Hi, I'm Steve
I've been coaching leaders for 20+ years and I flippin' love it.
Leaders are smart, driven people. They have to be, or why would they do it?
They're successful, even though they rarely give themselves credit for it. They’re motivated to do the best damn job they can, often under impossible circumstances. And they dig deep, day after day, to deliver for their teams and their customers, frequently at the cost of their own wellbeing.
My focus is helping these people—people like you—make the experience of being a leader easier and simpler, freeing you up to be the leader you want to be.
A little more about me…
I’m Steve. I’m a Gemini, I'm a geek at heart, my eyes are sort of blue/grey, and I wear size 8 shoes.
That's me in a nutshell, but if you reeeeeallly wanna know more, here you go...
I’ve been coaching leaders since 2002, and as my hairline has slipped away like a retreating ice shelf my experience of the challenges, traps, pitfalls, curveballs and blind corners of leadership has grown hugely.
It isn't easy (nobody said it would be, right?), and I have MAD RESPECT for anyone who's willing to step up and lead. That's why I've worked hard through these 20+ years to figure out ways that leaders can cut through the bs, stop the habits that get in their own way, and leverage key tactics and strategies to make leadership easier and simpler.
Dealing with my own shit
It's a journey that’s also helped me massively in figuring out my own shit (which has been fairly plentiful, lemme tell you).
I’ve had two breakdowns in my life. Once in my teens when I didn’t know anything about life or who I was, and another in my 30’s when pretending to know things about life and who I was stopped working.
Not to mention the times when I spent too long trying to fit in and please everyone else, and ended up doubting my ability and my worth as a result.
None of that was any fun, but what scared me most was that I lost my smile.
I’ve dragged myself through the mire, pieced myself back together and figured out who I am. And that’s where I started making my own changes. I trained as a coach. I became responsible for my choices. I acknowledged that my value isn’t dependent on anyone else. And I made choices that reflected what mattered to me the most, not the stuff that didn’t matter a jot.
Let's hear it for chronic, incurable debilitating illness amiright
I was diagnosed with something called CFS/ME in 2008. It’s your basic incurable, debilitating, chronic illness, one that steals energy and replaces it with chronic fatigue, chronic pain, dizziness and a long list of other fun stuff.
Unlike some people with the illness who are bed-bound and can’t do anything for themselves, I’ve figured out how to live with it so that I can still work and get around.
I’ve sought treatments and solutions, I've dug way down deep past the need to be strong and fight it, into a place of grace and acceptance, and have discovered things that will benefit me for the rest of my life.
Don't get me wrong, it still frustrates me and catches me out, but it's like we're buddies on a road trip. We're cool.
And here I am today
I’m not a guru. Hell no.
I don’t have it all figured out. I laugh at the most inappropriate and politically incorrect things. My flippant and facetious sense of humour regularly sees me putting my foot squarely in my mouth.
At heart, I’m a geek, physical clutz (seriously, I dance like Ernest Borgnine leading a jazzercise class) and a big kid. But I’m always looking to better myself, and what’s most important is that I show up, wholly and imperfectly, as I am.
This page of my site is necessarily self-indulgent, and while I want to give you a sense of who I am and what I’m about I know I don’t have exclusivity on illness, hardship, self-doubt, a crisis of confidence or simply the need to figure shit out.
Sometimes life is hard.
Sometimes it’s hella challenging.
Sometimes we’re all out of answers.
I get that.
Maybe you don’t know what to do. Maybe you need someone in your corner. Maybe you’re even a little scared.
I hear you, because I’ve been there too.
I hold space for all of that and I admire you to the moon and back.
If any of this chimes with you or feels useful, click here to learn more about working with me.
Best,
