Business Mentoring & Executive Leadership Coaching

Executive Coaching

Executive coaching is used by leaders and managers when the challenge goes beyond technical competence and requires them to develop their judgment and become more effective leaders and managers.

London-based alumni of ESSEC, one of the leading global business schools. Ross Nichols had the privilege of providing them with a workshop on my Intuitive Career Plan.

  • This is designed for:

    • CEOs,

    • Directors,

    • Leaders,

    • Managers.

  • Executive coaching is used by leaders and managers when the challenge goes beyond technical competence and requires them to develop their judgment and become more effective leaders and managers.  Coaching can be used for:

    • Developing people with high potential

    • Succession planning

    • Integrating new employees

    • Managing intense periods of activity and uncertainty

    • Supporting transitions, such as newly promoted staff

    • Boosting creativity and innovation

    • Improving performance

    • Improving leadership

  • Coaching starts with us actively listening to you, and understanding your business and personal goals and the challenges you face. We then co-create a coaching agreement with you and make a coaching plan. This identifies your key outcomes and how we will work together to achieve them.

  • Individual coaching sessions of 1 – 1.5 hours duration.  The default frequency is fortnightly intervals to allow you to process and implement your insights from each session without losing momentum.  This can develop into a long-term relationship with quarterly or half yearly sessions to help you maintain your focus on leadership and management improvement.  

  • Coaching helps you become a more effective leader and manager, make better decisions more quickly and get the most out of your team.

    Research by the International Coach Federation into the impact of coaching found the key benefits of coaching in organisations to be:

    • Leadership development and performance

    • Increased levels of employee engagement

    • Reduced turnover of staff

    • Improved team working

Secure Your Professional Future
Secure Your Professional Future

Business Coaching and Mentoring

Running your own business can be a stressful and lonely experience. We provide a second opinion and a sounding board for ideas, ensuring your business is twice as likely to survive and flourish.

Ross Nichols standing at a table giving a talk to Solent Uni mentoring group

  • This is designed for:

    • Small business owners,

    • start-ups.

  • Small businesses that use mentoring and coaching are twice as likely to survive for 5+ years than businesses that don’t (Federation of Small Business Survey 2010).  Many business owners have a technical or professional skill but lack the business knowledge, skills and experience to turn this into a viable business.  A mentor provides a second opinion and a sounding board for ideas that helps business owners to:

    • Gain knowledge from the mentor’s experience and expertise

    • Test ideas

    • Identify opportunities and risks

    • Generate options

    • Provide connections from the mentor’s network

    • Signpost sources of specialist support

    • Aid career development

  • This is a blend of coaching and mentoring.  It starts with us actively listening to you, understanding your business and personal goals and the challenges you face.  We then co-create a coaching and mentoring agreement with you and make a coaching and mentoring plan.  This identifies your key outcomes and how we will work together to achieve them. 

  • Individual sessions of 1 - 1.5 hours duration.  The default frequency is fortnightly intervals to allow you to process and implement your insights from each session without losing momentum.  This can develop into a long-term relationship with quarterly or half yearly sessions to help you maintain your focus on business improvement. 

  • Business coaching and mentoring enable you to work on your business, not merely in it.  You will gain clarity over your goals and develop a plan for how to achieve them.  You will be energised by reconnecting with what inspired you to start your business, and you will have more confidence in your ability to follow through on your plans.

Build Your Intuitive Business Plan
Build Your Intuitive Business Plan

  • ‘I had the pleasure of being coached by Ross and I can confidently say that his guidance has had a lasting impact on my professional growth.  Ross brings a rare combination of insight, empathy and practicality to every session.  He helped me develop valuable skills, refine my leadership approach and gain greater clarity in both my goals and decision making.  His ability to listen deeply, ask thought-provoking questions and offer actionable advice made every session engaging and productive.  I’m truly grateful for the time and expertise Ross shared with me.  His coaching style empowers you to think differently, challenge your own assumptions, and ultimately unlock your full potential.  I would highly recommend Ross to anyone looking for a knowledgeable and inspiring coach.’  - Darren Petersen, commercial partnerships lead, Samsung Europe TV

  • ‘Ross provided me with very useful mentoring having taken on the role of Chief Executive Officer.  As well as his own insightful analysis and advice, the tools he uses are very useful and provide tangible evidence of the areas that need to be worked on.  I enjoyed working with Ross.’ - Tony Greenidge, CEO, NED

  • ‘I went to Ross for business development mentoring and I am still feeding off the work we have done together long after.  Ross is a highly trained and experienced coach and all of that comes across in the way he works.  There were no areas of the process I didn’t feel supported in or that Ross hadn’t walked.  His mentoring was caring, precise and highly motivating.  I would highly recommend Ross as a mentor, especially to those thinking of starting a coaching business.’   - Andrew Macklin, career development and workforce strategy professional for the creative and cultural sector

  • ‘I highly recommend Ross as a coach.  He combines deep empathy with sharp insight, creating a space where complex challenges become clearer and more manageable.  His ability to listen, ask the right questions, and offer practical frameworks has significantly strengthened my emotional intelligence and decision-making in high pressure situations.  He consistently brings the right anecdote or exercise to help me step back, reset, and see the bigger picture.” - Stefan Barfeld, CEO Bano Group

  • ‘I worked with Ross when building my coaching practice.  I had reached a point where I felt as though I had become stuck, some of my strategies didn’t seem to be working, and I was doing a lot of work but not progressing further.  I needed help to set some clear business goals and to stay focused on taking the right action to achieving these goals.  Ross is very skilled at creating a space for his clients to explore, and he helped me to identify clear objectives for my business, and to create a simple plan.  The twice-monthly sessions helped me to set realistic goals and to have accountability when achieving them.  In addition to coaching, Ross is very generous with his knowledge, experience and resources, and shared some very helpful strategies with me.  Since working with Ross I have much more clarity on where I want to take my business…and now have the framework upon which to grow my business.’ - Ruth Randall, Coach

The Architecture of Transformation

While our work together may begin with a single challenge, true evolution is multi-dimensional. My practice is built upon four core pillars of excellence, each designed to provide the structural integrity required for profound personal and professional change.

Whether you are developing your business and leadership, navigating a career shift, improving your health and wellbeing, or developing as a coach, there is a path engineered for your specific transition.

Explore the Four Pillars
Explore the Four Pillars

Resources for Business and Leadership

The Institute of Directors’ publishers approached me to contribute a chapter on Coaching and Mentoring for Business Growth to their annual publication, The Growing Business Handbook.  The following year, they asked me to write about whatever I wanted, so I decided to write about leadership, drawing on my own experience as a leader (and follower) in the British Army and my research into leadership and management in business.  This evolved into 2 chapters: one on Leadership for Performance, the other on Authentic Leadership for Growth.  I am pleased to share these 3 chapters as a useful resource for business owners, leaders, coaches and mentors.

Access the Published Chapters
Access the Published Chapters