Natural Leadership Presence Programme
An illustrative framework - all 1:1 programmes are tailored
to your specific context and needs
From technical expert to authentic leader—without losing what makes you brilliant.
You've mastered your professional domain and can execute leadership tasks effectively. Yet something still feels off: leadership often feels like performing a role rather than being yourself. You're not imagining this disconnect—68% of accomplished professionals report exactly this experience, even when they're effective at leadership tasks.
The gap isn't about competence. It's about the difference between doing leadership and being a leader in a way that feels authentically you.
Your Natural Leadership Style
Most leadership development assumes you need to build new capabilities. We work differently. You already possess five natural leadership qualities that create authentic influence when the right conditions exist:
Grounded Authority: Natural confidence from genuine expertise
Thoughtful Influence: Leading through careful analysis and considered decisions
Caring Standards: Inspiring excellence through genuine concern for outcomes
Quiet Strength: Steady, reliable presence others depend on
Authentic Connection: Creating trust through genuine relationships
Your primary quality is where you feel most naturally yourself while leading others. Understanding this becomes your starting point for creating more situations where leadership feels effortless rather than performative.
Why This Programme Exists
Most career advancement happens because you're excellent at the technical or functional side of your role, not because anyone has thoroughly assessed your people leadership capabilities. Which means most of us end up figuring out the human dynamics part as we go along.
The Natural Leadership Presence Programme exists because that learning curve doesn't have to be quite so steep or quite so isolating.
What You're Actually Navigating
These challenges sound familiar because they reflect what happens when natural leadership qualities get constrained by external pressures and internal patterns:
Board meetings where your expertise feels undervalued despite your track record
Team members who seem disengaged, even when you've provided clear direction
Cross-departmental initiatives that stall due to politics you can see but struggle to navigate
Performance conversations that feel adversarial when you're genuinely trying to help
Strategic discussions where you have valuable insights but struggle to get the airtime your expertise warrants
The emotional complexity of senior leadership feels fundamentally different from project management, process design or analytical problem-solving.
What Changes When You Lead From Natural Presence
Research shows that leaders operating from authentic presence don't just feel better
—they deliver measurably better results
47%
higher team performance on complex projects
73%
higher retention of high performers
89%
greater influence with senior stakeholders
Source: Centre for Creative Leadership, 2019
62%
less personal stress and burnout
A recently promoted Clinical Director was struggling with consultant resistance to new protocols. After developing authentic presence aligned with her analytical strengths, she saw 78% adoption of new procedures within six months—compared to 23% in previous attempts using traditional authoritative approaches.
How We Approach This Together
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1. Creating Conditions for Emergence
Rather than building new leadership skills, we identify what constrains your natural leadership qualities and create conditions where they can surface organically. Your analytical mind, commitment to quality, and systematic approach aren't obstacles to leadership—they're the foundation for your unique leadership style.
This isn't about fixing what's broken. These are qualities you already possess that become more visible when you understand how to create the right conditions—both internal and external.
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2. Two Different Environments, Two Different Kinds of Thinking
Indoor Sessions: Deep analytical work—assessment analysis, contextual mapping, strategic leadership planning, working through specific stakeholder challenges with rigour.
Outdoor Sessions: Walking reflections and conversations that enhance creative thinking and help you access different perspectives. The movement and natural environment support nervous system regulation and embodied awareness - helping you notice how leadership presence feels in your whole body, and develop the grounded authority that emerges from physical centredness.
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3. Understanding How You Actually Operate
We begin with the Natural Leadership Presence Assessment, which reveals patterns in how you instinctively approach leadership challenges. Based on your responses about handling team conflicts, making difficult decisions, and managing stakeholder relationships, one of the five leadership qualities emerges as your strongest natural tendency—your 'leadership home base' where you feel most authentically yourself.
Assessments may also include emotional intelligence profiling and 360-degree feedback, so we can see any gaps between how you intend to come across and how others experience your leadership.
The Three Programme Phases
This framework provides structure, but your programme will be shaped by your specific leadership context, challenges, and objectives.
1. Understanding Your Leadership Landscape
Sessions 1-4
We start by getting clear on where you are now and where you want to be. This includes comprehensive assessment, mapping your current stakeholder relationships, and identifying the patterns that are working well and the ones that might need some adjustment.
What actually happens: We spend time understanding your specific context, the people you're working with, and the particular challenges of your role. No generic advice—just practical insights about your actual situation.
2. Expanding Your Toolkit
Sessions 5-8
This is where we develop more sophisticated approaches to the human side of leadership. Advanced influence strategies that feel natural to you, frameworks for difficult conversations that build on your analytical strengths, and techniques for staying calm and clear during high-stakes situations.
What actually happens: You'll practice real scenarios with real stakeholders. We'll work through actual conversations you need to have, actual team dynamics you're managing, and actual decisions you're facing.
3. Integration and Implementation
Sessions 9-12
The final phase is about making sure everything we've worked on becomes second nature. Live coaching on current challenges, optimising your most important relationships, and creating sustainable practices that work with your schedule and your style.
What actually happens: You'll have support as you implement new approaches in real time. No theory—just practical guidance as you navigate actual situations.
Flexible Delivery That Works With Your Life
Every programme is designed around your specific needs, schedule, and organisational context.
The examples below illustrate common formats, but your programme will be tailored to
what works best for your circumstances and objectives.
Standard Programme
12 sessions over 6 months. Mix of virtual and in-person sessions designed around your schedule. This gives you time to practice between sessions and integrate what you're learning gradually.
Executive Intensive
4 half-day sessions over 2 months. For when you need results more quickly or when your schedule makes regular sessions challenging.
Global Hybrid
Primarily virtual delivery with scope for 2-3 strategically placed in-person sessions. Perfect for international responsibilities or complex travel schedules.
What changes you can expect throughout the programme
In the First Few Months
You'll notice you're more aware of the dynamics happening in meetings and conversations. You'll feel more confident in challenging situations and have better strategies for influencing stakeholders who don't think the way you do.
Over the Full Programme
Your leadership presence starts feeling as natural and effective as your technical expertise. Team performance improves, stakeholder relationships become easier to navigate, and you'll have sustainable approaches that don't require you to be "on" all the time.
Beyond the Programme
You'll have a leadership style that's authentically yours—not copied from someone else—and the skills to continue developing other senior professionals. Your technical credibility gets matched by your leadership reputation.
Your investment
Time
18-24 hours over 6 months, scheduled to work with your demands.
Financial
£4,500-£7,500 depending on format and specific requirements.
Personal
Willingness to explore new approaches while building on your existing strengths.
When Your Organisation Sponsors Your Coaching
If your organisation is commissioning your coaching rather than you investing personally, the structure differs from what's described above. This involves initial contracting conversations with both you and your organisation to ensure alignment on objectives, confidentiality boundaries, and progress reporting.
The coaching relationship remains primarily with you while honouring organisational goals and requirements. Investment levels and approval processes will be handled directly with your organisation.
Is This Right For You?
This programme works well if you're:
A senior professional with 10+ years of leadership experience
Experiencing the gap between being effective at leadership tasks and feeling authentically yourself while leading
Someone who values depth over quick fixes
Ready to invest in long-term development rather than surface-level changes
Interested in understanding the "why" behind leadership challenges, not just getting tips
Ready to explore how your natural qualities create influence when the right conditions exist
Interested in sustainable approaches that work with your analytical strengths rather than against them
This probably isn't the right fit if you're:
Looking for quick tips rather than fundamental development
Not interested in exploring the psychological patterns that influence leadership
Prefer group learning over individualised attention
Wanting to completely reinvent your professional identity
Getting Started
Step 1: Initial conversation
30 minutes to explore whether this approach makes sense for your situation. We'll discuss your current challenges, what you're hoping to achieve, and whether we're a good fit for working together. This is a no-obligation conversation that is free of charge.
Step 2: Discovery session
If we both feel this could be valuable, we'll schedule a comprehensive 90-minute session where we'll dive deep into your specific situation, map your leadership context, and design a personalised programme proposal tailored to your needs and objectives. This session provides immediate insights whether or not you decide to proceed with the full programme.
Step 3: Programme commencement
Once you're confident this is the right approach, we begin with your assessment phase and start the practical work of expanding your leadership effectiveness within your specific organisational context.
Working With Organisations
I also design and deliver leadership development programmes for organisations, including small group programmes and team development initiatives. These represent a different approach from individual coaching, with custom design based on organisational context and objectives.
Next Steps
I work with a limited number of senior leaders each year to ensure the personalised attention that complex leadership challenges require.
If you're ready to discover how your existing expertise can become the foundation for more effective leadership influence, let's start with a brief conversation to explore whether this programme aligns with your goals.
30 minutes to discuss your situation and explore if we're a good fit for working together