We're going to call a spade a spade. The current economic climate in the UK is alarming and a lot of SMEs are having a rough time. Trading conditions are turgid or worse, contracts are taking a lot longer to win and previously safe contracts are falling away. Everything is costing more, from the tea, coffee and milk in the kitchens to salaries, which have had to increase because of the rise in the cost of living. HMRC has developed at least three more rows of sharp teeth and lenders are becoming less and less flexible. Then you have the people at the top. Having worked very hard for decades, anticipating a good exit and a happy retirement, they are still slogging away with no fixed end to their toil on the horizon. Even worse, their once comfortable salaries/dividends are now not stretching to the end of the month, and holidays are a dim and distant memory. The situation is grim for many, and worse than expected for most.
What I find even more interesting is that while there is now a shared understanding that a lot of people are struggling in the way described, six months ago my first paragraph was just as valid, but there was no collective consciousness that this was the state of affairs. There were hundreds of pockets of SME leaders facing the described situation, but they felt they were battling alone. That was a dreadful space to occupy, because it created a very strong, very powerful and unfair sense of individual failure. That sense of individual, isolated failure was excessively draining on both energy and confidence.
What this means is that thousands of SME leaders are exhausted, first from battling alone, and then from realising they are not alone, but there is still no end in sight. If they are keeping their heads above the water, they are doing well, but that may not make life any easier, not after months and months of surviving on the edge.
So why am I writing about an additional expense? Have I completely lost the plot???
No, if you can read on, I haven’t lost the plot at all. We’re offering a chink of light, but that light at the moment is leadership support, ideally as a precursor to development.
OPCoachUK many degrees of leadership development to match the circumstances in which leaders find themselves. Yes, we are proud of our all singing, all dancing programme for high-growth businesses that are charging forward. However, we are at heart coaches with deep experience of supporting people who are having a hard time and we know that it is tough at the top when trading is difficult. Even where a strong leadership team is in place, they spend most of their time together fighting fires. They do not spend a lot of time supporting each other as individuals – they just don’t have the time and they fear collective dismay.
Let me outline the benefits of leadership support in the form of coaching, when trading is difficult.
Stress tolerance. Talking about our challenges with a neutral party on a regular basis builds resilience and can either delay burnout, or enable recovery from burnout.
Idea development. Trying to find innovative solutions when under pressure becomes harder and harder when working with the same people, day in and day out. Exploring ideas in a separate space enables people to garner their thoughts.
Communication. Communicating to colleagues and teams becomes grindingly difficult when news isn’t good. Exploring the best way to share messages in an independent space enables clarity of thought and removes the issues caused by poor or inexistent communication, reducing stress.
Improved employee relations. In difficult situations the relationship between leadership and the team can grow very fractious. Having that space to explore frustrations and then seek solutions can help to repair workplace relationships.
Improved mental health. We all have a level of mental health and months of difficult trading his almost guaranteed to result in our level of health diminishing. Having a space to talk about our challenges, with a focus on finding solutions, has to send that level moving upwards again, even if overall business performance hasn’t yet turned a corner. We don’t do our best work when under long-term stress, and leaders need to be on their finest mettle when they are under the cosh.
When trading is difficult, we believe that straightforward leadership coaching is all that is required. Ideally, when a business turns a corner, we’ll be there to help you to rebuild the business and point your senior leaders towards enhanced growth. However, none of that is appropriate when leadership teams are under pressure. Coaching alone leads to remarkable results, from reduced levels of stress leads to enhanced decision-making. This, in turn, leads to a change in fortunes. And while we do not charge an unreasonable amount for coaching (see below), we’re offering a reduction in 2024 and can also be flexible on terms.
So if you’re a tired and/or embattled C-level leader, please get in touch. In a 30 minute initial (free) discussion we can tell you a lot more about the way these coaching sessions work and answer your particular queries and concerns. Consider how much you might benefit from having a window in your week where you can talk through your challenges, in a confidential setting, with a genuinely interested person. Coaching isn't about telling anyone what to do, but it gives people the space to think away from the heat of the battle. It is a great way to process challenges, reprioritise and move forward.
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Cost of coaching: £395/hr (reduced from £450/hr for 2024)
This is based, typically, on 5 sessions.
Coaching often takes place online, but sessions near to Norwich and Bristol (approximately 30 mile radius) can be conducted face to face on your premises.
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