I meet my Client some 10 years ago when she was a delegate on a High Potential Leadership Programme for graduates from around the world. After the programme we stayed in touch and I was an informal coach/mentor for her from time to time. During lockdown, she had a challenging time so we had a couple of more formal coaching/mentoring sessions for her. Her feedback from our work together is:

“I was 23 when I first met Simon and his team during the Weir Group Graduate Development Programme which entailed a week-long intensive programme out in a secluded location in Scotland with a global cohort of engineers. I was the only woman in the group and it was the first time I had been exposed to such intensive lateral thinking training and emotional awareness development in a team environment. Then, I felt both pushed to expand my limits while supported by Simon’s encouraging and empowering presence and support. The coaching and support did not stop there though. The seeds sown that week continued to support me on my journey in big corporate, later in co-founding a global sports tech start-up that achieved Olympic level recognition as well as my consulting work for a world-class Yoga and wellness business, including my own studios and brand. At 33, I have been privileged and touched by the ongoing care and interest shown to me by Simon. During pandemic I had what can only be described as “a full-blown crisis of self-confidence”. I was at a crossroads and Simon spent time and care in helping me break out of my “rabbit in the headlights” dilemma and taking one baby step forward at a time. If you are considering mentoring, know that Simon’s support is not just for now, it will hold you in good stead for at least a few career lifecycles. My utmost gratitude and appreciation, Cecilia.”

The student at Exeter University Business School had just arrived in UK for the full time MBA Programme. I mentored the student for the first 6 months (after which students are automatically allocated a different mentor to get a different perspective. The student won the “MBA Career Transformation” award for 2021 and has just been appointed as a consultant in the digital advisory team for a global digital transformation company and will start in April 2022. She says of the mentoring I provided:

“Simon was my first mentor as I arrived in UK. Through a guided approach, he enabled me in finding my true potential. He is a skilled listener who takes time to understand your professional goals and motivates towards authentic leadership. Special thanks for his unending support.”

Coaching for an FD who was going through a challenging time the business and with her MD. Now an entrepreneur and non-Executive Director, she’s just been won an award in Innovate UK’s National Women in Innovation Awards 2022 and is the Woman’s Ambassador for Enterprise Scotland. Of the coaching that I provided over a 9-month period, she says:

“Forever grateful for the support you gave me and the tools I learnt from you through a challenging period in my career.”

My client was a mature student completing a full time MBA in between appointments. He had just finished as the CEO of a small social housing organisation that had merged with a larger one. I was his mentor for some 9 months and initially the focus was on his interface and relationships with his fellow students, many of whom were much younger and had little practical experience in the workplace. However, that focus changed when he was appointed to be the CEO of a larger social housing organisation, a post he would take up on completion of his MBA. Of his mentoring, he said:

“As a much older university of Exeter MBA student I was thrilled to team up with Simon as my mentor. His wise counsel and constructive challenge was useful during my studies but especially helpful once I had secured my CEO job in the housing sector. From our discussions emerged implementable tactics to ensure my early weeks in post had maximum positive impact.”

I ran challenging High Potential Leadership Development Programmes for a global engineering organisation with delegates from all six continents. On completion, the CEO said:

“The tailored Group Leadership Development Programme instigated by Simon has, in numerous instances, been life changing for attendees and to a large extent I attribute this to Simon’s personal capabilities.”

Cultural transformation programmes for a national construction organisation and cultural integration for the employees of newly acquired companies. On completion, the Head of Leadership Development said:

“What I valued about Simon was that he listened well and really cared about delivering something that I wanted – rather than something he happened to have available in his back pocket. His programmes always hit the mark for the participants and for the company. He was prepared to both support and challenge me personally – and, along the way, managed to be fun to work with”

I ran a series of leadership development programmes for the directors of autonomous local offices on national digital and media organisations. On completion, the HR Director said:

“Simon’s approach to people development starts with business development. He always asks what his intervention can achieve through the efforts of a company’s team of people and, critically important, how will that change continue once the project is concluded? Because of this approach Simon can build bespoke development solutions that are grounded in the objectives of the business and relevant to the people who attend his programmes. This achieves buy in from day one – with tangible results. So tangible in fact that in my guise both as HR Director for Capital Radio plc (as was) and HR Board Director for Huntsworth plc I asked Simon to work on two significant leadership and management programmes for the marzipan layer of young Directors – the results of which are still very much in action with the individuals who attended. I recommend Simon wholeheartedly – and if the above is not enough then perhaps his wicked sense of humour will tip any final decisions.”

My client was bought is as Customer Service Director to lift a below performing directorate in a national organisation that was in a dip itself. The project focused initially on gelling his senior management team before turning to his junior teams and finally to the culture of his whole directorate. On completion, my client said:

“I have worked with Simon over a number of years, helping me to create teams of leaders and managers who were better equipped to tackle the complex world we operate in. Simon worked with us using a series of simple techniques that firstly explored the theory of great leadership but then bought these to life in a series of practical exercises designed to challenge and reinforce learning. Described by my team as some of the most valuable learning opportunities they had experienced, it made a significant impact to our performance and culture. Always linking the learning events to the problems we were trying to solve in our business at that time, the very grounded nature of Simons approach meant we gained value that could be taken back and implemented immediately. Even today I see people practising some of the techniques that Simon introduced – his work has had real long-lasting impact.”

The client, The Weir Group – a global engineering organisation – wanted to develop a programme that combined personal development and corporate understanding for their high potential delegates going through the organisation’s graduate induction programme. Starting with a blank sheet of paper, we devised a challenging high intensity six day residential programme which we ran for 9 years. The Global Head of Learning and Development said of the programme:

“Between 2010 and 2018, the Weir Group successfully partnered with LEPD to design and deliver their global graduate development programme. This took the form of a one week residential programme that was a great blend of individual and team development for recent graduate hires from all six continents. LEPD did a great job of keeping the programme relevant to the needs and evolution of the business and effectively utilised Weir senior leaders (including CEOs and Divisional MDs) and subject matter experts to input and enhance the learning experience for these early career colleagues. After the residential week, the team kept in touch with the participants and to this day I know that some of these connections still remain and are of value as the careers of previous participants develop. I would have no hesitation in recommending Simon and the LEPD team to future clients in this type of work. They have a very collaborative and friendly approach to their work and a passion for growing talent: challenging when required yet empathetic to participants needs and a meticulous attention to detail.”