Team Leaders to CXOs
From doing the work to shaping the work & charting the unknown
Glass Ceilings
Different Leadership roles. Same root causes.
Role: Work in the business at the coal face with defined problems & outcomes.
Challenge: Promoted from technical success, but undertrained in delegation, facilitation, and feedback.
Symptoms: Overcommit, juggle shifting priorities, leave tasks unfinished or work unsustainable hours. Creates bottlenecks, frustrated teams, declining performance.
Role: Work in and on the business with defined and undefined problems.
Challenge: Promoted without guidance on coaching, coordinating multiple work streams, or influencing senior decisions.
Symptoms: Unable to translate strategy to tactics, take on too much & burns out. Leaves teams with unclear priorities and mounting pressure.
Role: Work on the business with undefined problems in uncharted territory
Challenge: Appointed without strategic acumen, ability to define problems, shape solutions or communicate effectively.
Symptoms: Half-formed strategies & directives, slows execution, drains money & time. Erodes trust and widens the gap between intent & reality.
If this sounds familiar, let’s explore how to break through. Start a conversation.
“Great to work with Kenny. He helped me and my team to successfully manage a difficult transition involving a large number of employees whilst minimising staff losses. It was a pleasure to work with someone who is clearly an expert in his field.”
Jason Smith
Head of Risk, Heineken UK
Leadership Blindspots
Top 5 underdeveloped leadership skills.
Across every level of leadership, absence of the same five skills exposes blindspots, they just manifest differently for team leaders, middle managers, and senior leaders. The further up the hierarchy they present the greater their consequences:
Team LeadersExpected to keep tasks moving but reacting instead of planning ahead.
Lead by example, but your voice isn’t heard or respected beyond your team.
Give instructions, but messages get lost, misheard, or repeated endlessly.
Give feedback, but it feels awkward, rushed, or avoided until it’s too late.
Team disputes drain your energy, and you’re unsure how firm to be.
Middle ManagersCaught between strategy & operations, struggling to turn goals into actions.
Negotiating across teams & upwards, but politics often dilute your impact.
Cascade key priorities, but they’re often watered down or misunderstood.
Responsible for coaching managers but slip into firefighting instead.
Cross-team tensions flare. You get dragged in to mediate without support.
Senior LeadersRelied on to set direction, but lack time, clarity or confidence to frame the future.
Need to shape agendas at the top table, yet competing interests stall momentum.
Must inspire & simplify, but struggle to cut through noise with clarity.
High-stakes conflicts and politics stall progress, mission gets lost in the noise.
Skill DeficitStrategic Thinking
Credible Influence
Succinct Communication
Want honest conversations at scale, but the culture avoids accountability.
Meaningful Feedback
Navigating Conflict
These are common blindspots, not an exhaustive list. Every organisation has its nuances, but these five life-skills are universal. If you recognise yourself in any of these, this is your starting point. The next step is becoming mission ready. Start a conversation.
“Kenny has worked with me on a personal basis and with some members of my team at Premier Foods. Kenny helps people identify issues that are holding them back and unlock their potential. The results I have experienced myself and for members of my team are exceptional, both in terms of team of individual performance and through them impact on the wider team. Critically in terms of value add vs cost the results pay back in spades.”
Hilary Spence
Finance Director, Premier Foods
Mission Readiness
Clear strategy. Resilient teams. Swift execution.
Principle: Build a strategy that empowers decision-making.
Challenge: Without clarity of direction, leaders and teams lose focus and drift.
Solution: Define objectives, align decisions with outcomes, and give people a bearing they can march on.
Principle: Build a culture that epitomises the pursuit of excellence.
Challenge: Without accountability and resilience, individuals & teams burn out.
Solution: Foster common purpose, teach leaders to coach, liberate themselves, their teams and deliver mission success.
Principle: Build operational structures that enable swift execution.
Challenge: Without end-to-end systems, bottlenecks form and progress stalls.
Solution: Design frameworks that streamline decision-making, remove friction, and accelerate delivery.
When pressure rises, the ability to adapt isn’t found, it’s trained.
Performance psychology is the force multiplier that makes leadership scalable.
Team Leader’s to CXO’s
From doing the work to shaping the work & charting the unknown
Glass Ceilings
Different leadership roles. Same root causes.
-
The Coordinator
Role: Work in the business at the coal face with defined problems & outcomes.
Challenge: Promoted from technical success, but undertrained in delegation, facilitation, and feedback.
Symptoms: Overcommit, juggle shifting priorities, leave tasks unfinished or work unsustainable hours. Creates bottlenecks, frustrated teams, declining performance.
-
The Translator
Role: Work in and on the business with defined and undefined problems.
Challenge: Promoted without guidance on coaching, coordinating multiple work streams, or influencing senior decisions.
Symptoms: Unable to translate strategy to tactics, take on too much & burns out. Leaves teams with unclear priorities and mounting pressure.
-
The Visionary
Role: Work on the business with undefined problems in uncharted territory
Challenge: Appointed without strategic acumen, ability to define problems, shape solutions or communicate effectively.
Symptoms: Half-formed strategies & directives, slows execution, drains money & time. Erodes trust and widens the gap between intent & reality.
If these sound familiar, let’s explore.
-
transition involving a large number of employees whilst minimising staff losses. It was a pleasure to work with someone who is clearly an expert in his field.”
Jason Smith
Head of Risk, Heineken UK
Leadership Blindspots
Top 5 underdeveloped Leadership skills.
Across every level of leadership, absence of the same five skills exposes blindspots, they just manifest differently for team leaders, middle managers, and senior leaders. The further up the hierarchy they present the greater the consequences.
-
Skill Deficit:
Strategic Thinking: You’re expected to keep tasks moving but reacting instead of planning ahead.
Credible Influence: Your lead by example, but your voice isn’t heard or respected beyond your team.
Succinct Communication: Give instructions, but messages get lost, misheard, or repeated endlessly.
Meaningful Feedback. You give feedback, it’s awkward, rushed, or avoided until it’s too late.
Navigating Conflict: Team disputes drain your energy, and you’re unsure how firm to be.
-
Skill Deficit:
Strategic Thinking: Caught between strategy & operations, struggling to turn goals into actions.
Credible Influence: Negotiating across teams & upwards, but politics often dilute your impact.
Succinct Communication: You cascade key priorities, but they’re watered down or misunderstood.
Meaningful Feedback: You’re responsible for coaching managers but slip into firefighting instead.
Navigating Conflict: Cross-team tensions flare. You get dragged in to mediate without support.
-
Skill Deficit:
Strategic Thinking: Relied on to set direction, but lack time, clarity or confidence to frame the future.
Credible Influence: Need to shape agendas at the top, yet competing interests stall momentum.
Succinct Communication: Must inspire & simplify, but struggle to cut through noise with clarity.
Meaningful Feedback: Want honest conversations at scale, but the culture avoids accountability.
Navigating Conflict: High-stakes conflicts & politics stall progress, mission gets lost in the noise.
These are common blindspots, not exhaustive lists. Every organisation has its nuances, but these five life skills are universal. If you recognise yourself here, this is your starting point. The next step is becoming mission ready.
-
at Premier Foods. Kenny helps people identify issues that are holding them back and unlock their potential. The results I have experienced myself and for members of my team are exceptional, both in terms of team of individual performance and through them impact on the wider team. Critically in terms of value add vs cost the results pay back in spades.”
Hilary Spence
Finance Director, Premier Foods
Mission Readiness
Clear strategy. Resilient teams. Swift execution.
-
Principle: Build a strategy that empowers decision-making.
Challenge: Without clarity of direction, leaders and teams lose focus and drift.
Solution: Define objectives, align decisions with outcomes, and give people a bearing they can march on.
-
Principle: Build a culture that epitomises the pursuit of excellence.
Challenge: Without accountability and resilience, individuals & teams burn out.
Solution: Foster common purpose, teach leaders to coach, liberate themselves, their teams and deliver mission success.
-
Principle: Build operational structures that enable swift execution.
Challenge: Without end-to-end systems, bottlenecks form and progress stalls.
Solution: Design frameworks that streamline decision-making, remove friction, and accelerate delivery.
When pressure rises, the ability to adapt isn’t found, it’s trained. Performance psychology is the force multiplier that makes leadership scalable.