I didn’t find coaching because I was looking for it. I found it at a group event, because someone happened to mention that she had finished her coach training. I followed up out of curiosity. She set up a meeting that turned into a coaching demo. I walked away knowing I wanted to continue. The reason I wasn’t looking for coaching is simple. I didn’t…
I knew other founders. Some of them understood exactly what running a business felt like. We could sit together and talk honestly about how hard it was, and there was real comfort in that. Someone across from you who didn’t need you to explain why last month was brutal or why you’re questioning everything again. The shorthand alone was a relief. What I found, though,…
You’ve heard the term. Maybe a colleague mentioned it after a particularly rough quarter, or a board member brought it up during a conversation about your development. Someone you respect told you it changed how they lead, and you filed it away under things to look into when you have a moment. The moment hasn’t come. What executive coaching actually is tends to get lost…
You pressure-test your strategy before you commit to it. You stress-test your financials before you present them. You vet your hires before you make the offer. The thinking behind all of those decisions, the reasoning that shapes what you commit to, present, and offer, almost never gets the same scrutiny. Every major call you make starts as a thought that either gets properly examined before…
At some point in the last few years, your title started answering questions it was never meant to answer. Someone asks what you do and the title comes out before your name does. Someone asks how you’re doing and the answer maps to how the business is doing, as though the company’s health and yours are the same thing. The role has become the lens…
A decision has been on the table for weeks. The reports are in. The team has weighed in. Two board members have shared their perspective. A consultant ran the numbers from a different angle. A leadership workshop promised frameworks for exactly this situation. The decision still hasn’t been made. So the instinct kicks in: ask for more. Another analysis. Another opinion. Another data point that…
At some point, most senior leaders arrive at a version of the same private conclusion: I should be handling this better. The role is demanding, the weight is real, nobody around them seems to be carrying the same thing, and the simplest explanation is that they’re falling short somewhere. Maybe they need to be more strategic. Maybe they need to delegate better. Maybe they just…
You have 12 direct reports. A board that meets quarterly. A spouse who tries to understand. You still carry the hardest decisions alone. The gap is structural. Leadership teams are built for execution. Boards are built for governance. Neither is built for the moment where a CEO needs to think out loud about something that has no clear answer yet. The ambiguous, high-stakes, “I need…
Why Confidential Advisory Is a Governance Necessity Senior leadership is often described in terms of authority, influence, and decision making. The public picture shows confidence and control. The internal reality is more complex. Executives in Nairobi and across Kenya carry decisions that affect organisations, employees, investors, and sometimes entire markets. Those decisions require more than intelligence and experience. They require clear thinking under pressure, and…
