says who?
EAGER BEAVER STUCK IN MUD
You are the (wo)man with the plan – on any given Monday, you can rattle off 10 new ideas for the business. You’re highly driven and creative, and also 10 steps ahead of the crowd most of the time. And ‘they’ – your team, clients, or collaborators – aren’t following. Deeply annoying of course, and it’s testing your patience. You’ve got two options: either you walk away now, or you work to inspire and motivate your stakeholders like never before. You’re a visionary in need of epic people-skills.
What if…
… you could actually reinvent how you communicate at work?
What would change in your life and in your career, if you experienced more ease, more connection, and more impact? Could you do without crawling behind your laptop in the dead of night, hoping to find peace of mind by answering those 47 ‘urgent’ emails?
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN
- Expand your people skills to expert level
- Speak with clarity and compassion
- Get the best out of your colleagues & clients
- Feel more resilient in the face of challenges
- Keep your focus steady & your vision clear
- Leverage your talents more effectively
- Address conflict with emotional intelligence
- Think like a true original & fuel real change
- Get more done with less tension & stress
- Do more of what makes you come alive
Here’s how it all breaks down
In this 3 month arc of one-to-one coaching, we take the plunge and create a profound and lasting shift in how you connect to others and yourself, so that you grow into the leader you always hoped you’d be, without burning out.
- We plan a 30 minute intake call where we set the goals and the tone for our sessions. We plan our sessions, online or in person. I prepare a bespoke program based on this call, and send over a first, thought-provoking exercise.
- We buckle up and get to work in our 1-to-1 sessions: each 1 hour long, they’re designed to be a bootcamp for your brain and a deep stretch for your heart. You will get homework. It won’t always be easy, but it will be worth it.
- Using my Perspectives method, in our sessions you gain insight by shifting perspectives on challenges you’re facing and on patterns in your behaviour and relationships. You develop expert-level communication & people skills.
- I offer support in between sessions via voice-message & text, where I can help you get unstuck pronto, if you’ve momentarily lost the plot. You can rant or rejoice in the privacy of our Whatsapp chat. Coach-in-your-pocket!
- After our last session, you receive a bespoke ‘mirror manual’, to help you stay the course. A month after our last session, we have a debrief call for reflection and next steps for you to keep the momentum going.
”Our meetings have been educational, profound, inspirational and imaginative. You’ve shown me the art of creating a narrative connection between people, between myself and others. It’s given me a great sense of space and freedom to make my work even more meaningful. Thank you for our beautiful conversations.“
Marco de Bruin – CEO, child & adult psychiatry services and special education
You’ve got questions. I’ve got answers.
What makes the Grounded Leader different?
In our sessions, you’ll experience a combination of communication strategy, mindset coaching and people skills training that will help you grow on three crucial levels: your communication, your stakeholder relationships and your mindset. It’s that hat trick of bespoke support that helps you evolve to your next level. BONUS: with my voice-message support in between sessions you’ll have me as your personal coach in your back pocket for support during impromptu brainwaves or breakdowns.
How soon can we start?
I usually have room to start a Grounded Leader coaching arc within the month. The arc takes about 3 months in total, comprising of twelve 1-hour sessions, ideally no more than a week apart. I can be flexible to match your busy schedule. If you have a specific problem or challenge you’re facing that has a short deadline, then maybe the Situation Room is a better match for your question.
What kind of methods do you use?
In our sessions, I use my Perspective Method framework, that I created based on my 10 years experience as a coach. This method will help you see complicated situations more clearly, increase your self-awareness and emotional intelligence, and provide you with invaluable communication skills that will help you navigate even the trickiest situations. We use real-life situations you’re facing as case-studies of human behaviour and together find ways to move forward with them. In my sessions I combine my own insights with proven coaching techniques such as voice dialogue, narrative therapy, mindfulness, theatre exercises, neuroscience based thought-experiments and creative brainstorm techniques.
What guarantees can you give me?
Like John Lennon sang, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” I can’t guarantee that after our coaching arc, you’ll always get your way and things’ll be peachy from then on. That’s not life, and I am not the Wizard of Oz. Neither are you. But I can stand for the quality of my coaching and my ability to bring out the absolute best in you. You’ll be more resilient and more in touch with your vision, as you find your way in a demanding work environment. You’ll have more tools at your disposal to help you deal with people and problems with relational intelligence and pazaz. Also: if after our first session you feel that we’re not a match or you won’t get the kind of support from me that you feel you need, then we cancel the rest of our sessions and I don’t send you an invoice. So you won’t lose money if you take a chance on us.
How many sessions will I need?
That depends on the nature of your question and the magnitude of your challenge. The minimum amount of sessions for the Grounded Leader is twelve, but you may need more if you’re looking for structural, long term support. What usually happens, is that we start with the 3 month coaching arc, to lay the foundation for you to go forth and rock it in the real world. And then after that, you just call me whenever you need more support and we plan follow-up sessions as we go. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that trusted, ongoing support is crucial for humans on whose shoulders rest big responsibilities. I’m here to walk beside you and help you stay sane in the whirlwind of modern (work)life, for as long as you need me.
When are we not a good fit?
If you’re looking for someone who…
– will help you crunch the numbers on your business strategies,
– will teach you manipulative communication tricks,
– would never challenge you to look deeper into your personal patterns and behaviours,
… then we are not a match. I’m not a numbers coach, I hate manipulative communication strategies with a vengeance, and I believe lasting change can only happen with honest self-enquiry.
But if you’re looking for someone who…
– will get you to the core of what you really believe in and what you want to create as a leader,
– will boost your self-awareness and and self-trust, so that you can show up in full force,
– will elevate your people skills to expert level so that you connect to stakeholders, partners and colleagues when it really matters,
… then I’m your gal. Can’t wait to meet you.
The investment
YOUR
INVESTMENT
IN £ or €
£379 / €435 per 1-hour session
(no VAT added, with a minimum of 12 sessions)
WHAT’S INCLUDED
All-in session price for a bespoke 1 hour session of 1-to-1 coaching, online or on location in your office. PLUS Mon-Fri, 9-5 support in between sessions via voice-message or chat throughout the program.
Guarantee
In our intake call I’ll be upfront about whether I can help you with your challenge, and we can both see if we are a good match. If after our first session you don’t want to carry on, you will get your money back and we’ll cancel the rest of the sessions. If you don’t feel helped and closer to your goal through our work together, then I’m not comfortable charging you for it.
Let’s talk
If you’d like to work together, or if you have a question about my services, please get in touch. I’m looking forward to listening to you.