How our leadership consulting process works

Discovery call

This is a 30-minute conversation, usually by video. We want to understand the situation in your words: what prompted you to reach out, who's involved, and what a good outcome looks like from your perspective. We'll ask direct questions about team size, reporting structure, and any previous consulting work you've done. There's no fee for this call, and we won't pitch you during it. If we think someone else is a better fit, we'll say so.

By the end of the call, both sides should know whether there's enough alignment to move to the next step. Most people decide on the spot. Some need a week to loop in a co-sponsor. Either is fine.

Diagnostic

This is where we do the real listening. Depending on the engagement type, the diagnostic can take anywhere from one week (for a focused coaching engagement) to four weeks (for a full organisational leadership review). We interview the people who matter: the leader being coached, their direct reports, their peers, and sometimes their boss. For team alignment work, we interview each team member individually before anyone enters the same room together.

We also review whatever data you're willing to share: engagement survey results, performance ratings, turnover numbers, org charts. We're not looking for perfection in the data. We're looking for patterns that confirm or contradict what people told us in interviews.

At the end of the diagnostic, we produce a short written summary and a proposed scope of work. The summary names the problems we found, ranked by impact. The scope document describes exactly what we'll do, how long it will take, and what it costs. No ranges, no "it depends" footnotes. A fixed fee for a defined deliverable.

Active engagement

This is the core of the work, and it looks different depending on which service you've chosen.

For executive coaching, it means biweekly 75-minute sessions with the leader, plus shorter check-ins with their manager or HR sponsor every six weeks. Between sessions, the leader works on specific assignments we design together: a conversation they've been avoiding, a meeting format they're going to change, a decision they need to make publicly instead of behind closed doors.

For team alignment, the active phase is typically a two-day offsite. Day one surfaces the real disagreements. Day two works through them and produces a written set of decisions, owners, and deadlines. We facilitate the discussion, manage the energy in the room, and push back when the group drifts toward vague commitments.

For organisational reviews, the active phase is our analysis and writing period. We synthesise interview data, benchmark against the roles you need filled in the next 12 to 18 months, and draft the assessment report. We present a preliminary version to the sponsor before finalising, so there are no surprises.

Integration support

Change doesn't stick because of a good offsite or a powerful coaching session. It sticks because someone follows up. During this phase, we stay available for 60 days after the active engagement ends. Coaching clients get three additional 30-minute check-in calls. Team alignment clients get a 90-day follow-up session where the group reviews its decision log and adjusts what isn't working. Review clients get a one-hour call to discuss implementation progress and troubleshoot any resistance.

This phase is included in the original fee. We don't charge extra for follow-up because we've learned that without it, about half the value of the engagement evaporates within three months.

Outcome review

At the end of the engagement, we measure what changed. For coaching, that means a second round of 360-degree interviews with the same people we spoke to at the start. For team alignment, we compare the team's decision velocity and conflict patterns against the baseline we captured in the diagnostic. For organisational reviews, we track how many of our recommendations were implemented and what happened as a result.

We write a brief closing report and share it with the sponsor. If the results aren't where they should be, we discuss why and whether additional work makes sense. We won't recommend more consulting just to extend the engagement. If the problem is solved, we say so and move on.