For founders, leaders and HR teams

Someone good on your team
is struggling?

You hired them for a reason. Now something’s in the way, and you’ve run out of ideas. I coach the people on your team, the managers who lead them, and leadership teams that need to work better together.

Book a Clarity Call

Do any of these sound like someone on your team?

Everyone likes them.

The team likes them. You like them. The work still isn’t landing, and you’ve spent a month deciding what to do about it.

The senior hire who hasn’t settled.

They were great somewhere bigger. Here, it’s harder than either of you expected, and neither of you is saying so.

Promoted for being great at the work.

They were brilliant at the job. Now the job is the team, and they’re still doing the old one.

The feedback you haven’t given.

You’ve held it back to be kind. It’s building up, and one day it’ll come out all at once.

Product and engineering pulling apart.

Your product managers and engineers want different things, and both sides bring it to you.

A leadership team that isn’t a team.

They meet every week. They still act like a group of department heads.

A leadership team that isn’t a team.

They meet every week. They still act like a group of department heads.

What people bring to coaching

Giving feedback that lands, without wrecking the relationship
Leading people who used to be your peers
The first few months in a bigger role
Delegating, and having it stay delegated
Meetings where nobody listens, or nobody decides
Getting a decision out of a meeting of twelve people
Hiring well, and letting go when you have to
Too many priorities, and nothing quite finished
Doing a senior job with ADHD, or managing someone who has it

Who I coach

VPs and directors of engineering and product. Heads of department, newly promoted managers, and senior hires in their first months. Leadership teams, together.

Mostly in technology and product companies, from Series A startups to business units of global companies.

Neurodivergent leaders, and the people around them: I coach people with ADHD, and I have it myself. I also coach managers who want to get the best from someone whose brain works differently from theirs.

And you?

When I coach someone on your team, I’d like to coach you as well, if you’re up for it.

The quickest change often comes from both sides: how they’re set up and what you ask of them. And the person who asks about someone else often gets just as much from the coaching.

Results

What clients say about working with me, and what changed for the people I coached.

What clients say

“

Clear goals, and team leads who stay focused

Like most fast-growing companies, we also faced the problem of not having the time to write down a clear mission and vision and define OKRs. Richard was excellent in helping us to work them out… Based on the feedback from our employees, he is doing an outstanding job in helping them to stay focused.

Michael Pagitz

Head of HR

go-e

“

Someone outside the process

He did a discovery project with our senior leadership team. They all really like talking to Richard and gave us really clear recommendations for how to move forward… It's so hard when you're a CEO or a founder to do it yourself because you're in the process.

Nick Burne

CEO & Founder

GivePanel

“

Bridging strategy and operations

Richard played an instrumental role in teaching Bitmovin how to utilize OKRs to systematically bridge the gap between strategy and operations. And he did not stop at the top management team: He held workshops across the organization, coached individuals where necessary… I can recommend Richard if you want to boost your cross-functional focus & alignment.

Eric Thomas

Chief of Staff & Head of Business Development

Bitmovin

“

Clear goals, and team leads who stay focused

Michael Pagitz

Head of HR

go-e

“

Someone outside the process

Nick Burne

CEO & Founder

GivePanel

Coaching stories

Series C VP Product

From defending his team to partnering his peers

Research team lead, deep-tech lab

From lone researcher to the leader his team rallies around

Director of Product Management, Series A startup

From carrying the decision alone to driving it company-wide

Series C VP Product

From defending his team to partnering his peers

Research team lead, deep-tech lab

From lone researcher to the leader his team rallies around

See all results →

Ways it can look

It depends on who needs the help.

1:1 coaching

One person, 1:1

The most common. Sessions every week or two, over a few months.

Suited for: A leader you want to keep who’s stuck, new in a bigger role, or not working out yet.

Group coaching

A group of managers or team leads

Group sessions, with some 1:1 time for each person.

Suited for: A layer of managers facing the same change, or a group of new team leads.

Team coaching

A leadership team, over months

Team coaching for leaders who need to work differently together. It can include a facilitated session when there’s a decision to make or a way of working to agree.

Suited for: A leadership team that needs to work differently together, not just meet.

Often part of a bigger piece of work, with workshops for startups → or bigger organisations →

1:1 coaching

One person, 1:1

The most common. Sessions every week or two, over a few months.

Suited for: A leader you want to keep who’s stuck, new in a bigger role, or not working out yet.

Group coaching

A group of managers or team leads

Group sessions, with some 1:1 time for each person.

Suited for: A layer of managers facing the same change, or a group of new team leads.

Team coaching

A leadership team, over months

Team coaching for leaders who need to work differently together. It can include a facilitated session when there’s a decision to make or a way of working to agree.

Suited for: A leadership team that needs to work differently together, not just meet.

Often part of a bigger piece of work, with workshops for startups → or bigger organisations →

Extras, if they help

We can start with 360 feedback or a strengths profile, and repeat the 360 at the end so everyone can see what’s changed.

How it works

You stay involved, and the relationship stays between the two of you.

Free, 20 minutes

We talk, you and me

A 20-minute call, then usually a longer conversation: what’s happening, what good would look like, and what you’ve tried.

Before we start

I meet them

They decide whether they want to work with me. Coaching only works when the person wants it.

Over a few months

We agree the goals, then coach

The three of us agree the goals in a few written lines. Then sessions every week or two.

If you’d like, short three-way check-ins where they tell you how it’s going.

Book a Clarity Call

20 minutes. Free. Confidential.

Who you’ll be working with

Me. Every session, every time. I don’t hand clients to associates.

I spent six years at Google, then two at Amazon, where I led a 100-person organisation. Since then I’ve coached hundreds of founders and leaders, and I’m ICF-accredited.

If I’m not the right coach for someone, I’ll say so, and point you to someone who is.

More about me

Who you’ll be working with

Me. Every session, every time. I don’t hand clients to associates.

I spent six years at Google, then two at Amazon, where I led a 100-person organisation. Since then I’ve coached hundreds of founders and leaders, and I’m ICF-accredited.

If I’m not the right coach for someone, I’ll say so, and point you to someone who is.

More about me

Frequently asked questions

No. What someone says in coaching stays between them and me, in line with the ICF Code of Ethics. You'll hear about progress from them, not from me. If you'd like, I'll run short three-way conversations where they tell you how it's going and the two of you agree next steps. I'm there to keep the conversation useful. The relationship is yours and theirs.

Yes. HR often arranges the coaching, and anyone involved can join the first conversation. The rules are the same for everyone: what's shared, and with whom, is agreed at the start, with the person being coached in the room.

No. I won't assess anyone's performance for you. I can coach you on how to do it yourself: how to judge it fairly, make the decision and carry it out, give feedback that lands, coach them day to day, and, if it comes to it, run a performance plan well.

Then it won't work, and I'll tell you. You might still get a lot from coaching yourself.

Usually the company pays. Most clients choose a monthly retainer or a set number of months, and some prefer a block of hours. We agree the scope first, and you get a clear price before anyone commits.

Yes. Team coaching runs over months, alongside the work. If what you need is one session to make a decision or a plan, that's a workshop instead.

Online, by video, so it works wherever your people are.

Still have questions?Send me an email. I read and answer every email myself. No bots. No VA.

richard@richardrussell.co