Questions
The things people ask before they start
Most of these come up on the intro call anyway. Here they are in advance, answered plainly.
the coaching itself
How the work actually goes
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What's the difference between coaching and mentoring?
Coaching is space and questioning to help you find your own answer. Mentoring is the perspective of someone who has navigated similar terrain and will tell you how they'd think about it.
I do both and we agree at the start which you want. Some people want pure coaching and would find advice intrusive. Others specifically want the mentoring, because the commercial experience is the reason they came. Most want a blend, with coaching as the core mode and mentoring available when it's more useful than another question.
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Do I need to know what I want to work on?
No. A lot of people arrive knowing something isn't right without being able to name it, and working that out is the first piece of value.
We set goals in the first session — two or three, in plain language, so we both know what this is for. From there, each session starts with whatever is most alive for you that week, and we come back to the goals when it's useful to do so.
There's no fixed agenda and no curriculum. That's deliberate: the goals give the work direction, and the sessions stay flexible enough to be about your actual week.
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What actually happens in a session?
We spend an hour together on video. You bring what's live — the decision you keep revisiting, the conversation you've been putting off, the part of the role that isn't working yet. We think it through properly, without the agenda every other conversation in your week carries.
Sometimes that means difficult questions. Sometimes it means challenging an assumption you hadn't noticed you were making. Sometimes it just means enough space for the answer to become obvious.
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Will you tell me what to do?
It depends what we've contracted for, and that's a deliberate distinction rather than a technicality.
If we've agreed a pure coaching engagement, then no. Coaching means partnering with you to find your own thinking — and offering my opinion, however tempting, isn't coaching. If you ask me directly for a view, I'll say that's a shift in what we agreed, and we can either stay with the coaching or change the contract. I'll name it rather than quietly slide into advising you.
If we've agreed a blend of coaching and mentoring — which many senior leaders specifically want, because the commercial experience is why they came — then yes. I'll tell you how I'd think about it, and I'll flag when I'm speaking as a mentor rather than a coach so you always know which you're getting.
Either way the decisions remain yours. And either way, I won't tell you what you want to hear.
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What if it isn't working?
Tell me, and we'll change it or stop. Chemistry matters more than credentials in this work, and there's no version of it that succeeds while you're being polite about it.
That's also why nobody starts without an honest fit call. If I don't think I'm the right person, I'll say so then rather than take the engagement.
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Can you guarantee a promotion or a particular outcome?
No, and I'd be suspicious of anyone who does. Coaching changes how you think and how you show up; it doesn't control your organisation's decisions.
What I will guarantee is that I'll be honest with you about what I'm seeing, including when it isn't comfortable.
If your business is paying
Sponsored engagements
Most of my engagements are funded by an employer. These are the questions sponsors ask, and the ones leaders ask before they raise it with their manager.
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What will my sponsor know about what I say?
Nothing you don't choose to tell them. Sessions are unrecorded and what's said stays between us.
Some engagements include three-way check-ins — you, your sponsor and me, in the room together — where we agree what the coaching is for and later review progress against it. You're present for all of it. Nothing about you is ever discussed without you there.
Those check-ins are optional, and we decide together whether they're right for your engagement. Either way, the content of your sessions stays between us. That boundary isn't a technicality — it's the entire reason the work is possible.
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How do the check-ins work?
They're three-way — you, your sponsor and me — and typically three short conversations across the six months: at the start to agree what we're working on, then at the midpoint and the close to review it. You're in all of them.
They're optional. Some engagements work better with them, some without, and some organisations don't want them at all. We agree it case by case at the outset rather than applying a standard process.
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I'd like my employer to fund it. How do I ask?
Most leaders assume the answer is no and never ask. In my experience it's yes more often than people expect — particularly when it arrives as a business case rather than a favour.
You don't have to build that case yourself. Raise it on the intro call and I'll put it in writing: what the business is being asked to fund, what it gets, and how the confidentiality works. Something you can forward rather than have to compose.
If it would help, I'll also join a conversation with your sponsor directly.
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Will you join a conversation with my manager?
Happily. Most sponsors have the same three questions, and it's usually quicker for me to answer them directly than for you to relay them.
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What happens if the leader leaves the business partway through?
We'd talk about it. Usually the engagement continues, either funded by the leader or by agreement with the sponsor — the work is with the person, and a transition is often exactly when it's most useful.
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Do you invoice the organisation directly?
Yes. Sponsored engagements are invoiced to the business, with a purchase order if that's how you work. There's a separate proposal and price for employer-funded engagements.
Practical
Logistics, money and timing
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How much does it cost?
It depends which of the options you're looking at. Pricing sits on each one: Executive Coaching for the six-month engagement, and Executive Mentoring for a single ninety-minute session.
Employer-sponsored engagements are priced on application, because what's included is agreed case by case.
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Where are you based, and does that matter?
I work remotely across Australia and Bali, and I coach leaders in both hemispheres. Sessions are on video.
The research on this is reassuringly clear: coaching delivered remotely performs comparably to face to face. What matters is the relationship, not the room.
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How often are sessions, and can I move them?
Roughly every four weeks, flexible to your diary. Life at your level is unpredictable and I'd rather move a session than have you arrive at one distracted.
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Can I reach you between sessions?
Yes. WhatsApp or email throughout the engagement, with a 24-hour reply window. That window is deliberate — it means you get a considered response rather than a reflexive one, and it keeps the whole thing sustainable.
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Do you only work with people in retail and FMCG?
No. That's where my own experience sits and it's why leaders in those sectors often find the shorthand useful, but the work applies to any fast-moving commercial environment.
What matters more than sector is level. If your leadership is being copied by other leaders, we'll have plenty to work with.
about me
Credentials and background
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Are you accredited?
Yes — I'm an IECL Accredited Organisational Coach. I'm also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and I hold a Graduate Certificate in Management from AGSM.
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What's your actual leadership background?
Twenty years at ALDI across the UK and Australia, finishing as Managing Director of ALDI Western Australia — a $450 million business with more than 850 people, fifty stores, a distribution centre and a transport fleet. Before that, national buying responsibility for over a billion dollars of retail sales.
I'm also a Non-Executive Director and Company Secretary on a not-for-profit board. More about me →
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Have you been coached yourself?
Several times, at different points in my career, and it's a large part of why I do this. I've also had my own experience of imposter syndrome and burnout. I'm not coaching from the outside.
Still have a question?
Ask it. Thirty minutes, no obligation, and no pressure at the end of it — if it's not the right fit, I'll say so honestly.
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