London
1 Harley Street, London W1G 9QDBy Cavendish Square, a short walk from Oxford Circus and Bond Street.
Coaching for CEOs · London · Birmingham · Online
Coaching for CEOs
For chief executives who carry the decisions nobody else can make and have nobody inside the business to think them through with. Private one-to-one coaching at 1 Harley Street, in Edgbaston or online, fitted around a full diary.
What CEOs bring to coaching
The job looks different in every company, from a family business to a listed group. The reasons chief executives give for booking a call are remarkably similar.
Decisions with no one to think them through with
Your board wants an answer, your team wants direction and your peers are competitors. Coaching gives you a private place to think a decision through before you commit to it in public.
Pressure that has stopped switching off
Sleep that breaks at four in the morning and weekends spent on email.
A board relationship that has gone tense
Preparing for difficult meetings and holding your position without damaging trust.
Leading people who used to be peers
Setting expectations, giving hard feedback and accepting that you can’t be liked by everyone.
Doubt you can’t show
Imposter feelings in the most senior role, and the energy it takes to look certain every day.
What comes after this role
Succession, a sale, a step down or the question of what you want your work to mean.
How I work with CEOs
Sessions are direct. You bring the decision, the relationship or the pattern that is costing you most, and I help you separate what you know from what you fear, test your options and choose a next move you can act on before the next session.
I am not a consultant and I won’t tell you how to run your company. My job is the person running it: how you think under pressure, how you come across, what you avoid and what it is doing to your health and home life. That is often the part no adviser, board member or chair will raise with you.
Where it helps, I use practical NLP techniques to change how you respond to the situations that knock you, and hypnotherapy for stress or sleep if you choose it. Both are always optional.
Most chief executives also look at executive coaching, which covers senior roles more broadly, and leadership coaching. If pressure is the main issue, see burnout coaching.
What a session is like
A typical session starts with what has happened since last time and what is on your mind now. The session stays on the issue that matters most: you work through it in detail and finish with one or two actions you agree to take. Between sessions you can email or text me before a hard meeting or after one.
How to become a strong leader
In this three-minute video I set out how executive coaching works on leadership and confidence: getting to the root of the doubt, then building the habits and presence that help you lead well. It gives you a sense of how I approach the work with senior clients.
Captions are available on YouTube.
Discretion and scheduling
Chief executives often worry about being seen to need help. The arrangements are designed so nobody needs to know.
- Confidential. What you tell me stays private. You book and pay directly, and I don’t report to your board, your chair or your HR team.
- Around your diary. Sessions run Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 18:30, with weekend appointments on request, and they can move when your week changes.
- In person or online. Meet at 1 Harley Street or in Edgbaston, or join from your office, your home or a hotel room on Zoom, FaceTime or phone.
- Between sessions. Email or text me when something comes up, so you aren’t holding a hard week alone until the next appointment.
To read about a specific problem first, see imposter syndrome or decision-making. If you own the business as well as running it, the page on coaching for company owners may fit better.
What changes for CEOs
Clearer decisions
You learn a way of working through hard choices that separates the facts from the fear of getting it wrong. Decisions still carry risk, but you make them faster and stop reopening them at night.
Steadier under pressure
You notice the early signs of strain, such as short temper, poor sleep or a growing to-do list you won’t delegate, and act on them before they turn into burnout or a mistake.
Better conversations with the board
Board meetings, investor updates and difficult conversations with your senior team become something you prepare for calmly, instead of something you rehearse in the shower for a week.
A life outside the role
Many chief executives realise the job has taken over their evenings, their health and their family time. Coaching helps you set limits that hold, and decide what you want the next few years to look like.
Typical patterns
These are common patterns, not individual client stories. Details always differ, and nothing about any client is shared.
The first-time chief executive
Recently promoted from within and leading former peers. Sessions on authority, delegation and making peace with being less popular.
The founder chief executive
Still running the company they started, now much bigger than they planned. Sessions on letting go of detail and building a senior team they trust.
The long-serving leader
Years into the role, tired and unsure what comes next. Sessions on energy, succession and what they want from the next chapter.
Coaching for CEOs in London, Birmingham and online
Birmingham
Quadrant Court, Calthorpe Road, Edgbaston B15Close to Five Ways, a short taxi ride from New Street.
Online
Zoom, FaceTime or phone, anywhere in the UK or abroad, with the same structure as sessions in the room.
Format and fees
Every session is 90 minutes, longer than the usual coaching hour, which leaves room to work through a decision properly. My fees are published, and you book and pay directly, with no contract beyond the package you choose.
Free call
30 minutes
By phone, before you commit to anything.
Discovery session
£165
One 90-minute introductory session, with no obligation to continue.
Five, eight or twelve sessions
£975 to £1,980
Every session 90 minutes, with support between sessions.
Payment plans
By agreement
Spread the cost of a package. The same fees apply online.
What clients say
Reviews published on this site, word for word.
The whole experience was fantastic from start to finish! Booking was easy and Stuart had a brief chat with me before I committed to an initial session. He put my mind at ease from the very start. Thank you Stuart, so very much!
I highly recommend Stuart. 10/10 experience. Right from the beginning he made me feel so comfortable and he seemed to genuinely care about what I had to say.
Qualifications
- Advanced Master Practitioner of NLP (DNLP)
- Master Practitioner of NLP (MPNLP)
- Psychotherapist (MNACHP)
- Master Hypnotist (DMH)
- EMDR Practitioner
- PSY-TAP Practitioner
- ADHD-CCSP
- Enhanced DBS
Questions CEOs ask about coaching
How is coaching for CEOs different from executive coaching?
The method is the same. Coaching for chief executives focuses on the problems specific to running the organisation: isolation, board relationships, decisions with no one above you and the effect of the role on the rest of your life.
Will my board or company know I’m having coaching?
Only if you tell them. You book and pay directly, and I don’t contact your board, chair or HR team. What you say in sessions stays private unless there is a serious risk to your safety or someone else’s.
Can sessions fit around travel and a changing diary?
Yes. Online sessions on Zoom, FaceTime or phone work from anywhere, and appointments can move when your week changes. Weekend sessions are available on request.
How many sessions do CEOs usually need?
A single focused issue, such as preparing for a difficult board meeting, can suit the introductory discovery session or a five-session package. Wider work on pressure, leadership and balance usually suits eight. I’ll suggest an option on the free call.
Do you coach chief executives of small companies?
Yes. The size of the organisation changes the detail, not the pressure. Leading a team of twenty brings the same isolation and the same hard calls as leading two thousand, often with less support around you, so the sessions work the same way.
Start with a free 30-minute call
You describe the problem. I tell you whether coaching is the right tool and how I’d approach it. If it isn’t, I’ll tell you that too. No obligation, and I reply within 24 hours.
- You send the formName, number and a line or two about what’s going on.
- I reply within 24 hoursBy phone or email, whichever you prefer, to book a time.
- A free 30-minute callYou decide afterwards. No obligation, no follow-up pressure.
Still deciding?
“I highly recommend Stuart. 10/10 experience. Right from the beginning he made me feel so comfortable and he seemed to genuinely care about what I had to say.”